The mask (Lem)

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The mask ( Polish Maska ) is a science fiction story published by Stanisław Lem in 1976 .

content

action

A complex, locust-like machine awakens in the form of a beautiful woman. She probes the environment and carries out preprogrammed actions. Their goal: to win the trust of a loyal king. Through the ability to reflect on itself, the machine recognizes that it is programmed to kill the court loyal. She strips off the woman's costume and begins the pursuit of the man. During the chase, the machine begins to doubt its action. Could she act contrary to her programming? Does she have a moral?

interpretation

From the point of view of a killing machine, Stanisław Lem tries to grasp terms such as morality and " free will " in this story . Just as one can train a person to kill from birth, the machine in the narrative is programmed to kill. For the assassination attempt to succeed, "the assassin" / "the machine" needs logic, knowledge and cognitive flexibility. When can morality arise from these indispensable properties? When is the machine responsible for its own actions?

expenditure

  • Stanisław Lem: Maska . Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków 1976 (anthology, contains The Mask , 4 other stories and 3 TV plays)
  • Stanisław Lem: The mask . (German translation by Klaus Staemmler) In: The mask. Mr. F. Two stories . Insel-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1977
  • Stanisław Lem: The mask . (German translation by Hubert Schumann) In: Barbara Antkowiak (Hrsg.): The photographer of the invisible and other fantastic stories . Verlag Volk und Welt, (East) Berlin 1978