Would Confucianism Support Companion Robots? Reflections on Intimacy in the Era of the “Super-Individual”

In the era of the “super-individual”, companion robots (or sex robots), as novel agents for intimate relationships, have provoked profound ethical controversies. This article responds to Fang Xudong’s defense of companion robots in terms of the “instrumentalization of womanhood” and further explores the possible stance of Confucian ethics towards companion robots. Companion robots risk fostering emotional self-deception, which violates the Confucian self-cultivation requirement of “sincerity within, manifesting outwardly” 诚于中，形于外. They also fail to fulfill the “generative virtue” 生生之德 encompassing biological reproduction and moral education through kinship and may even undermine the family’s function as a carrier of ethical practice. From a Confucian perspective, the “pseudo-intimacy” facilitated by companion robots might alleviate symptoms of social isolation in an atomized age, but it cannot replace the familial warmth characterized by “affection between father and son, distinct roles between husband and wife” 父子有亲，夫妇有别. Only in the ethical practice of facing the other and taking responsibility can one truly realize the ideal of “cultivating oneself and bringing all things to their ideal state” 成己成物.