"Moxon's Master" is a short story by American writer Ambrose Bierce, which speculates on the nature of life and intelligence. It describes a chess-playing automaton that murders its creator. First published in The San Francisco Examiner on April 16, 1899, it is one of the first descriptions of a robot in English-language literature written much before the word 'robot' came to be used. The story was included in the 1910 edition of the short story anthology Can Such Things Be?.
The master, Moxon, who creates a chess-playing automaton, boasts to the narrator that even though machines have no brains, they can still think and demonstrate intelligence or mind and therefore should be treated just like men of flesh and blood. After a thorough discussion about what it means to "think" and what is the nature of "intelligence", the narrator leaves Moxon's house in confusion.
The narrator returns to Moxon's house later in the midst of a rainstorm to learn more. He enters secretly and finds Moxon playing chess with an automaton. Moxon wins the game. This agitates the automaton who kills him in a fit of rage. Lightning strikes the room. The house is engulfed in flames. The narrator loses consciousness.
The narrator wakes up in a hospital room where Haley, Moxon's servant, tells him that he saved him from imminent death. Haley corroborates the details. Nevertheless, the narrator questions whether what he saw was real.
Analysisedit
Moxon declares that intelligence is endemic in all inanimate and animate objects. This is a theory known as panpsychism. The ancient Greek philosopher Thales and William James espoused this view. Mind is inherent in all of the universe and in being.
The story alludes to Johann Maelzel's chess player, an automaton who was able to challenge humans to chess matches. The device had been invented by Wolfgang von Kempelen. The "red fez" in the story is a reference to this figure, known as the Turk. Edgar Allan Poe had written an analysis of the chess-playing automaton in 1836, "Maelzel's Chess Player", offering an explanation of how the illusion was accomplished.
The main theme of the story is not only whether machines can think as we know it, but whether they can equal or even excel human beings. Can the automaton think because he has intelligence and can play a game developed by humans such as chess? Moxon argues that he can. Moreover, the automaton is angry and becomes homicidal after he loses. These are emotions typically ascribed to human beings. This is the unknown or X-Factor in the story. By thinking, does the automaton also acquire other traits, such as emotions? Like in humans, do these render the automaton as someone who has free will and who is unpredictable?
Finally, the title suggests that the automaton is the "master", not Moxon. This raises the question of whether the automaton's intelligence can potentially become superior to that of its maker, the human, Moxon. This is the future danger alluded to in the story. The automaton becomes the master of the man.
moxon, master, short, story, american, writer, ambrose, bierce, which, speculates, nature, life, intelligence, describes, chess, playing, automaton, that, murders, creator, first, published, francisco, examiner, april, 1899, first, descriptions, robot, english. Moxon s Master is a short story by American writer Ambrose Bierce which speculates on the nature of life and intelligence It describes a chess playing automaton that murders its creator First published in The San Francisco Examiner on April 16 1899 it is one of the first descriptions of a robot in English language literature written much before the word robot came to be used The story was included in the 1910 edition of the short story anthology Can Such Things Be Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Analysis 3 See also 4 Sources 5 External linksPlot summary editThe master Moxon who creates a chess playing automaton boasts to the narrator that even though machines have no brains they can still think and demonstrate intelligence or mind and therefore should be treated just like men of flesh and blood After a thorough discussion about what it means to think and what is the nature of intelligence the narrator leaves Moxon s house in confusion The narrator returns to Moxon s house later in the midst of a rainstorm to learn more He enters secretly and finds Moxon playing chess with an automaton Moxon wins the game This agitates the automaton who kills him in a fit of rage Lightning strikes the room The house is engulfed in flames The narrator loses consciousness The narrator wakes up in a hospital room where Haley Moxon s servant tells him that he saved him from imminent death Haley corroborates the details Nevertheless the narrator questions whether what he saw was real Analysis editMoxon declares that intelligence is endemic in all inanimate and animate objects This is a theory known as panpsychism The ancient Greek philosopher Thales and William James espoused this view Mind is inherent in all of the universe and in being The story alludes to Johann Maelzel s chess player an automaton who was able to challenge humans to chess matches The device had been invented by Wolfgang von Kempelen The red fez in the story is a reference to this figure known as the Turk Edgar Allan Poe had written an analysis of the chess playing automaton in 1836 Maelzel s Chess Player offering an explanation of how the illusion was accomplished The main theme of the story is not only whether machines can think as we know it but whether they can equal or even excel human beings Can the automaton think because he has intelligence and can play a game developed by humans such as chess Moxon argues that he can Moreover the automaton is angry and becomes homicidal after he loses These are emotions typically ascribed to human beings This is the unknown or X Factor in the story By thinking does the automaton also acquire other traits such as emotions Like in humans do these render the automaton as someone who has free will and who is unpredictable Finally the title suggests that the automaton is the master not Moxon This raises the question of whether the automaton s intelligence can potentially become superior to that of its maker the human Moxon This is the future danger alluded to in the story The automaton becomes the master of the man See also editList of fictional robots and androids The Turk Walker Chess playerSources editGrenander M E Ambrose Bierce NY Twayne Publishers 1971 McWilliams Carey 1929 reprinted 1967 Ambrose Bierce A Biography Archon Books Morris Roy 1999 1995 Ambrose Bierce alone in bad company US Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 512628 0 Nickell Joseph Joe 1992 Ambrose Bierce Is Missing and Other Historical Mysteries ISBN 9780813117669 O Conner Richard 1967 Ambrose Bierce a Biography with illustrations Boston Little Brown and Company External links edit nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article Moxon s Master Full text of the short story nbsp Moxon s Master public domain audiobook at LibriVox nbsp This article about a science fiction short story or stories is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Moxon 27s Master amp oldid 1205768836, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
