I've recently been reading a classic dystopian book by Philip K. Dick.  I've never read any of his works before, so I thought I'd give it a shot.  He is like Bradbury in many ways, using the social structure of a post-apocalypse society to comment on the current human condition.

The book I'm reading is probably his most admired work, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? It brings up, in subtle fashion, some of the fundamental questions that we should all ask ourselves.  Questions such as "what makes a human human?" and "what is the meaning of life?".  Through his clever use of the relationships between androids and actual humans, Dick attempts to explain to us his answers to these questions.

The most profound point that the book makes is the quintessential quality of humankind: empathy.  In the book, the protagonist, Rick Deckard, is tasked with hunting down "rogue" androids - androids who have escaped the confines of servitude they were created for and are posing as genuine humans.  The most useful way for Deckard to pinpoint whether a subject is an android is through the use of the Voigt-Kampff test. In administering the test, Deckard asks questions that would solicit and empathetic response in a human being, and gauges whether that response occurs.  If it does not, he knows he has pinpointed an android, and promptly "retires" it.

This seemingly simple aspect of the story is the obvious theme of the book.  Dick states through his clever use of story-telling that empathy is really what defines humanity.  Sympathizing and role-taking are not reproduce-able in artificial life.  It is through feeling the pain of others, and attempting to help them through their difficult times that we prove ourselves to be human.  Empathy may very well cause pain to ourselves, as we have share in the woes and misfortunes of others; but it is a worthy sacrifice for the joy and happiness that we can also experience through human interaction.

Love, kindness, and caring for others are the things that define who we are as humans.  They are placed in us because we were created in the image of a loving, caring God.  That is what sets humanity apart - the soul.  No other being is infused with the very image of God.  While Dick was an atheist, Androids shows us the qualities that will continue in humankind as long as we exist.

I highly recommend the book.