ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the treatment of emotion at the center of Blade Runner is, quite literally, ambiguous, but that this ambiguity is essential to the role of the film as springboard for philosophy. It explores the relationship of emotion to cognition, and to what extent does cognitive and emotional development depend on relationships to others. A notion of emotional checking is understood in three different ways. First, there is the sense in which the Voight-Kampff test is designed to check (i.e. verify) emotions in a oneway kind of test. Second, there is the sense in which emotions may check (i.e. restrain) actions, or motivate other actions, and the consequences of such checking on acceptable behavior. Third, there is the sense in which trusting relationships are built upon a kind of emotional checking (i.e. reciprocal, two-way give and take) that provides a foundation for cooperation built upon love, trust, and other forms of emotional bonds.
