If one were to question humans in general, would those who are homicidal maniacs, murderous sociopaths human?  One can argue that these types of humans do not have empathy for the people they hurt.  To have no empathy, one would assume they are not human in the sense that they cannot feel and have human cognition to decipher right from wrong.  Thus, there is a line between humans and beings with no empathic feelings.  In the stories, the line is completely blurred with many wondering who is more human; is it the androids that show human traits such as sadness and manipulation, or the humans who act cerebral in their killing sprees.  In fact the film’s biggest question is the debate whether Deckard is a human or an android.  Donna Haraway, author of “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century,” touches upon the idea of social binaries.  In her essay she argues that a “cyborg” rejects binaries such as human/animal, animal/machine, and physical/non physical.  Haraway argues for a new type of woman, one who is consumed with affinity rather than identity; a woman who is multi faceted and thus a cyborg.   

        Her binary of human/animal is important because one may suggest the line would be rather solid, with key differences separating the two. However, Haraway argues that,”By the late twentieth century in United States scientific culture, the boundary between human and animal is thoroughly breached. The last beachheads of uniqueness have been polluted if not turned into amusement parks” (151-52).  Haraway would bring up the fact of animal rights being a factor in the two binaries slowly combining into one, “Movements for animal rights are not irrational denials of human uniqueness; they are a clear-sighted recognition of connection across the discredited breach of nature and culture.”  The fight for animal rights shows the apparent need to give animals the same rights to live as humans.  Thus, the line of humans and animals is blurred, meaning a society vastly similar to the world of Blade Runner.  Ultimately in the book and novel, humanity deteriorates completely because of technology.   

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