How we cite our quotes: (Story title.paragraph)
Quote #4
Cutie said nothing, nor did any other robot, but Donovan became aware of a sudden heightening of tension. The cold, staring eyes deepened their crimson, and Cutie seemed stiffer than ever. "Sacrilege," he whispered—voice metallic with emotion. (Reason.96-7)
In "Reason," the robots still have good morals—they don't want people getting hurt, which is why they take over the space station. But there's some strangeness in the way they do it, inventing a religion based on the Power Converter and coming up with some new rituals and taboos. Here Donovan has performed something sacrilegious. There's not a lot of religion in this book, but it's worth asking: what's the relationship between religion and morality in this book?
Quote #5
And, finally, worked his precise mechanical mind over the highest function of the robot world—the solutions of problems in judgment and ethics. (Catch that Rabbit.38)
We love the way Asimov works up to this. First, Powell and Donovan test Dave's math (which is normal, what we'd expect to do with a calculator), then they test his physical reactions (like you'd test somebody's reflexes, which is a little weird with robots, but understandable since robots have bodies), and finally, they test… his moral reasoning. That's something that seems really strange for robots from other science fiction works, but Asimov works his way up to it in a way that makes it seem reasonable.
Quote #6
"You can't tell them," droned the psychologist slowly, "because that would hurt and you mustn't hurt. But if you don't tell them, you hurt, so you must tell them. And if you do, you will hurt and you mustn't, so you can't tell them; but if you don't, you hurt, so you must; but if you do, you hurt, so you mustn't; but if you don't, you hurt, so you must; but if you do, you—" (Liar.258)
Ah, Herbie. Other robots get caught up between two Rules, but Herbie is caught by just one, so there's no way out for him—he's damned if he tells and he's damned if he doesn't tell. Luckily, Calvin is here to help talk him through this problem. Wait, did we say talk him through? No, she's driving him insane on purpose, out of revenge. So Herbie is caught because he doesn't want to hurt anyone and Calvin is purposely hurting him. Just another reminder that robots are better than people.