Isaac Asimov once wrote an essay in which he semi-jokingly proposed
"The Three Laws of Humanics," an adaptation of the three laws of
robotics applied to humans. IIRC, the first law was "A human may not
harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come
to harm" and the third was "A human must protect its own existence, as
long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second
Law," but I don't remember the second one. I believe this came from an
essay called "The Laws of Humanics" in the Robot Visions collection.
What are the Three Laws of Humanics?

Dear doctorow,

Isaac Asimov's essay "Laws of Humanics" was included as a kind of
complementary illustrative epilogue in his novel "Isaac Asimov's Robot
City, Book I - Odyssey", after Chapter 21.

The "Three Laws of Humanics" Asimov developed in that essay are:

1. A human being may not injure another human being, or, through
inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A human being must give orders to a robot that preserve robotic
existence, unless such orders cause harm or discomfort to human
beings.

3. A human being must not harm a robot, or, through inaction, allow a
robot to come to harm, unless such harm is needed to keep a human
being from harm or to allow a vital order to be carried out.

You can read "Robot City, Book I", including the full essay "The Laws
of Humanics" with additional explanations on the Laws, by following
this link (TXT text file):

Mekkis Repository: Issac Asimov's Robot City Part 1 & 2
http://big.chez.com/keep/Mekkis/Isaac%20Asimov%20-%20Robot%20City.txt

In case the site is not available now, you will also find the book's
part with the "Laws of Humanics" essay in this Usenet posting (the
last paragraph of the text):

Frog, "ISAAC ASIMOV'S ROBOT CITY 4/7". Online posting, 2002-09-16.
<rec.arts.sf.written> via Google Groups.
http://groups.google.de/groups?hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&selm=Y6AXBZFZ37515.9093634259%40Gilgamesh-frog.org


Search terms used:
"Three Laws of Humanics"
://www.google.de/search?q=%22Three+Laws+of+Humanics%22&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&filter=0
"laws of humanics" asimov
http://groups.google.de/groups?q=%22laws+of+humanics%22+asimov&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&start=10&sa=N
"asimov's robot city" "laws of humanics"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22asimov%27s+robot+city%22+%22laws+of+humanics%22&btnG=Suche&meta=


Hope this answers your question!
Regards,
Scriptor

That was fantastic -- thanks, man. I'll be sure to footnote Google
Answers when I publish the short story I'm working on that I needed
this for.

-Cory

Good answer.  Just a couple comments, the Robot City novel cited in
the answer was not written by Isaac Asimov, but by Michael P.
Kube-McDowell. This particular series was one in which Isaac Asimov
challenged some lesser known authors to write novels based on the
world he had created in his own novels.  Asimov did, however, write
the essay on Laws of Humanics, and it is available in Asimov's book
"Robot Visions" as mentioned by the asker.

The three laws of humanics were also mentioned as part of the
punchline of a short story "...That Thou Art Mindful of Him". I
believe this was before the essay referred to. The story was published
in "The Complete Robot".