Abstract

A coherent and consistent hierarchical theory of software ethics is presented. From the bottom up, the four layers are the fundamental layer, the individual layer, the occupational layer, and the software layer. The fundamental layer contains concepts that relate to the interaction an individual has with his society; the individual layer contains the concepts formulating individual ethical actions; the occupational layer further narrows actions to those that are ethical in the workplace, and the software layer describes elements that are unique to software and have their own ethical problems. ;Among the ethical areas that the authors writing in the field are troubled about are those of possession of intellectual property, the right to privacy, encryption, and public access to the benefits of computing. ;Uses of the theory are provided in analyses of codes of ethics from around the world, in analyses of scenarios with ethical dilemmas, and in descriptions of the place of ethics in software life cycle models