Abstract

The difference between computers and simple machines is the extent to which computer systems subsume design and development decisions over which users have little or no control. Normally, such decisions are all but forgotten after implementation. Subsumption ethics describes this process.This paper begins with a discussion of subsumption ethics and describes four axioms of subsumption ethics. Four ethical frameworks with roots in philosophical traditions are used as an ethical framework: The golden rule ; the golden mean; niskama karma ; and complexity. A matrix is presented that combines the axioms of subsumption ethics with these ethical frameworks. The paper concludes by applying the matrix to some standard problems in software systems development.