Abstract

With the reframing of the problem, as given by the case studies in the previous chapter, and with the Moral Assurance perspective, this chapter begins by advancing a new definition for Machine Ethics—one focused on enabling moral agency, as opposed to constraining moral behaviour. Developing the idea that to enable moral agency we need to at first trust the machine, an approach is outlined that involves eliciting cognitive requirements for morality in a machine, based on The Waterfall Method often used in the development of IT systems. This approach is also used to prescribe a new test procedure for moral agency—one that focuses on assuring certain cognitive features, rather than simply identifying expected behaviours.