Subsumption Ethics – David H. Gleason

Subsumption ethics is the process by which decisions become incorporated into the operation of information technology systems, and subsequentially forgotten. Subsumption in general is the process of building larger components from smaller ones. The greek word ethos, from which ethics can be translated as habit. Habit in general is a subsumption process. According to Aristotle subsumption and ethos is closely related. Example of this is small design decisions lead to small elements within a system. These small elements become subsumed into larger system components, and so on, until the full system operates.
Systems ultimately operate according to many such decisions. The decisions become codified into programming code and information content. Design decisions often have ethical components, whether or not the designer is explicitly aware of them. The impact of IT is determined by the operation of its subsumed objects, subsumed objects have a determinate moral value and the ethical impact of an IT system is the responsibility of the people who designed, developed and use it. Organizational Policy drivers IT development IT enables a function that was not possible before, a policy decisions is made to proceed with the practice, engineers and manager seek ways to implement the policy data is transmitted automatically to buyers at regular.
The process runs without user intervention. The policy becomes a subsumed object and it would take work to discontinue the practice. The SO gets subscribed into other practices, such as the general databases of the registry data purchasers. The process repeats. Information systems subsume design, policy, and implementation decisions in programming code and content. Subsumed objects have determinants moral value. Subsumed objects have a high invisibility factor. Subsumptive complexity increases over time.