(Technical) Autonomy as Concept in Robot Ethics

This paper aims to contribute to the debate about ethical, legal, and social implications of robotics by discussing the meaning of autonomy. Robots are often labeled as autonomous, but what does "autonomy" in robotics actually mean? In order to answer this question, methods of conceptual analysis and language critique are applied. It turns out that the empirical-descriptive application of the word autonomy in technical context is different to the normative usage of autonomy in human life and human societies. Following this insight, and an embodied approach in philosophy of technology, six forms of technical tools are briefly introduced which could be used to describe several levels of technical autonomy. The different forms are summarized in a heuristic scheme, which can be used to set up clearer applications of the word "autonomy" in ethical, legal and social debates concerning robotic technologies.