Background:  In moral theory, the capabilities approach says that we ought to enhance human capabilities in order to enhance human autonomy and individuals' capacity for living a good life. In development programs, the capabilities approach has been used to argue for increased access to education, health care, and training programs, since such programs are believed to enhance individuals' capacities and allow them to live well and to increase their ability to choose how to live (one aspect of autonomy).

On this view, there are some capability-enhancing goods that ought to be available to everyone. Examples include access to education, access to clean water and healthy food, and access to adequate shelter. Other goods might benefit only a small group of people but are seen as necessary or desirable to ensure that the individuals whom they benefit have capabilities similar to their fellow citizens. Examples of such goods might include wheelchairs for persons with certain kinds of physical impairments or Braille books for persons with visual impairments.

Not surprisingly, this approach has become popular in some aspects of computer ethics since, arguably, various kinds of computer technology greatly increase human capabilities in morally valuable ways.

Directions: Write two types of digital technology that you believe enhance human capabilities in morally valuable ways atleast one and a half page. In your discussion, say who is benefited--i.e., does the technology you discuss benefit everyone or does it benefit only a particular group, and why? In other words, whose capabilities are enhanced by the technology? What are the good consequences of the technology being widely distributed?