It is evident from early on in 2001 that HAL purports to be a higher-order intentional system. In his various interactions with human agents, he exhibits a diverse range of higher-order intentional states, from the most simple to the most devious. But could something like HAL -- a conscious, computer-bodied intelligent agent -- could be brought in to existence by any history of design, construction, training, learning and activity? Such higher-order intentionality is a necessary precondition for moral responsibility, just as it is the source for opportunities for deception.

If we want to trace the skein of moral responsibility in the actions of HAL, recent fiction has provided us with models - from RoboCop, to Max Headroom, to Blade Runner, which may help us understand the kinds of issues which we need to face in this kind of study. What issues would come in to play if we make moral judgements on HAL's behavior? More importantly, what can we make such moral judgements about HAL -- or any other intelligent computer?