Do No Harm Obligation Invoked by Engineer A in Software Testing Case
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/165#Do_No_Harm_Obligation_Invoked_by_Engineer_A_in_Software_Testing_Case
Properties
Instance of
DoNoHarmObligationinProfessionalEngineeringServices
http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#DoNoHarmObligationinProfessionalEngineeringServices
Applied to
Public-safety-critical facility software deployment
Software safety testing recommendation
Balancing with
Client competitive disadvantage
Employer financial interests
Public utility rate impacts
Concrete expression
In BER Case 96-4, Engineer A's ethical obligation to recommend additional software testing was grounded in the principle that engineers must strive to do no harm — the possibility that the software might not meet new draft standards created a harm-avoidance obligation to recommend testing even at significant financial cost
Confidence
0.9
Importance
high
Interpretation
The do no harm principle required Engineer A to recommend additional testing despite financial pressures, because proceeding without testing created a foreseeable risk of harm to public-safety-critical facilities
Invoked by
Engineer A Safety-Critical Software Design Engineer (Case 96-4)
Tension resolution
Do no harm obligation required the testing recommendation to be made on technical grounds, with business considerations addressed separately by the employer
Source Evidence
Source text
Implicit in Case 96-4 is the notion that in seeking to fulfill one's ethical obligations, engineers should strive to do no harm in the performance of their professional services.
Text references
Implicit in Case 96-4 is the notion that in seeking to fulfill one's ethical obligations, engineers should strive to do no harm in the performance of their professional services.
TTL
@prefix case165: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/165#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
case165:Do_No_Harm_Obligation_Invoked_by_Engineer_A_in_Software_Testing_Case a proeth:DoNoHarmObligationinProfessionalEngineeringServices,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Do No Harm Obligation Invoked by Engineer A in Software Testing Case" ;
proeth:appliedto "Public-safety-critical facility software deployment",
"Software safety testing recommendation" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Client competitive disadvantage",
"Employer financial interests",
"Public utility rate impacts" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "In BER Case 96-4, Engineer A's ethical obligation to recommend additional software testing was grounded in the principle that engineers must strive to do no harm — the possibility that the software might not meet new draft standards created a harm-avoidance obligation to recommend testing even at significant financial cost" ;
proeth:confidence "0.9" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "165" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "discussion" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-02-27T23:30:37.781391+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "165" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-02-27T23:30:37.781391+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "The do no harm principle required Engineer A to recommend additional testing despite financial pressures, because proceeding without testing created a foreseeable risk of harm to public-safety-critical facilities" ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer A Safety-Critical Software Design Engineer (Case 96-4)" ;
proeth:principleclass "Do No Harm Obligation in Professional Engineering Services" ;
proeth:sourcetext "Implicit in Case 96-4 is the notion that in seeking to fulfill one's ethical obligations, engineers should strive to do no harm in the performance of their professional services." ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Do no harm obligation required the testing recommendation to be made on technical grounds, with business considerations addressed separately by the employer" ;
proeth:textreferences "Implicit in Case 96-4 is the notion that in seeking to fulfill one's ethical obligations, engineers should strive to do no harm in the performance of their professional services." ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 165 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-02-27T23:40:57.921998"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 165 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
165
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
discussion
First discovered
2026-02-27T23:30:37.781391+00:00
First case
165
Generated
2026-02-27T23:30:37.781391+00:00
Attributed to
Case 165 Extraction
Generated
2026-02-27T23:40:57.921998
Generated by
ProEthica Case 165 Extraction