Obligation-Conflict Resolution
Case 02-5 (2002) · Professional Competence In Current Structural Design
Professional obligations conflict, and the board applies no fixed rule for which one wins.
Each resolution is recorded as three edges:
competesWith (the tension),
prevailsOver (the obligation the board allowed to win in this case), and
defeasibleUnder (the situation under which the yielding obligation gives way).
The same tension is then traced across comparable cases, where its resolution shifts with context.
Hover any obligation or state to see its definition; click to open it in OntServe.
How this case resolved it
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Engineer A Present Case Moral Culpability Threshold Not Met Design Failure
prevails over
Ethics Board Causal Nexus Establishment Engineer A Design Failure
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Engineer A Severe Weather Design Failure Without Moral Culpability
Engineer A Present Case Standard of Care Ethical Sufficiency Boundary
prevails over
Engineer A Technical Literature Currency Maintenance Present Case
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Severe Weather Parameters Pre-Standardization Status
Engineer A BER-98-8 Out-of-Competence Certification Refusal
prevails over
Engineer A BER-94-8 Peer Competency Challenge and Escalation
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- BER 94-8 Engineer A Peer Competence Challenge Obligation
Engineer A Present Case Reasonable Currency Standard Compliance
prevails over
Engineer A Severe Weather Design Standard Proactive Adoption Present Case
the two obligations are in tension (competesWith)
the yielding obligation gives way only under (defeasibleUnder):
- Severe Weather Parameters Pre-Standardization Status
Open tensions recorded without a resolution:
Engineer A Post-Accident Honest Self-Assessment Structural Failure vs Engineer A Present Case Missed Opportunity Acknowledgment Post-Failure
Engineer A Present Case Technical Literature Currency Maintenance vs Engineer A Severe Weather Design Standard Proactive Adoption Present Case
Engineer A Standard of Care Ethical Floor Present Case vs Engineer A Technical Literature Currency Maintenance Present Case
What the board concluded
- It was not unethical for Engineer A to fail to follow the most recent design parameters for structural design in severe weather areas published in the most recent technical literature.