> How to be a responsible engineer who doesn't get people killed.
Actually, the above oath will maximize the number of people killed if the sworn engineer happens to be working on a weapon. There is absolutely nothing in that oath about not doing harm.
There's a difference between a collapsing bridge (the original reason for the oath) and a weapon. You knew from the start that the weapon was going to kill people. I'm ok with designing weapons; my ethical beliefs allow that. It would be unethical to accept the project but deliver a weapon that didn't work properly.
> I'm ok with designing weapons; my ethical beliefs allow that. It would be unethical to accept the project but deliver a weapon that didn't work properly.
Sabotage for a good cause is unethical? You have strange ethical beliefs.
> Actually, the above oath will maximize the number of people killed if the sworn engineer happens to be working on a weapon.
That depends on the weapon. If a weapon malfunctions and kills its operators, that will help maximize casualties. But it would still be a failure on the engineer's part. If it's supposed to kill its operators, then it wasn't.
Actually, the above oath will maximize the number of people killed if the sworn engineer happens to be working on a weapon. There is absolutely nothing in that oath about not doing harm.