Philosophy and Engineering: Reflections on Practice, Principles and Process

Building on the breakthrough text Philosophy and Engineering: An Emerging Agenda, this book offers 30 chapters covering conceptual and substantive developments in the philosophy of engineering, along with a series of critical reflections by engineering practitioners. The volume demonstrates how reflective engineering can contribute to a better understanding of engineering identity and explores how integrating engineering and philosophy could lead to innovation in engineering methods, design and education.

The volume is divided into reflections on practice, principles and process, each of which challenges prevalent assumptions and commitments within engineering and philosophy. The volume explores the ontological and epistemological dimensions of engineering and exposes the falsity of the commonly held belief that the field is simply the application of science knowledge to problem solving. Above all, the perspectives collected here demonstrate the value of a constructivedialogue between engineering and philosophy and show how collaboration between the disciplines casts light on longstanding problems from both sides.

The chapters in this volume are from a diverse and international body of authors, including philosophers and engineers, and represent a highly select group of papers originally presented in three different conferences. These are the 2008 Workshop on Philosophy and Engineering (WPE-2008) held at the Royal Academy of Engineering; the 2009 meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (SPT-2009) at the University of Twente in the Netherlands; and the Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology (fPET-2010), held in Golden, Colorado at the Colorado School of Mines.

Offers up-to-date perspectives on central issues in the emerging dialogue between philosophers and engineers Contributes to the formation of the new field of philosophy of engineering Provides an interdisciplinary view including perspectives from both theorists and practitioners Demonstrates how reflective engineering can contribute to the construction of an engineering identity

Klappentext

Building on the breakthrough text Philosophy and Engineering: An Emerging Agenda, this book offers 30 chapters covering conceptual and substantive developments in the philosophy of engineering, along with a series of critical reflections by engineering practitioners. The volume demonstrates how reflective engineering can contribute to a better understanding of engineering identity and explores how integrating engineering and philosophy could lead to innovation in engineering methods, design and education.

The volume is divided into reflections on practice, principles and process, each of which challenges prevalent assumptions and commitments within engineering and philosophy. The volume explores the ontological and epistemological dimensions of engineering and exposes the falsity of the commonly held belief that the field is simply the application of science knowledge to problem solving. Above all, the perspectives collected here demonstrate the value of a constructive dialogue between engineering and philosophy and show how collaboration between the disciplines casts light on longstanding problems from both sides.

The chapters in this volume are from a diverse and international body of authors, including philosophers and engineers, and represent a highly select group of papers originally presented in three different conferences. These are the 2008 Workshop on Philosophy and Engineering (WPE-2008) held at the Royal Academy of Engineering; the 2009 meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (SPT-2009) at the University of Twente in the Netherlands; and the Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology (fPET-2010), held in Golden, Colorado at the Colorado School of Mines.

Inhalt
Preface.- Foreword: An Exchange with Carl Mitcham.- Part I: Reflections on Practice. Chapter 1. The Ignorance of Engineers and How They Know It; Hans Poser.- Chapter 2. Rules of Skill: Ethics in Engineering; Wade L. Robison.- Chapter 3. Engineering as Performance: An Experiential Gestalt for the Understanding of Engineering; Rick Evans.- Chapter 4. The Formulation of Engineering Identities: Storytelling as Philosophical Inquiry; Russell Korte.- Chapter 5. Ove Arup: Theoretical and Moral Positions in Action and the Origins of an Engineering Firm; Andrew Chilvers and Sarah Bell.- Chapter 6. Transferable Skills Development in Engineering Students: Analysis of Service-Learning Impact; Donna M. Rizzo, Mandar M. Dewoolkar, and Nancy J. Hayden.- Chapter 7. Future Reflective Practitioners: The Contributions of Philosophy; Viola Schiaffionati.- Chapter 8. Fitting Engineering into Philosophy; Joseph C. Pitt.- Chapter 9. Engineering as Willing; Jon Alan Schmidt.- Part II: Reflections on Principles.- Chapter 10. Debunking Contemporary Myths Concerning Engineering; Billy Vaughn Koen.- Chapter 11. The Engineer's Identity Crisis: Homo Faber or Homo Sapiens?; Priyan Dias.- Chapter 12. Varieties of Parthood: Ontology learns from Engineering; Peter Simons.- Chapter 13. Engineered Artifacts; Byron Newberry.- Chapter 14. Engineering Ethics: From Preventive Ethics to Aspirational Ethics; Charles E. Harris, Jr..- Chapter 15. Making the Case for the Inclusion of Lay Persons on Engineering Accreditation Panels: A Role for an Engineering Hippocratic Oath?; William Grimson and Mike Murphy.- Chapter 16. Ethical Awareness in Chinese Professional Engineering Organizations: Textual Research on Constitutions of Chinese Engineering Societies; CAO Nanyan, SU Junbin, HU Mingyan.- Chapter 17. Engineering for Peace: An Obligation of Professional Capabilities; W. Richard Bowen.- Chapter 18. Roboethics and Telerobotic Weapons Systems; John P. Sullins.- Chapter 19. Normative Crossover: The Ethos of Socio-Technological Systems; Rune Nydal.- Part III: Reflections on Process.- Chapter 20. Translating Values into Design Requirements; Ibo van de Poel.- Chapter 21. Engineering Hubris: Adam Smith and the Quest for the Perfect Machine; Scott Forschler.- Chapter 22. The Technology of Collective Memory and the Normativity of Truth; Kieron O'Hara.- Chapter 23. Plans for Modeling Rational Acceptance of Technology; Wybo Houkes and Auke J.K. Pols.- Chapter 24. On the Epistemology of Breakthrough Innovation: The Orthogonal and Non-Linear Natures of Discovery; Bruce A. Vojak and Raymond L. Price.- Chapter 25. Uncertainty in the Design of Non-Prototypical Engineered Systems; William M. Bulleit.- Chapter 26. Object-Oriented Method and the Relationship between Structure and Function of Technical Artifacts; PAN Enrong.- Chapter 27. The Methodological Ladder of Industrialized Inventions: A Descriptive-Based and Explanation-Enhanced Prescriptive Model; M. H. Abolkheir.- Chapter 28. On the Feasibility ofNanotechnology: A Chinese Perspective; WANG Guoyu.- Chapter 29. Engineering Innovation: Energy, Policy, and the Role of Engineering; Zachary Pirtle.- Chapter 30. Is Engineering Philosophically Weak?; David E. Goldberg.