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The philosophy of engineering is an emerging discipline that considers what
engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
is, what
engineers Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the li ...
do, and how their work affects
society A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soc ...
, and thus includes aspects of
ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
and
aesthetics Aesthetics, or esthetics, is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of beauty and taste, as well as the philosophy of art (its own area of philosophy that comes out of aesthetics). It examines aesthetic values, often expressed t ...
, as well as the
ontology In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophy, philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, Becoming (philosophy), becoming, and reality. Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into Category ...
,
epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Epi ...
, etc. that might be studied in, for example, the
philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...
or the
philosophy of technology The philosophy of technology is a sub-field of philosophy that studies the nature of technology and its social effects. Philosophical discussion of questions relating to technology (or its Greek ancestor ''techne'') dates back to the very dawn of ...
.


History

Engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
is the profession aimed at modifying the
natural environment The natural environment or natural world encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally, meaning in this case not artificial. The term is most often applied to the Earth or some parts of Earth. This environment encompasses t ...
, through the
design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...
,
manufacture Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary secto ...
and maintenance of artifacts and
technological Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
systems. It might then be contrasted with
science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence ...
, the aim of which is to ''understand'' nature. Engineering at its core is about causing change, and therefore management of change is central to engineering practice. The philosophy of engineering is then the consideration of philosophical issues as they apply to engineering. Such issues might include the objectivity of experiments, the ethics of engineering activity in the workplace and in society, the aesthetics of engineered artifacts, etc. While engineering seems historically to have meant ''devising'', the distinction between art, craft and technology isn't clearcut. The
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
root ''ars'', the Germanic root ''kraft'' and the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
root ''techne'' all originally meant the skill or ability to produce something, as opposed to, say,
athletic Athletic may refer to: * An athlete, a sportsperson * Athletic director, a position at many American universities and schools * Athletic type, a physical/psychological type in the classification of Ernst Kretschmer * Athletic of Philadelphia, a ba ...
ability. The something might be tangible, like a
sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
or a
building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and func ...
, or less tangible, like a work of
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...
. Nowadays, ''art'' is commonly applied to the visual, performing or literary fields, especially the so-called
fine arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwor ...
('the art of writing'), ''craft'' usually applies to the manual skill involved in the manufacture of an object, whether
embroidery Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen ...
or
aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or by using the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in ...
('the craft of
typesetting Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or '' glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random ...
') and ''technology'' tends to mean the products and processes currently used in an industry ('the technology of
printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...
'). In contrast, ''engineering'' is the activity of effecting change through the design and manufacture of artifacts ('the engineering of print technology').


Ethics

What distinguishes engineering
design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design' ...
from artistic design is the requirement for the engineer to make quantitative predictions of the behavior and effect of the artifact prior to its manufacture. Such predictions may be more or less accurate but usually includes the effects on individuals and/or society. In this sense, engineering can be considered a social as well a technological discipline and judged not just by whether its artifacts work, in a narrow sense, but also by how they influence and serve
social values In ethics and social sciences, value denotes the degree of importance of something or action, with the aim of determining which actions are best to do or what way is best to live (normative ethics in ethics), or to describe the significance of dif ...
. What engineers do is subject to
moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. ...
evaluation.2nd Philosophy of Engineering Seminar Information
/ref>


Modeling

Socio-technical systems, such as
transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...
,
utilities A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...
and their related infrastructures comprise
human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...
elements as well as artifacts. Traditional mathematical and physical
modeling A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...
techniques may not take adequate account of the effects of engineering on people, and culture.Engineering Models
Retrieved May 2018
The Civil Engineering discipline makes elaborate attempts to ensure that a structure meets its specifications and other requirements prior to its actual construction. The methods employed are well known as Analysis and Design. Systems Modelling and Description makes an effort to extract the generic unstated principles behind the engineering approach.


Product life cycle

The traditional engineering disciplines seem discrete but the engineering of artifacts has implications that extend beyond such disciplines into areas that might include
psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...
,
finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of f ...
and
sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...
. The design of any artifact will then take account of the conditions under which it will be manufactured, the conditions under which it will be used, and the conditions under which it will be disposed. Engineers can consider such "life cycle" issues without losing the precision and rigor necessary to design functional systems.


See also

* Carl Mitcham *
Henry Petroski Henry Petroski (February 6, 1942) is an American engineer specializing in failure analysis. A professor both of civil engineering and history at Duke University, he is also a prolific author. Petroski has written over a dozen books – beginning ...
*
Philosophy of technology The philosophy of technology is a sub-field of philosophy that studies the nature of technology and its social effects. Philosophical discussion of questions relating to technology (or its Greek ancestor ''techne'') dates back to the very dawn of ...
*
Philosophy of science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultim ...
*
Ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
* Science and Engineering Ethics


Publications


Books

* P. & Gunn A.S. (1998), ''Engineering, Ethics, and the Environment'', Cambridge University Press, New York * Addis W (1990) ''Structural Engineering: The Nature of Theory and Design'', Ellis Horwood, Chichester, UK * Addis W (1986) ''Theory and Design in Civil and Structural Engineering: A Study in the History and Philosophy of Engineering'', PhD Thesis, University of Reading * Bucciarelli L.L. (2003) ''Engineering Philosophy'', Delft University Press, Delft * Bush V. (1980) ''Science,The Endless Frontier'', National Science Foundation Press, Washington DC * Beale N., Peyton-Jones S.L. et al. (1999) ''Cybernauts Awake'' Ethical and Spiritual Implications of Computers, Information Technology and the Internet Church House Publishing ISBN * Cutcliffe S.H. (2000) ''Ideas, Machines and Values: An introduction to Science, Technology and Social Studies'', Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham, MD * Davis, M. (1998) ''Thinking like an Engineer: Studies in the Ethics of a Profession'', Oxford University Press, New York. * Florman, Samuel C. (1981) ''Blaming Technology: The Irrational Search for Scapegoats'', St Martin's Press, New York * Florman, Samuel C. (1987) ''The Civilized Engineer'', St Martin's Press, New York * Florman, Samuel C. (1968) ''Engineering and the Liberal Arts : A Technologist's Guide to History, Literature'' * Florman, Samuel C. (1994) ''The Existential Pleasures of Engineering'', 2nd ed, St Martin's Press, New York * Florman, Samuel C. (1996) ''The Introspective Engineer'', St Martin's Press, New York * Goldman S.L. (1991) "The social captivity of Engineering", ''Critical Perspectives on non academic Science and Engineering'', (ed Durbin P.T.), Lehigh University Press, Bethlehem, PA * Goldman S.L. (1990) "Philosophy, Engineering and Western Culture", in ''Broad and Narrow interpretations of Philosophy of Technology'', (ed Durbin P.T.), Kluwer,Amsterdam * Harris E.C, Pritchard M.S. & Rabins M.J. (1995), ''Engineering Ethics: Concepts and Cases'', Wadsworth, Belmont, CA * Johnston, S., Gostelow, P., Jones, E. (1999), ''Engineering and Society: An Australian perspective'', 2nd Ed. Longman, * Lewis, Arthur O. Jr. ed. (1963), ''Of Men and Machines'', E.P. Dutton * Martin M.W. & Schinzinger R (1996), ''Ethics in Engineering'', 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, New York * Mitcham C. (1999), ''Thinking through Technology: The Path between Engineering and Philosophy'', University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. 19–38. * Mumford L. (1970) ''
The Myth of the Machine ''The Myth of the Machine'' is a two-volume book taking an in-depth look at the forces that have shaped modern technology since prehistoric times. The first volume, ''Technics and Human Development'', was published in 1967, followed by the second ...
'', Harcourt Brace Javonovich, New York
Blockley, David (1980) The Nature of Structural Design and Safety
Ellis Howood, Chichester, UK. (Free download)
Blockley, David (Editor) (1992) Engineering Safety
McGraw Hill, (Free download)
Blockley, David (2010) ''A Very Short Introduction to Engineering''
Oxford University Press, * Petroski, Henry (1992) ''To Engineer Is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design'' * Petroski, Henry (2010) ''The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems '' * Simon H. (1996), ''The Sciences of the Artificial'', 3rd ed. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA * Unger S.H. (1994), ''Controlling Technology: Ethics and the Responsible Engineer'', 2nd ed., John Wiley, New York * Vincenti W.G. (1990) ''What Engineers Know and How They Know It: Analytical Studies from Aeronautical History'', The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Md. * *
Jeroen van den Hoven Jeroen van den Hoven (born 1957 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch ethicist and a philosophy professor at Delft University of Technology. He specializes in ethics of information technology. Work Van den Hoven has written and worked with a range of schola ...
, Seumas Miller & Thomas Pogge (2017). Designing in Ethics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. * Priyan Dias (2019). ''Philosophy for Engineering: Practice, Context, Ethics, Models, Failure''. Springer Singapore. * Carl Mitcham (2019). ''Steps toward a Philosophy of Engineering: Historico-Philosophical and Critical Essays''.


Articles


Philosophy in the Making
by Natasha McCarthy ''Ingenia'' March 26, 2006 * Creed M.J. (1993) "Introducing Structures in a Modern Curriculum", Proceedings of the Conference, Innovation and Change in Civil Engineering Education, The Queen's University of Belfast * Davis, M. (2001) ''The Professional Approach to Engineering Ethics: Five Research Questions'', '' Science and Engineering Ethics'' 7 (July 2001): 379-390. * Lewin D (1981) Engineering Philosophy - The Third Culture, Paper to the Royal Society, UK * Mitcham C. (1994), "Engineering Design Research and Social Responsibility", ''Ethics of Scientific Research'', pp. 153–196 and 221-223 * Hess, J.L. and Fore, G., (2018). "A systematic literature review of US engineering ethics interventions", '' Science and Engineering Ethics'', ''24''(2), pp.551-583. * Mitcham, C. and Englehardt, E.E., 2019. "Ethics across the curriculum: Prospects for broader (and deeper) teaching and learning in research and engineering ethics", '' Science and Engineering Ethics'', ''25''(6), pp.1735-1762.


Notes and references


External links


Philosophy in the Making
by Natasha McCarthy ''Ingenia'' March 26, 2006
Royal Academy of Engineering 'philosophy' and ethics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philosophy Of Engineering
philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...