Steps toward a Philosophy of Engineering PDF Download

Author: Carl Mitcham
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1786611287
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
The rise of classic Euro-American philosophy of technology in the 1950s originally emphasized the importance of technologies as material entities and their mediating influence within human experience. Recent decades, however, have witnessed a subtle shift toward reflection on the activity from which these distinctly modern artifacts emerge and through which they are engaged and managed, that is, on engineering. What is engineering? What is the meaning of engineering? How is engineering related to other aspects of human existence? Such basic questions readily engage all major branches of philosophy --- ontology, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics --- although not always to the same degree. The historico-philosophical and critical reflections collected here record a series of halting steps to think through engineering and the engineered way of life that we all increasingly live in what has been called the Anthropocene. The aim is not to promote an ideology for engineering but to stimulate deeper reflection among engineers and non-engineers alike about some basic challenges of our engineered and engineering lifeworld.

Author: Priyan Dias
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 981151271X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
This book highlights the unique need for philosophy among engineers, which stems from issues regarding their knowledge (epistemology), role or being (ontology) and influence (ethics). It discusses practice, context, ethics, models and failure as key aspects of engineering, and provides an easy but essential introduction to philosophy for engineers by presenting four key philosophers and linking them to these aspects: Karl Popper (failure), Thomas Kuhn (models), Michael Polanyi (practice & ethics) and Martin Heidegger (context & ethics). Popper, Kuhn and Polanyi are philosophers of science (epistemologists) who have challenged the view that science is a ‘cool, detached’ discipline, since it also depends on human imagination (Popper), consensus (Kuhn) and judgment plus artistry (Polanyi); factors that are central to engineering. Heidegger (an ontologist) critiqued technology on the one hand (ethics), but also stressed the importance of ‘doing’ over ‘knowing,’ thus ‘authenticating’ the highly pragmatic engineering profession. Science is the ‘core’ component of engineering, which is overlaid by a variety of heuristics . Practice-based knowledge can be formalized, with artificial intelligence (AI) offering a valuable tool for engineering, just as mathematics has done for science. The book also examines systems thinking in engineering. Featuring numerous diagrams, tables and examples throughout, the book is easily accessible to engineers.

Author: Carl Mitcham
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226531988
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 410

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Book Description
This introduction to the philosophy of technology discusses its sources and uses. Tracing the changing meaning of "technology" from ancient times to the modern day, it identifies two important traditions of critical analysis of technology: the engineering approach and the humanities approach.

Author: William C. Wimsatt
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674015456
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 480

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Book Description
Analytic philosophers once pantomimed physics, trying to understand the world by breaking it down. Thinkers from the Darwinian sciences now pose alternatives to such reductionism. Wimsatt argues that today’s scientists seek to atomize phenomena only to understand how entities, events, and processes articulate at different levels.

Author: Louis L. Bucciarelli
Publisher: Delft University Press
ISBN:
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 124

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Book Description
Engineering and Philosophy seem two worlds apart. But things and ideas are not disjunct in this world, and their synthesis is certainly essential in engineering design. In this book, the author explores how the concerns of philosophers are relevant to engineering thought and practice -in negotiating tradeoffs, in diagnosing failure, in constructing adequate models and simulations, and in teaching. This book is based on a number of lectures given at the Technical University of Delft, where the author was a Visiting Professor hosted by the Philosophy section and the School of Industrial Engineering Design. Louis Bucciarelli is a Professor of Engineering and Technology Studies at MIT. He is the author of numerous publications including the book Designing Engineers. Contents include: Designing, like language, is a social process, What engineers don't know & why they believe it, Knowing that and how, Learning engineering, Extrapolation, Index.

Author: Harry Halpin
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 111870018X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This is the first interdisciplinary exploration of the philosophical foundations of the Web, a new area of inquiry that has important implications across a range of domains. Contains twelve essays that bridge the fields of philosophy, cognitive science, and phenomenology Tackles questions such as the impact of Google on intelligence and epistemology, the philosophical status of digital objects, ethics on the Web, semantic and ontological changes caused by the Web, and the potential of the Web to serve as a genuine cognitive extension Brings together insightful new scholarship from well-known analytic and continental philosophers, such as Andy Clark and Bernard Stiegler, as well as rising scholars in “digital native” philosophy and engineering Includes an interview with Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web

Author: Samuel C. Florman
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1466842369
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
Humans have always sought to change their environment--building houses, monuments, temples, and roads. In the process, they have remade the fabric of the world into newly functional objects that are also works of art to be admired. In this second edition of his popular Existential Pleasures of Engineering, Samuel Florman explores how engineers think and feel about their profession. A deeply insightful and refreshingly unique text, this book corrects the myth that engineering is cold and passionless. Indeed, Florman celebrates engineering not only crucial and fundamental but also vital and alive; he views it as a response to some of our deepest impulses, an endeavor rich in spiritual and sensual rewards. Opposing the "anti-technology" stance, Florman gives readers a practical, creative, and even amusing philosophy of engineering that boasts of pride in his craft.

Author: Guru Madhavan
Publisher: Oneworld
ISBN: 9781780748641
Category : Creative ability in science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Dubai's Burj Khalifa - the world's tallest building - looks nothing like Microsoft's Office Suite, and digital surround sound doesn't work like a citywide telecommunication grid. Yet these engineering feats are all the result of a unique thinking process combining abstract and structured thinking, common sense and creativity. In this groundbreaking new work, Guru Madhavan reveals the extraordinary influence of engineering on society. Drawing on a cast of star engineers like Steve Jobs, the Wright brothers and Thomas Edison, Madhavan explores this mindset and shows how to apply it to life and business in areas as varied as traffic congestion, healthcare and filmmaking. Think Like an Engineer demonstrates how key engineering concepts can help you solve problems, make better decisions and innovate in a complex world.

Author: Pieter E. Vermaas
Publisher: Morgan & Claypool Publishers
ISBN: 160845598X
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 135

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Book Description
In A Philosophy of Technology: From Technical Artefacts to Sociotechnical Systems, technology is analysed from a series of different perspectives. The analysis starts by focussing on the most tangible products of technology, called technical artefacts, and then builds step-wise towards considering those artefacts within their context of use, and ultimately as embedded in encompassing sociotechnical systems that also include humans as operators and social rules like legislation. Philosophical characterisations are given of technical artefacts, their context of use and of sociotechnical systems. Analyses are presented of how technical artefacts are designed in engineering and what types of technological knowledge is involved in engineering. And the issue is considered how engineers and others can or cannot influence the development of technology. These characterisations are complemented by ethical analyses of the moral status of technical artefacts and the possibilities and impossibilities for engineers to influence this status when designing artefacts and the sociotechnical systems in which artefacts are embedded. The running example in the book is aviation, where aeroplanes are examples of technical artefacts and the world aviation system is an example of a sociotechnical system. Issues related to the design of quiet aeroplane engines and the causes of aviation accidents are analysed for illustrating the moral status of designing, and the role of engineers therein. Table of Contents: Technical Artefacts / Technical Designing / Ethics and Designing / Technological Knowledge / Sociotechnical Systems / The Role of Social Factors in Technological Development / Ethics and Unintended Consequences of Technology

Author: Carl Mitcham
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319624504
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
This co-edited volume compares Chinese and Western experiences of engineering, technology, and development. In doing so, it builds a bridge between the East and West and advances a dialogue in the philosophy of engineering. Divided into three parts, the book starts with studies on epistemological and ontological issues, with a special focus on engineering design, creativity, management, feasibility, and sustainability. Part II considers relationships between the history and philosophy of engineering, and includes a general argument for the necessity of dialogue between history and philosophy. It continues with a general introduction to traditional Chinese attitudes toward engineering and technology, and philosophical case studies of the Chinese steel industry, railroads, and cybernetics in the Soviet Union. Part III focuses on engineering, ethics, and society, with chapters on engineering education and practice in China and the West. The book’s analyses of the interactions of science, engineering, ethics, politics, and policy in different societal contexts are of special interest. The volume as a whole marks a new stage in the emergence of the philosophy of engineering as a new regionalization of philosophy. This carefully edited interdisciplinary volume grew out of an international conference on the philosophy of engineering hosted by the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. It includes 30 contributions by leading philosophers, social scientists, and engineers from Australia, China, Europe, and the United States.