Whereas science, technology, and medicine have all called forth dedicated philosophical investigations, a fourth major contributor to the technoscientific world in which we all live - that is, engineering - has been accorded almost none of the philosophical attention it deserves. This volume thus offers a first characterisation of this important new field, by some of the primary philosophers and ethicists interested in engineering and leading engineers interested in philosophical reflections. The volume deals with such questions as: What is engineering? In what respect does engineering differ from science? What ethical problems does engineering raise? By what ethical principles are engineers guided? How do engineers themselves conceive of their profession? What do they see as the main philosophical challenges confronting them in the 21st century? The authors respond to these and other questions from philosophical and engineering view points and so illustrate how together they can meet the challenges and realize the opportunities present in the necessary encounters between philosophy and engineering - encounters that are ever more important in an increasingly engineered world and its problematic futures.
Author(s): Ibo van de Poel (auth.), Ibo Poel, David Goldberg (eds.)
Series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology 2
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 361
Tags: Philosophy of Technology; Engineering, general; Engineering Design; Modern Philosophy; Philosophy of Science; Ethics
Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
Front Matter....Pages 13-13
Philosophy and Engineering: Setting the Stage....Pages 1-11
Distinguishing Architects from Engineers: A Pilot Study in Differences Between Engineers and Other Technologists....Pages 15-30
The Rise of Philosophy of Engineering in the East and the West....Pages 31-40
Multiple Facets of Philosophy and Engineering....Pages 41-47
Comparing Approaches to the Philosophy of Engineering: Including the Linguistic Philosophical Approach....Pages 49-59
Focussing Philosophy of Engineering: Analyses of Technical Functions and Beyond....Pages 61-73
Philosophy, Engineering, and the Sciences....Pages 75-82
Engineering Science as a “Discipline of the Particular”? Types of Generalization in Engineering Sciences....Pages 83-93
How the Models of Engineering Tell the Truth....Pages 95-108
Limits to Systems Engineering....Pages 109-122
Front Matter....Pages 123-123
Integrity and the Ethical Responsibilities of Engineers....Pages 125-134
Prioritising People: Outline of an Aspirational Engineering Ethic....Pages 135-146
Ethical Principles for Engineers in a Global Environment....Pages 147-159
Professional Ethics Without a Profession: A French View on Engineering Ethics....Pages 161-173
Imagining Worlds: Responsible Engineering Under Conditions of Epistemic Opacity....Pages 175-187
Transferring Responsibility Through Use Plans....Pages 189-203
Design Problems and Ethics....Pages 205-214
Ethics in Innovation: Cooperation and Tension....Pages 215-226
Teaching Ethics to Engineering Students: From Clean Concepts to Dirty Tricks....Pages 227-237
A Collaborative Platform for Experiments in Ethics and Technology....Pages 239-252
Front Matter....Pages 253-253
Why Philosophy? Why Now? Engineering Responds to the Crisis of a Creative Era....Pages 255-263
A World of Things Not Facts....Pages 265-273
Architecting Engineering Systems....Pages 275-284
Bits Don’t Have Error Bars: Upward Conceptualization and Downward Approximation....Pages 285-294
Metaphysics of Engineering....Pages 295-304
Engineering Determinacy: The Exclusiveness of Technology and the Presence of the Indeterminate....Pages 305-312
Quo Vadis, Humans? Engineering the Survival of the Human Species....Pages 313-341
The Focal Engineering Experience....Pages 343-353
Back Matter....Pages 355-361
