Abstract
There is a growing interest in exploring engineering practice, especially as it reveals that which might be considered essential or distinctive. However, such an exploration often constructs a dichotomous view that artificially separates science from non-science, the technical from the social; and thereby distorts what engineering actually is and what engineers really do. In this paper, I propose an alternative to that dichotomous view – engineering as performance. Like engineering practice, engineering as performance highlights the everyday activities of engineers, although the focus changes from what is essential or distinctive about those activities to the “performative accomplishment.” Consequently, the actual work of engineering and the real performances of engineers can now be viewed as a genuine ensemble that includes both science and non-science, the technical and the social.
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Evans, R. (2013). Engineering as Performance: An “Experiential Gestalt” for Understanding Engineering. In: Michelfelder, D., McCarthy, N., Goldberg, D. (eds) Philosophy and Engineering: Reflections on Practice, Principles and Process. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 15. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7762-0_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7762-0_3
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