Abstract
What is engineering judgement? A tautological definition might be that engineering judgement is the ability to apply scientifically derived principles to real world situations to solve problems. This definition is both helpful and unhelpful. A person with good engineering judgement consistently produces desirable engineering outcomes, but just what is this ability? This paper will attempt to develop a definition of engineering judgement. We compare engineering judgement with the classical Greek virtue of phronesis. Being a component of an ancient conceptualization system foreign to our own, phronesis is not a direct equivalency but we do find that phronesis provides a regulatory function within its system of virtues similar to the role of engineering judgement in regulating the process of engineering. Never satisfied with the status quo, our society wants to make changes to the world. Engineers respond to that desire by defining reality in terms of problems and solutions. Unlike Greek philosophy, with its desire to find universal truths, engineers view the mathematical formulas and theories of science, not as universal truths but as heuristics, that is, ideas and techniques for problem solving found to be valid in certain, but not all circumstances. How does the engineer determine which theories or formulas are applicable in a given, particular situation? The answer is engineering judgement. Not a set technique, procedure or algorithm, engineering judgement is a creative process. Like a Greek virtue, one acquires engineering judgement by mimicry and practice. The paper concludes with a definition of engineering judgement that the author does not submit as complete and final but as an interim working heuristic to be criticised and improved upon by others, hopefully stimulating additional thought and research into the nature of engineering judgement.
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Notes
- 1.
Rackham, in his translation of the Nicomachean Ethics (1934), uses the word “prudence” to translate the word “phronesis”. Because phronesis is difficult to translate, its meaning is best understood from context clues from within Aristotle’s work. For this reason I have modified Rackham’s translations. Where he uses the English word “prudence”, I substitute the original Greek word “phronesis”.
- 2.
Davis notes that the scope of phronesis includes practical wisdom as applied to all aspects of life: political, social, family, economic. Judgement is an attribute that can be applied to specific disciplines. “Phronesis is (more or less) a global term; judgement is not global” (Davis 2011, p. 803).
- 3.
Modern use of the word engineering does indeed have a strong connotation toward making things, i.e. creating physical artifacts. The modern practice of engineering however is much broader, including such things as implementation of organizational change. Koen’ describes the engineers work as “[causing a] change” (2003, 11) He does not differentiate between changing physical materials and changing relationships within a system. We will examine Koen’s perspectives in more detail as the paper progresses.
- 4.
Wording changes are italicised.
- 5.
In his book Koen (2003) defines the engineering method applying the engineering heuristic, “Solve problems by successive approximations” (2003, 38). Here I am quoting his first approximate definition.
- 6.
There are many “problems” that are not ethical in nature. I take my seat on an airplane and take the magazine out of the pocket in front of me. I turn to the puzzle section and do a Sudoku “problem”. There is no “ought” involved. I solve the puzzle for mere entertainment. Thus there is a difference between a problem and a mere puzzle.
- 7.
Changes in the wording from the “second cut’ approximation have been underlined.
- 8.
Though philosophers of science have for years understood that scientific “truth” is always a tentative statement subject to modification and replacement, popular views of science tend more toward the notion that science provides universal truth about eternal things.
References
Aristotle. (1934). Nicomachean ethics (H. Rackham, Trans.) [Perseus Digital Library]. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons. Retrieved from http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0086.tlg010
Aristotle. (1960). Posterior analytics; Topica (H. Tredennick, & E. S. Forster, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Davis, M. (2011). A plea for judgment. Science and Engineering Ethics, 18(4), 789–808. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-011-9254-6.
Koen, B. V. (2003). Discussion of the method: Conducting the engineers approach to problem solving. New York: Oxford University Press.
NSPE. (n.d.). Code of ethics. National Society of Professional Engineers. Retrieved from https://www.nspe.org/resources/ethics/code-ethics
Phronesis. Liddell, H. G., & Scott, R. (2002). An intermediate Greek-English lexicon: Founded upon the seventh edition of Liddell and Scotts Greek-English lexicon. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press.
Plausible. (1996). The Oxford English dictionary and thesaurus. New York: Oxford University Press.
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McLaughlin, D. (2021). Engineering, Judgement and Engineering Judgement: A Proposed Definition. In: Pirtle, Z., Tomblin, D., Madhavan, G. (eds) Engineering and Philosophy. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 37. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70099-7_10
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