Confucian Engineers: Professional Identity, Engineering Practices, and Ethical Ideals

Abstract

As the most influential Chinese school of thought, Confucianism has guided individual decision-making and social interactions in Chinese societies and other cultures with Confucian heritages, such as Japan, Korea, and Singapore. Scholarship in engineering studies has demonstrated that cultural differences affect engineers’ professional identity and social responsibilities. This chapter provides a historical and cultural conceptualization of “Confucian engineers,” drawing on sources in historical and philosophical studies of engineering and engineers in ancient China. This historical-philosophical analysis will help demonstrate the extent to which the values and practices of contemporary Chinese engineers are performatively equivalent to those of ancient Chinese engineers. More specifically, this chapter addresses the following three questions: (1) Who are Confucian engineers? What is their professional identity?; (2) How do Confucian engineers do their work? What are their cultural practices?; and (3) To which ethical ideals do Confucian engineers subscribe? This chapter is of particular interest to scholars, engineers, and educators who are eager to understand the cultural contexts of Chinese engineering and engineers and explore effective ways to cultivate future engineers capable of working with engineers from the cultures with the Confucian heritage.

摘要：作为最具影响力的中国思想流派，儒家思想一直在华人社会以及其他具有儒家传统的文化（例如日本、韩国和新加坡）中指引着个体决策和社会交往。工程研究领域的学术成果已经表明，文化差异影响着工程师的职业身份及其社会责任。本章借鉴了有关中国古 代工程和工程师的历史和哲学方面的研究资料，对"儒家工程师"这一概念做出了历史与哲学方面的界定。这种历史与哲学分析将有助于阐明，在多大程度上当代工程师与中国古代工程师在价值与实践方面在表现形式上是等同的。更具体地说，本章试图解决三个问题：(1) 谁是儒家工程师？他们的职业身份是什么？ (2) 儒家工程师如何开展他们的工作？他们的文化习俗是什么？ (3) 儒家工程师赞同哪些道德理想？本章特别适合那些渴望了解中国工程和工程师文化背景的学者、工程师和教育工作者，帮助他们探索培养未来工程师的有效方法。而这些未来工程师，将能够自信地与来自儒家传统文化的工程师开展有效合作。