Abstract
The theme of this chapter is to briefly discuss the significance of philosophy of engineering in the field of philosophy and the relationship between engineering philosophy and interdisciplinary engineering studies. The relationship between philosophy of engineering and other disciplines is discussed, including its relationship to philosophy of science, philosophy of technology, philosophy of society, history of engineering, and sociology of engineering. An engineering community is not only a basic concept in sociology of engineering but also in philosophy of engineering. Members of the engineering community include engineers, managers, investors, workers, and other stakeholders. This chapter analyzes some key philosophical issues from the perspective of philosophy of engineering, including a new understanding of human nature, philosophy of engineering as a new form of world-changing philosophy and a linguistic analysis of the differences between traditional epistemology and philosophy of engineering. This chapter also presents a new understanding and analysis of engineering thinking and engineering knowledge. In response to Plato’s theory of Two Worlds and Popper’s theory of Three Worlds, this chapter posits a theory of Four Worlds. This theory emphasizes that artificial things constitute a fourth world composed of the products of human activities in material creation. The qualities of the fourth world and how these different worlds relate to one another are discussed. The final theme of this book is home constructing and harmony between Heaven, Earth, and Human. These concepts are present in Chinese Daoism, Marxism, Husserl’s philosophy and Heidegger’s philosophy. The philosophy of engineering provides a new understanding of this issue. In the preceding three chapters, we analyzed planning and implementation in engineering activities, and the use of artifacts in life. In this chapter, we will discuss the relationship between philosophy of engineering as an emerging branch and other disciplines and examine some fundamental philosophical issues concerning engineering practice.
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Notes
- 1.
Li Bocong 李伯聪, Li Sanhu 李三虎, and Li Bin 李斌 published Zhongguo jinxiandai gongcheng shigang 中国近现代工程史纲 [An outline history of modern engineering in China] in 2017.
- 2.
Understanding the core of technology as invention seems to be a narrow interpretation for some people. In the context of Chinese culture, people can easily accept this view, while in the context of European and American culture, people would think that this is a narrow view of technology. However, there are also some European and American philosophers, such as Friedrich Dessauer, who believed that the essence of technology is invention. Dessauer says, “In everyday talk technology refers to industrial manufacture and technical commodities—that is to say, its visible manifestation. In order to encounter its essence we must go where new forms are created for the first time. The mass production of industry is analogous to the coping and reproduction of poetry and musical compositions, whereas we are closer to the essence of poetry and music with the artist’s act of creation. The core of technology is invention. Everything is fundamentally contained therein, if not resolved into it” (Dessauer, 1983: 318). We can draw the conclusion that without invention, there would be no technology. Therefore, we can say that invention is the core of technology. Although technology can be understood in a narrow or broad sense, we still have to distinguish technology from engineering because engineering can be understood as the unity of technical and non-technical factors, which is a view shared by many European and American scholars.
- 3.
Although in a narrow sense, the scientific community comprises only scientists, in a broad sense it also includes managers of modern scientific activities and assistants of scientific experiments, for example, workers in science laboratories. However, this situation does not hinder the affirmation that the scientific community and the engineering community are essentially different communities.
- 4.
Li (2002).
- 5.
Bucciarelli (2003).
- 6.
Christensen, et al. (2007).
- 7.
Yin, et al. (2007).
- 8.
Du, and Li (2004).
- 9.
Yin, et al. (2011).
- 10.
Xu (2010).
- 11.
Jin, et al. (2007).
- 12.
Zhang (2010).
- 13.
Yan, et al. (2007).
- 14.
It must be noted that engineering activities are by no means to be effected merely by mental work, but also manually completed, so that a the brain and body of a person engaged in engineering activities must be united, not a “brain in a vat.”
- 15.
Chinese scholars commonly acknowledge that engineering activities existed in ancient society, even while some Western scholars think otherwise, i.e., that engineering activities began to appear only in modern times. However, both in the book titled The History of Engineers: A Profession in Six Millennia [Geschichte des Ingenieurs: Ein Beruf in sechs Jahrtausenden] by Walter Kaiser and Wolfgang König and in an article titled “Debunking Contemporary Myths Concerning Engineering” by Billy Vaughn Koen definitely take ancients’ labour tasks as engineering activities. Moreover, in the book Engineering in Time: The Systematics of Engineering History and its Contemporary Context (2004) by Canadian scholar A. A. Harms et al., a comprehensive examination and survey are made of an evolutionary history of human engineering, spanning over two million years.
- 16.
The meaning of engineering can be understood in a broad sense or in a narrow sense. Engineering in a broad sense includes social engineering and material engineering, i.e. engineering that makes artifacts. Engineering in a narrow sense refers only to the latter. When we talk about engineering in a broad sense, we must also emphasize that engineering activity as making artifacts is the most common and important type of engineering activity.
- 17.
Although this book mainly deals with engineering in a narrow sense, the further development of philosophy of engineering will take engineering in a broad sense as its object and content.
- 18.
For Chinese, the philosophy of engineering is largely a verbal concept system. For English, the philosophy of engineering is largely a gerund concept system.
- 19.
Extensive research of scientific philosophy in the West has shown that simplifying the reflective process and its relationships diminishes the importance of its complexity; however, this does not suggest that what is reflective in scientific thinking has been falsified or even negated.
- 20.
The Division of Engineering Management of the Chinese Academy of Engineering has studied the theory of engineering knowledge. For example, Gongcheng zhishi lun 工程知识论 [The Theory of Engineering Knowledge], which is edited by Yin Ruiyu 殷瑞钰, Li Bocong李伯聪, Luan Enjie 栾恩杰, et al., has been published in 2020 by Gaodeng jiaoyu chubanshe 高等教育出版社 [Higher Education Press].
- 21.
Before Popper, Gottlob Frege proposed his theory of three realms and Mark Amadeus Notturno studied differences between Frege’s theory and Popper’s theory. See Notturno (1985).
- 22.
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Li, B. (2021). Philosophy of Engineering: An Emerging Branch of Philosophy. In: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Engineering. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 39. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-64088-3_5
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