Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
an
Epistemology of
Engineering
NOVEMBER 10-12, 2008
WORKSHOP ON PHILOSOPHY & ENGINEERING
ROYAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING, LONDON!
What’s Engineering Knowledge?
EPISTEMOLOGY
OF ENGINEERING
EPISTEMOLOGY OF DESIGN
ENGINEERING PHILOSOPHY OF
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TOWARD AN EPISTEMOLOGY
OF ENGINEERING
Toward
an
Epistemology of
Engineering
NOVEMBER 10-12, 2008
WORKSHOP ON PHILOSOPHY & ENGINEERING
ROYAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING, LONDON!
1. THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF ENGINEERING!
6. CONCLUSIONS!
1. THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF ENGINEERING!
6. CONCLUSIONS!
1. THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF ENGINEERING!
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PRACTICAL
DESIGN REALIZATION
The creation of social and economic value and the belief in the
satisfaction of end users emerge as central values
1. THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF ENGINEERING!
ENGINEERING AS DESIGN
Engineers as designers and integrators
The art of the “homo faber”, in its purest expression, the ability
to tuck up one’s sleeves and get down to the nitty-gritty.
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PRACTICAL
DESIGN REALIZATION
1. THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF ENGINEERING!
PRACTICAL
DESIGN REALIZATION
PRACTICAL
DESIGN REALIZATION
CONSTRUCTIVIST &
INTERPRETIVIST
PERSPECTIVE
PRACTICAL
CONSTRUCTIVIST &
DESIGN REALIZATION
INTERPRETIVIST
PERSPECTIVE
Schön, Mintzberg, Ciborra,
(Crafting & Bricolage)
6. CONCLUSIONS!
2. THE FOUR QUESTIONS OF THE PHILOSOPHY OF KNOWELDGE!
Ontological question
What reality can we known?
Epistemological question
What is knowledge? What knowledge can we get?
Methodological question
How can we build that knowledge?
Axiological question
What is the value of the knowledge we build?
[Guba & Lincoln (1994), Lincoln & Guba (2000)] "
1. THE FOUR DIMENSIONS OF ENGINEERING!
6. CONCLUSIONS!
3. THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF DESIGN !
6. CONCLUSIONS!
4. THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF ENGINEERING!
ONTOLOGICAL QUESTION
What reality can engineering know?
scientists, doers! designers, social experts!
We can know the reality that is external We know the world by interacting with it in
to us, independent from us, and driven an emergent process that changes
by immutable laws knowledge as we keep interacting
As scientists and doers, they value the realist principle, but, as designers
and social experts they are able to reconcile it with the phenomenological principle
[Figueiredo & Cunha (2006)] "
4. THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF ENGINEERING!
EPISTEMOLOGICAL QUESTION
What is engineering knowledge?
scientists, doers! designers!
METHODOLOGICAL QUESTION
How can engineering knowledge be built?
scientists, doers! designers, social experts!
To explain reality we must divide each difficulty We build knowledge by seeing the world as complex and
into as many parts as possible and necessary embodying stability and change, chaos and order, with
to resolve it better the parts interacting in the emergent and largely
unpredictable construction of reality
There is no effect without a cause and no
change without a reason for change
Human reason can react to the dissonances to which it is
Engineers construct their knowledge confronted by producing “intelligent actions” adapted to
reduce these dissonances
along this whole continuum"
[Figueiredo & Cunha (2006)] "
4. THE EPISTEMOLOGY OF ENGINEERING!
AXIOLOGICAL QUESTION
What is the value of engineering knowledge?
scientists! designers, doers!
AXIOLOGICAL QUESTION
What is the value of engineering knowledge?
scientists! some designers, some social scientists!
6. CONCLUSIONS!
5. RIGOUR, CREATIVITY & CHANCE IN ENGINEERING!
6. CONCLUSIONS!
6. CONCLUSIONS!