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Philosophy of Engineering, East and West pp 23–36Cite as

Ontology of Technical Artifacts: A Proposal

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Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science ((BSPS,volume 330))

Abstract

This general exploration of discussions about the ontology of technical artifacts begins with a brief summary of views of Aristotle and Kant that have implications for contemporary proposals for an engineering ontology. It then argues for an extension of the dual natures analysis developed by Peter Kroes and others that would take into account causality, creativity, intentionality, and finality. This new proposal draws on the work of Karl Popper and especially Nicolai Hartmann. I emphasize, however, that this is only a proposal that remains to be elaborated.

If there are no artifacts, then there are no philosophical problems about artifacts.

―Peter van Inwagen (1990, p. 128)

We need not conceive of … artifactual kinds as existing and having their natures entirely independently of all beliefs in order to treat them ontologically seriously.

―Amie L. Thomasson (2003)

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Acknowledgement

I want to express warmest thanks to Carl Mitcham who polished my poor English.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Hans Poser

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  1. Hans Poser
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Correspondence to Hans Poser .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Philosophy, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China

    Carl Mitcham

  2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Bocong LI

  3. Engineering & Computer Science, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, USA

    Byron Newberry

  4. Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute for the History of Natural Sciences, Beijing, China

    Baichun ZHANG

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Poser, H. (2018). Ontology of Technical Artifacts: A Proposal. In: Mitcham, C., LI, B., Newberry, B., ZHANG, B. (eds) Philosophy of Engineering, East and West. Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science, vol 330. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62450-1_3

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