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Métis: Reconfiguring the Philosophy of Engineering

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The Future of Engineering

Part of the book series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology ((POET,volume 31))

Abstract

The philosophy of engineering often conceives engineering as subordinate to technology, that is, as a kind of technological problem solving through scientific knowledge. However, many engineering solutions have been criticized because of the particular technical objects produced. Philosophical arguments by such thinkers as Gilbert Simondon, Gilles Deleuze, and Bernard Stiegler challenge this approach and suggest new ways for understanding engineering. Using etymological arguments, Carl Mitcham has contributed to the debate, although he consistently points to a lógos built on the epistemological grounds of modern science. This work proposes a reconfiguration of his etymological analysis that rescues métis, a word used by the Greeks to describe this cunning and inventive mode of thinking, something which is strongly associated with ancient and contemporary technical production, but has yet to be explored philosophically. The inclusion of métis in philosophical discussions of engineering may open new perspectives on the role of engineering in society, especially in the face of problems with the contemporary production of technical objects and the implications in the so-called anthropocentric age.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to the author, scientific knowledge does not allow the prediction of all the effects of technical objects. (Simondon 1958b: 57).

  2. 2.

    This is named by Simondon as the “hypertelic phenomenon”: an object’s unadaptation with respect to its environment, caused by the excessive specialization produced by an analytical more than synthetic thought, that, in its limit, it represents the total failure of the technical object.

  3. 3.

    The neglect of métis in the history of ancient thought was reported by Detiene and Vernant (1974: 17) and also by Anagnostopulos & Chelidoni (2008: 436).

  4. 4.

    Thinking Through Technology (1994) is seen as the principal work on the philosophy of technology by Carl Mitcham.

  5. 5.

    It is important to remember that Heidegger considered calculus in his discussion about the essence of the modern technique (1953: 131).

  6. 6.

    There are few exceptions in this sense. For example, the works of Mark Young (2018) and of Anagnstopoulos & Chelidoni (2008).

  7. 7.

    dynamis, physis, eidos and érgon, for example, are cited by Mitchan when elaborating a type of pre-modern ontology about the issue (1989: 131).

  8. 8.

    Dinucci and Julian (2012: 38–39) refers to fire (Heraclitus’s lógos) as the guiding principle of reality that orientates the beginning, disappearing and transformation of all things in the world.

  9. 9.

    Deluze, for example, when talking about the concept of intuition in Bergson (Deleuze 1966), defines the problematization as a criticism of the false problems and invention of true ones, making it possible to understand problematization as a mode of invention.

  10. 10.

    Look at, for example, the recent discussion of Nolen Gertz (2018) on nihilism and technical responsibility.

  11. 11.

    Term initially coined by Paul Crutzen (2002) to refer to the disruptions that man has caused in Earth’s natural system.

  12. 12.

    See also the Bruno Gransche’s (2018) reflection on the loss of skills in a society highly assisted by technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Engineering, Civil Construction Department, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil

    José Aravena-Reyes

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  1. José Aravena-Reyes
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Correspondence to José Aravena-Reyes .

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  1. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany

    Albrecht Fritzsche

  2. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany

    Sascha Julian Oks

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Aravena-Reyes, J. (2018). Métis: Reconfiguring the Philosophy of Engineering. In: Fritzsche, A., Oks, S. (eds) The Future of Engineering. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 31. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91029-1_9

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