Abstract
This chapter asks why philosophers and engineers are now meeting together at international workshops and answers from an engineering perspective using an analogy to Kuhn. Specifically, the chapter suggests that engineers are now seeking conceptual clarification using philosophy in the technological crisis of a creative era in the same way that scientists sought conceptual clarification using philosophy in the scientific crisis that came in the wake of the discovery of relativity and quantum mechanics. The chapter starts by enumerating a number of ways in which philosophers and engineers are strange bedfellows. It continues with a cursory sociotechnical review of recent times. It carries on by making the connection to Kuhn, and it concludes with three specific ways in which philosophy can help engineers achieve greater methodological, pedagogical, and epistemological clarity. Although the chapter wonders whether newly philosophical engineers will persist in their reflections, it suggests that, regardless, the encounter should be productive for engineering and philosophy, both.
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Acknowledgments
The author thanks the Illinois Foundry for Innovation in Engineering Education (ifoundry.illinois.edu), the College of Engineering, and the Provost’s office at the University of Illinois for supporting this work. iFoundry also receives support from AutoDesk, Inc., Deere & Company, and the Severns Family Foundation, and the author thanks those sponsors for their generosity.
This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number EEC-083602. The views expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation.
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Goldberg, D.E. (2009). Why Philosophy? Why Now? Engineering Responds to the Crisis of a Creative Era. In: Poel, I., Goldberg, D. (eds) Philosophy and Engineering:. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2804-4_21
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2804-4_21
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