Abstract
Literature suggests that in engineering sciences the possibilities to generalize knowledge are more limited than in natural sciences. This is related to the action-oriented nature of engineering sciences and to the role of values. I will discuss the contributions of abstraction and idealization to generalization and then describe four case studies in engineering sciences to illustrate that different types of generalization can be distinguished. I will then analyze the nature of these types of generalization.
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de Vries, M.J. (2009). Engineering Science as a “Discipline of the Particular”? Types of Generalization in Engineering Sciences. 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_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2804-4_8
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