Citation

Doridot F. Interdiscipl. Sci. Rev. 2008; 33(3): 254-262.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Publisher Maney Publishing)

DOI

10.1179/174327908X366941

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to consider the links between engineering and philosophy in order to understand what their synthesis, in a discipline we might call 'engineered epistemology', might be like. This article will attempt to defend the thesis that engineering and philosophy are complementary ways of approaching the same reality, distinct methodologically but not distinct in kind. I will do this by demonstrating internal, rather than external, links between these two disciplines. I will begin by investigating the types of external links different historical traditions have established, with particular attention to two recent attempts to define a philosophy of engineering. Then I will address the problem of characterising some possible internal links, first by trying to understand how engineering can be understood as a philosophical discipline, then secondly how philosophy itself can be interpreted as a discipline related to engineering. These sections will take the form of an investigation of some problems in established traditions. I will conclude by drawing together the consequences of these different approaches to the concept of 'engineered epistemology'.