The emergence and self-definition of philosophy of engineering

Abstract

Despite the role engineers initially played in the foundation of philosophy of technology, it took more than a century for engineering practice to become a legitimate special subject of philosophical inquiry. At the turn of the XX–XXI centuries philosophy of engineering has been emerging as a subfield in parallel in different regions (China, Europe, the USA), gradually demarcating itself from philosophy of science and technology, and positioning itself in relation to STS. The overview highlights the turning points of these developments: formation of the research programs and communities. It is argued that the emergence of philosophy of engineering is a result of a growing empirical orientation and ethical problematization in philosophy and the social studies of science and technology. In the engineered sociotechnical world, both descriptive and normative research of engineering practices is required for responsibilization of technological action. An empirically informed philosophical study of engineering includes the ontological, epistemological, and ethical aspects of engineering activity, overcoming the opposition of its context and content. Engineering is a specifically modern form of action in the world and at the same time can contribute to philosophical anthropology and the theory of human creativity. Institutionalization of philosophy of engineering becomes possible when (and where) a coalition of the interested actors has been formed, including the professional associations of engineering, academy, and policymakers. The overview concludes with deliberations on perspectives of the field in Russia, where a significant corpus of studies of engineering has been accumulated – yet, philosophy of engineering is not institutionalized, and remains an exotic label.