Rethinking Technology and Engineering: Dialogues Across Disciplines and Geographies

Description

This book gives insight into the ongoing work of the forum on Philosophy, Engineering and Technology (fPET), which brings together philosophers and engineers from all over the world to discuss philosophical issues of engineering across disciplinary boundaries.  Drawing on presentations and conversations at the fPET 2020 online conference hosted by the Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María in Chile, the chapters establish connections and describe discoveries that have so far been neglected in the discussions held within the young discipline of philosophy of engineering. This volume appeals to students and researchers in the field, through twenty-four proposals brought forward by leading scholars and emerging voices. Pertinent themes covered are: the broader engagement of engineers in problem-solving beyond the scope of their own professionthe exploration of new goals for technology development and the implementation of strategies to reach these goalsthe need for philosophical content and unique pedagogical approaches to engineering education, digital transformations, artificial intelligence and the ethics of online collaboration in social mediacritical revisions of fundamental terminology and theoretical modelling of key concepts in engineering design, ethics, innovation and the anthropology of technology Rethinking Technology and Engineering Dialogues Across Disciplines and Geographies Copyright Contents Contributors Biographies Chapter 1: Philosophy of Engineering as a Dialogue Across Disciplines and Geographies 1.1 Footnotes to Plato 1.2 Reaching Out and Looking Ahead: Shaping Up the Engineer-Philosopher 1.3 About This Volume 1.3.1 Engineering Practice, Knowledge and Values 1.3.2 Reflections on Artifacts 1.3.3 Interdisciplinary Approaches Through Literature, History and Biopolitics 1.3.4 Engineering Education 1.4 As a Conclusion References Part I: Engineering Practice, Knowledge and Values Chapter 2: Engineering Principles: Restoring Public Values in Professional Life 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Whose Ethics? Whose Values? 2.3 Emergent Crises 2.4 Disrupting the Silent Status Quo: Attending to Engineering Ethics Pedagogy 2.5 Changing the Engineering Ethics Landscape: Putting Principles into Practice References Chapter 3: What Sort of Engineering Do We Want? How Far Are We From It? A Manifesto for Socially Situated Professional Ethics 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Engineering Challenges in the Global South 3.3 Engineering and Society in Latin America: Economic and Political Aspects 3.4 A Human, Social, Ethical and Epistemological Analysis of Engineering 3.5 From Ethics to Epistemology 3.6 Engineering Education 3.7 From the Social to the Human: The Need for a New Civilization Equation 3.8 Conclusion References Chapter 4: Freedom and Standards in Engineering 4.1 Introduction 4.2 The Engineering Context 4.3 Freedom, Responsibility, and Risk 4.4 Standards in Engineering 4.5 The Current Situation 4.6 Conclusion References Chapter 5: Past Designs as Repositories of Tacit Collective Knowledge 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Object References in Engineering Design 5.3 Design Margins in Object References 5.4 Object References as Parsimonious Descriptions of Engineering Designs 5.5 Object References and Engineering Knowledge 5.6 Practical Challenges of Handling Object References 5.7 Conclusions References Chapter 6: A Simondon-Deleuzean Characterization of Engineering Design 6.1 Introduction 6.2 General Context 6.3 Individuation as an Alternative Ontological Model 6.4 The Problematic Field in Simondon and Deleuze 6.5 Problematic Field and Ontology of Engineering 6.6 To Engineer 6.7 Conclusions References Chapter 7: How Modern Coaching Can Help Develop Engineers and the Profession: And How Philosophy Can Help 7.1 Background to and Aims of the Chapter 7.2 What Is Coaching? 7.2.1 Coaching Defined 7.2.2 A Young and Dynamic Practice 7.2.3 Managing Coaching’s Embarrassment of Riches 7.2.4 Earliest Efforts to Carry Coaching to Engineering Education 7.3 Two Views of Coaching, Philosophy & Engineering 7.3.1 Dave’s Perspective 7.3.1.1 Early Efforts Integrating Philosophy and Coaching for Engineering Practice 7.3.1.2 The 5 Shifts Framework 7.3.1.3 Learning from a Decade of Practice 7.3.2 Nina’s Perspective 7.3.2.1 The Why 7.3.2.2 The How 7.3.2.3 The Imperial College Coaching Programme: A Precursor in the UK 7.4 Coaching, Philosophy & Engineering: Wrap Up & An Invitation 7.4.1 Initial Takeaways 7.4.1.1 Coaching and Engineering 7.4.1.2 Coaching and Philosophy 7.4.2 Coaching: An Invitation to a Humble Humanistic Bridge References Part II: Reflections on Artifacts Chapter 8: What Do Overhead Lines Reveal? 8.1 Introduction 8.2 To See or Not to See, That Is the Question 8.2.1 What Is Understood by “Nature” and “Technology” 8.2.2 “Real” Nature? Or Human-Tailored Nature? 8.2.3 Transformation Belongs to the Landscape 8.2.4 Façades of Sustainability 8.2.5 Perceiving with All Senses 8.3 The Ugliness and Beauty of Landscape and Overhead Lines 8.4 The Energy Transition and the Visibility of the Power Grid 8.4.1 Energy Transition Through Changes in Consumer Behaviour 8.4.2 Energy Transition Through Technological Means 8.5 Conclusion References Chapter 9: AI, Control and Unintended Consequences: The Need for Meta-Values 9.1 Introduction 9.2 What Is AI and What (If Anything) Is Special About It? 9.3 Unintended Consequences 9.4 Designing AI Systems for Human Values 9.5 Machine Ethics 9.6 Meaningful Human Control: The Need for Meta-Values 9.7 An Experimental Perspective 9.8 Human Indeterminacy 9.9 Conclusions References Chapter 10: Crowdsourcing a Moral Machine in a Pluralistic World 10.1 The Moral Machine Experiment 10.2 An Argument for Moral Pluralism 10.3 Apparent Moral Pluralism in the Moral Machine Experiment 10.4 Relevance of Moral Machine Experiment Data 10.5 Potential Methods for Incorporating Moral Pluralism References Chapter 11: The Potential of Smart City Controversies to Foster Civic Engagement, Ethical Reflection and Alternative Imaginaries 11.1 Introduction 11.2 The Contested Smart City 11.3 Understanding Socio-Technical Controversies 11.4 The Threefold Potential 11.4.1 Civic Engagement 11.4.2 Ethical Reflection 11.4.3 Alternative Imaginaries 11.5 Design Approaches to Realize the Potential of Controversies 11.6 Conclusion References Chapter 12: The Problem of Digital Direct Democracy and its Philosophical Foundations 12.1 Introduction 12.2 The Importance of E-Democracy and the Problem of DDD 12.3 The Philosophical Foundations of DDD 12.3.1 Athens and Direct Democracy in the Ekklesia 12.3.2 Rousseau and the General Will 12.4 Conclusion References Chapter 13: Agile as a Vehicle for Values: A Value Sensitive Design Toolkit 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Systems Thinking and Systems Engineering 13.3 Value Sensitive Design (VSD) 13.4 VSD to Design for Equifinality Via Agile 13.5 Implementing VSD in Engineering Teams: An Agile Approach 13.6 Conclusions References Chapter 14: Who’s Talking? Influencers & the Economy of Taste 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Influencers: A Contemporary Cultural and Social Phenomenon 14.2.1 The Authenticity Process 14.2.2 Traditional Marketing Practices Versus Influencer Marketing 14.2.3 Legal Issues 14.2.4 How Does Society Value Advertising? Legal Treatment of “Commercial Speech” 14.3 ‘Likes for Likes’: A Philosophical Inquiry 14.3.1 Culture, Class, and Preference 14.3.2 The Economy of Desire 14.3.3 Influencers and the Volatility of Habitus 14.3.4 Selling Relationships 14.4 To Influence and Be Influenced 14.4.1 Influencer Identity 14.4.2 Ethical Considerations for Influencers – Considering the Commodity 14.4.3 Future Implications References Part III: Interdisciplinary Approaches Through Literature, History and Biopolitics Chapter 15: Portuguese Railway History and Kranzberg’s Laws: Looking at the Past, Preparing the Future 15.1 Introduction 15.2 Railways Are Not Bad, nor Good, nor Neutral 15.3 Railways Induce and Require Innovations 15.4 Opening the Black Box 15.5 Learning from History 15.6 Conclusion: The Human Agency in Portuguese Railways References Chapter 16: Interdisciplinary Practices for the History of Solar Engineering in Chile 16.1 Introduction 16.2 Time, Temporality and Solar Engineering 16.3 The Historical Path of Solar Energy in Chile 16.4 Networks of Solar Development in Chile 16.5 The Process of Reconstructing Solar Energy’s History 16.6 Final Remarks. Time and Interdiscipline in Solar Energy References Chapter 17: Science Fiction and Engineering: Between Dystopias, (E)Utopias, and Uchronias 17.1 Introduction 17.2 Engineering Education Through Sci Fi Lens 17.3 Solarpunk: From Everyday Dystopia to Co-created (e)Utopias 17.4 A Dialogue Between Solarpunk and Afrofuturism as the Decolonization of the Production of Future 17.5 Discussion and Future Agendas References Chapter 18: “The Cost of Living” in a Technologized World 18.1 Introduction: Selling the Future 18.2 Mr. Carrin’s Predicament 18.3 Averageness 18.4 Consumer Psychology 18.5 Societal Implications 18.6 Who Decides for Us? 18.7 The Imagination of Progress 18.8 Echoes from Popular Culture 18.9 Conclusions References Chapter 19: Unconcealing Contemporary Technology: Human Enhancement as Biopolitics of Vitality 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Enhancing the Human Being: Old Wine in New Wineskins? 19.3 Unconcealing Contemporary Technology and Practices of Human Enhancement 19.4 Human Enhancement as Biopolitics of Vitality 19.5 Conclusion References Part IV: Engineering Education Chapter 20: What Is Engineering Ethics Education? Exploring How the Education of Ethics Is Defined by Engineering Instructors 20.1 Introduction 20.2 Background 20.2.1 Definitions of Engineering Ethics 20.2.2 Conceptual Models of Engineering Ethics Education 20.3 Methods 20.4 Defining Engineering Ethics 20.4.1 Decision-Making in Complex Situations 20.4.2 Connection to Practice 20.4.3 Social Embeddedness 20.4.4 Character Shaping and Moral Development 20.4.5 Common Sense 20.5 The Scope of Engineering Ethics Education 20.5.1 Macroethical Scope 20.5.1.1 Sustainability 20.5.1.2 Societal Dimension of Engineering 20.5.1.3 Regulation and Legislation 20.5.2 Microethical Scope 20.5.2.1 Professional Codes 20.5.2.2 Health and Safety 20.5.2.3 Ethical Theories 20.5.3 Value Sensitive Design 20.6 Discussion 20.7 Conclusion References Chapter 21: ‘Judgment’ in Engineering Philosophical Discussions and Pedagogical Opportunities 21.1 Introduction 21.2 Formalizing Our Proposal 21.3 Putting Our Proposal into Practice 21.3.1 Students’ Academic Projects 21.4 Conclusions References Chapter 22: The Role of the Humanities in the Formation of Reflective Engineering Practitioners 22.1 Introduction 22.2 Role Identity and Context Embeddedness Through Existential Philosophy 22.3 Complexity and Interpretation Through History of Technology 22.4 Alternative Viewpoints and Critical Thinking through Technology Ethics 22.5 Discussion 22.6 Conclusions References Chapter 23: The Amerindian Buen Vivir as a Paradigm for Another Possible Engineering Practice and Education 23.1 Introduction 23.2 Engineering and Coloniality 23.3 Buen Vivir 23.4 Engineering and Buen Vivir: Case Studies 23.4.1 The Ingenuity, Science, Technology, and Society Discipline 23.4.2 Community Radio Station 23.5 Decolonial Engineering: Practice and Education 23.6 Closing Remarks References Chapter 24: Engineers Should Be Activists 24.1 Introduction 24.2 Philosophy of Activism 24.3 Educational Philosophy 24.4 Engineering Philosophy 24.5 Engineering Activism 24.5.1 History 24.5.2 Student Activism 24.5.3 Engineering Curriculum 24.5.4 Public Versus Private Good 24.6 Discussion and Conclusions 24.7 Summary References