Philosophy and engineering: reciprocal contributions

At first glance, philosophy and engineering don't have much in common. Whereas philosophy is concerned with reflection and problematization, engineering is oriented towards action and problem-solving. While philosophers value the conflicts that emerge from a problem, engineers seek to avoid ambiguity. For the former, the principal medium is language, while for the latter, directly engaged in the material world, it is with diagrams and schematics that he reports on his research. While philosophers evaluate their contribution to their discipline by means of arguments, engineers insist on efficiency and effectiveness in solving problems. At first glance, the two fields appear to be mutually exclusive.

However, for a number of historical and professional reasons, but also for reasons relating to the impact of technology on society and scientific knowledge, philosophy is important for engineers. Conversely, engineering and technology raise questions that philosophy can no longer ignore. Indeed, philosophical questions emerge in a world where science advances and technology changes. The concepts used to address philosophical questions are living, evolving and adapting to empirical discoveries. So there are no antagonistic territories between science, technology, engineering and philosophy. Philosophy and the empirical sciences are not in competition. Their relations are peaceful, and their collaboration, in a spirit of advancing knowledge, is indispensable. It is to this "state of the links", between philosophy and the subset of the scientific field that includes technology and engineering, that this article is dedicated. How can each field contribute to the other? Over and above what might be seen as a division of labor, how do philosophy and engineering work together to advance our concepts and understanding of our place in the world?

A philosophical approach to engineering can therefore only contribute to a better understanding of the nature of the engineering profession. As a result, a certain benefit can be expected. Not only in clarifying the intellectual foundation of the engineering profession, but also in the contribution of engineering to the development of society and knowledge.

Thus, to account for this "state of the links" existing between philosophy and engineering, the first part of this article proposes to describe some of the relationships existing between four fields:

• philosophy ;

• engineering ;

• science ;

• technology.

The second part examines two traditional themes running through engineering-oriented philosophical reflection: the thesis of the...