Engineering, Development and Philosophy
Subtitle: American, Chinese and European Perspectives
By: edited by Steen Hyldgaard Christensen, Carl Mitcham, Bocong Li, Yanming An
Contributors: Mitcham, Carl; Li, Bocong; An, Yanming; SpringerLink (Online service)
Series: Philosophy of Engineering and Technology -- 11
Publisher: Springer Netherlands; Imprint: Springer
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Dordrecht
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 412
ISBN-13: 9789400752825
Subjects: Sustainable development; Philosophy; Sociology, general; Engineering; Humanities; Philosophy of Technology; Curriculum planning; Curriculum Studies; Engineering design; Technology; Interdisciplinary approach in education
Description: This inclusive, cross-cultural study rethinks the nexus between engineering, development, and culture. It offers diverse commentary from a range of disciplinary perspectives on how the philosophies of today’s cultural triumvirate—American, European and Chinese—are shaped and given nuance by the cross-fertilization of engineering and development. Scholars from the humanities and social sciences as well as engineers themselves reflect on key questions that arise in this relational context, such as how international development work affects the professional views, identities, practice and ethics of engineers.   The first volume to offer a systematic and collaborative study that cuts across continental boundaries, the book delineates the kinds of skills and competences that tomorrow’s engineering success stories will require, and analyzes fascinating aspects of the interplay between engineering and philosophy, such as how traditionally Chinese ways of thinking can influence modern engineering practice in the world’s most populous country. China’s problematic mix of engineering woes and wonders, from the high-profile crash on its high-profile rail network to its ‘bird’s nest’ Olympic stadium, adds to the urgency for reform, while Europe’s Enlightenment-informed legal frameworks are contrasted with Chinese mechanisms in their governance of the field of nanotechnology, a crucial element of future technical evolution. Fascinating and compelling in equal measure, this volume addresses one of the topics at the leading edge of humanity’s quest to survive, and to thrive.​
Table of contents: title: General Introduction: Engineering and Development in a Cultural Perspective: Steen Hyldgaard Christensen, Carl Mitcham, Li Bocong, Yanming.- Section 1. Rethinking Philosophy of Engineering and Development.- Section Introduction: Li Bocong, Natasha McCarthy, and Diane Michelfelder.-Chapter 1. Negotiated development: improving decision making by including stakeholders in structured and informal conversations: Bill Grimson; title: Chapter 2. How philosophers love the problems that engineers hate: A case study of collaboration between engineers and philosophers: Natasha McCarthy; title: Chapter 3. From micro-macro framework to micro-meso-macro framework. Li Bocong; title: Chapter 4. Engineering as social experimentation: Ibo van de Pool; title: Chapter 5. Engineers and development in China:Hong Xiaonan; title: Chapter 6. The impacts of Chinese traditional thinking patterns on modern engineering and development: Wang Qian and Zhu Qin; title: ^; title: Chapter 7. Harmonization with nature: a Chinese model of development: Wang Guoyu; title: Section 2. Rethinking Engineering Education; title: Section Introduction: Andrew Jamison and David Goldberg.- Chapter 8. The challenge of educating engineers for a closed, crowded, and creative world: Dave Goldberg and Mike Murphy; title: Chapter 9. From students and teachers to peers and collaborators: changing U.S./China relations in engineering education and research: Brent Jesiek.- Chapter 10. Engineering education in China and the globalization of the engineering enterprise: Yi Shen; title: Chapter 11. Historical tensions in engineering education: European perspectives: Andrew Jamison.- Chapter 12. Global challenges and challenge perceptions in engineering education: Steen Hyldgaard Christensen.- Chapter 13. Normative holism in engineering formation: Gary Downey; title: Chapter 14. “Community” as challenge for engineering education: how engineers learn to design for communities: Juan Lucena; title: ^; title: ^^; title: Section 3. Rethinking Perspectives on Engineering, Nature, and Society.- Section Introduction: Natasha McCarthy and Diane Michelfelder.- Chapter 15.  On the development of a railway system in China and the U.S.: Wang Nan; title: Chapter 16.  A comparative study on governance of nanotechnology between China and Europe: Cao Nanyan and Hu Mingyan.- Chapter 17. Inherent ethics in engineering development: industrial heritage comparison between Ruhr and Shenyang: Wang Jian and Chen Jia; title: Chapter 18. The comparative success of engineers as leaders in China, the U.S., and Europe: Mike Murphy and Wang Jian; title: ^; title: ^^; title: Chapter 19. Does philosophy need engineering as much as engineering needs philosophy?: Comparing U.K. and American perspectives: Natasha McCarthy and Diane Michelfelder.- Chapter 20. Rethinking opposition to technologization in the U.S., Europe, and China: a personal perspective: Carl Mitcham.- Chapter 21. De-sacralization of nature revisited: the self-understanding of Europeans concerning nature and technology, 40 years after Lynn White’s article and in dialog with Chinese inputs: Martin Meganck; title: Index; title: Author Biographies.                                      ​.; title: ^^