Acknowledged as a subfield of philosophy, philosophy of technology explores the nature of technology exploring the role of explicit knowledge in the creation and employment of technology besides the nature of functions in technological artifacts, the role of values in fields of design as well as the ethics with respect to technology. The social effects of technology are also addressed by the philosophy of technology whose discussion of questions have to do with technology dating back to Western philosophy [Franssen, M. et al. (2009)]. First used as a phrase in the late 19th century by Ernst Kapp, philosophy of technology has been concerned with the impact of technology on society. While philosophy attempts to understand the way things in broad sense cling together, it is not possible that philosophy would ignore technology. In that regard, it is both an economic and cultural force considering that from the very beginning of the scientific revolution, science affected human thought and culture in direct and fundamental ways, not with a detour through technology. The same point applies to the developments occurring afterwards including atomic physics, relativity, quantum mechanics, evolution, biochemistry, genetics, across a scientific world view becoming increasingly unified. Thus, philosophers of science seem to set aside the questions dealing with these aspects of things eagerly to other philosophical disciplines or to historical studies [Franssen, M. et al. (2009)]. Considering that experimental science is dependent predominantly on technology to achieve its research settings towards the formulation of circumstances where a particular phenomenon will become observable, technology and engineering can both involve the application of scientific knowledge.
Philosophy of engineering, as an emerging discipline, poses the questions of what engineering is, the tasks engineers are supposed to do and how their work has effects on society. The content includes certain aspects of aesthetics, ethics, ontology, epistemology, and so forth. Engineering as a profession aims at the modification of natural environment by design, manufacturing and maintenance of artifacts as well as technological systems. When contrasted with science whose aim is to understand nature, engineering lies at its core concerning the cause of change and management of change as main pillars of engineering practice. Therefore, philosophy of engineering considers how philosophical issues can apply to the concepts and applications of engineering, which ranges widely from ethics of engineering activities to objectivity of experiments taking into account principles of modeling, analysis, design and product life cycles. As cognate fields, philosophy of design and philosophy of technology, it can be said that the two worlds are gathered together based on their intrinsic value of understanding engineering better and providing help to society so that engineering can be used better and ethically for enhancing the overall well-being. In brief, while science aims for knowledge, engineering aims for useful changes.
Considering these aims and uses, through philosophy, engineers may understand and defend themselves against philosophical criticisms. Another point is related to ethics which is required for helping engineers in tacking professional ethical problems. Thirdly, related to the character of engineering, philosophy may essentially function as a means to greater engineering self-understanding [Mitcham, C. (1998)].
Having their roots in mathematics and basic sciences (i.e. physics, biology, chemistry, and so on), engineering sciences bear the knowledge to be further carried to creative and functional applications. To sum up, contemplating on philosophy of science and technology enables the critical evaluation of methods, assumptions as well as limitations of scientific inquiry so that the way the methods shape our understanding of the world can be understood. Moreover, the assessment and analysis of social and ethical implications of technological advancements signal issues like AI, biotechnology, privacy and the effects of technology on human culture, values and society. You may see and refer...
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