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2005-01-21http//:1195720601972197419861351R.Rorty.APragmatistViewofContemporaryAnalyticPhilosophyEB/OL.http//é20015317-29.8M.Polanyi.KnowingandBeingM.ChicagoTheUniversityofChicagoPress1969.9M.J.deVries.TheNatureofTechnologicalKnowledgeJ.Techné2003631-21.10P.Whalley.NegotiatingtheBoundariesofEngineeringProfessionalsManagersandManualWorkJ.ResearchintheSociologyofOrganization19918191-215.11./J.200420453-56.12J.LawM.Callon.EngineeringandSociologyinaMilitaryAircraftProjectANetworkAnalysisofTechnologicalChangeJ.SocialProblems198835136284-297.13.Z.2004.14W.E.Bijker.SociohistoricalTechnologyStudiesA.S.JasanoffG.E.MarkleJ.C.PetersenetalHandbookofScienceandTechnologyStudiesC.SagePublicationsInc1995.229-256.2335WhatPhilosophyofEngineeringDoWeNeedSHENGXiao-mingWANGHua-pingDepartmentofPhilosophyZhejiangUniversityHangzhou310028ChinaAbstractAsakindofhumanbeingsactivityengineeringexistsinallagesbuthasneverplayedsuchanimportantroleastoday.Asengineeringbecomesachiefwayofbeingitbringsforwardincreasinglyseriouschallengestosocietypoliticsandenvironment.Considerationsoftheseproblemsgivebirthtophilosophyofengineering.Howeverweshouldnotlookuponphilosophyofengineeringastheextensionofphilosophyofscienceandtechnologyforengineeringhasitsownformofculturewithitsownsetsofrulesandbodiesofpracticeaculturedifferentfromscienceandcertainlynotamereappendagetooranapplicationofscience.ScienceandengineeringhavealwaysbeensupposedtorepresenttwodifferenttraditionsinWesternculturesinceancientGreece.Theformerhasbeenadmiredforitsobjectivenecessityanduniversalvaliditywhilethelatterhasbeenundervaluedforitslimitsofestablishedvaluejudgmentsandcontexts.HoweverafterahistoricistturnhappenedinWesternphilosophyinthe20thcenturythetwodifferentrationalitieswhichscienceandengineeringrepresentrespectivelybecamemerged.Itisarguedthatsciencelikeengineeringislesssimplyanintellectualundertakingthancreativeactivitiesconductedinacertaincontextandmayandshouldincludesuchpracticalwisdomassophistsadvocated.Nowadaysassocialstudiesofsciencegaingroundourapproachtophilosophicalstudiesofengineeringasakindofmaterialactivitiescannolongeradoptsuchasinglenormativemethodastraditionalphilosophydid.Ratherengineeringshouldbetakenasaspecifickindofculturalactivityandbeinvestigatedfrommanifoldouterperspectives.Engineeringknowledgeisneitherpurescientificknowledgenorpuresocialknowledgeforitincludesmoreknow-howandPeterscookbookknowledge.Engineershavetheirownmethodsproceduresandbodiesofskillswherebytheycreateandconstructknowledge.Engineeringknowledgeisorientatedtoengineeringanditactuallyincludessuchknowledgeofactionassophistsadvocated.Thepracticalcharacteristicsofengineeringknowledgemakeitparadigmaticforthestudiesofknowledge/power.Engineeringpracticeshouldbelookeduponasaspecialculturalactivityforithasidiosyncrasyanditplaysadoublerolebothinandoutsidescience.Engineersdesignthesocietyastheydesignengineering.Engineeringisshapedbyavarietyofsocialfactorsalltogether.Whilewechooseanengineeringprojectwechooseawayoflife.Thereactionofengineeringtousandoursocietycallsforadescriptivephilosophyofengineeringratherthananormativeone.Thereforeweshouldendeavortodescribeengineeringpracticeasakindofsocialactivityandintegrateallviewsobtainedfromvariousouterperspectivestocobbletogetherabetterdescription.Themeaningofdescriptionliesinthateveryactionclearsobstaclesforimaginationanddevelopsabilityandexperience.Keywordsphilosophyofengineeringdescriptionengineeringknowledgeengineeringpractice335