Technical Functions: On the Use and Design of Artefacts (Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, Band 1) - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Pieter Vermaas studied theoretical physics at the University of Amsterdam and gained a doctorate from Utrecht University on the philosophy of quantum mechanics. Since 1998, he has been affiliated to the Department of Philosophy at Delft University of Technology where he is doing research into the principles of technology. His subjects of interest within that field are the analysis of the concept of technical function as used within engineering, and the description of designing as given by the various design methodologies. Pieter Vermaas studied theoretical physics at the University of Amsterdam and gained a doctorate from Utrecht University on the philosophy of quantum mechanics. Since 1998, he has been affiliated to the Department of Philosophy at Delft University of Technology where he is doing research into the principles of technology. His subjects of interest within that field are the analysis of the concept of technical function as used within engineering, and the description ofdesigning as given by the various design methodologies. Ibo van de Poel is associate professor in ethics and technology at Delft University of Technology. He studied philosophy of science, technology and society at Twente University, where he did a PhD in science and technology studies. He teaches engineering ethics and does research into design and values, the moral acceptability of technological risks, responsibility in research and development networks, the ethics of new emerging technologies, and the notion of technology as a form of social experimentation. Maarten Franssen has degrees in theoretical physics and history and obtained a doctorate in philosophy on issues in the foundations of the social sciences. He joined the Department of Philosophy at Delft University of Technology in 1996. His main areas of research are conceptions of normativity and rationality in general, the application of rational decision-making methods in scientific and technical research, and the formal description of artefacts and systems in technology. Wybo Houkes is a senior lecturer in the Philosophy of Science and Technology Department at Eindhoven University of Technology. He studied theoretical physics in Amsterdam and philosophy in Leiden, where gained his doctorate on Kantianism in early 20th century philosophy. He is currently conducting research into the tension between universal Darwinism and more tailor-made approaches in evolutionary theories of technology, the role of agency in these theories, and into the nature of technological knowledge and the functions of technical artefacts.

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This first book-length study in the philosophy of technical artefacts and their technical functions presents a new action-theoretical account of using and designing called the ICE theory. This theory connects the material side of technical artefacts with the aims of everyday users and the tasks of engineers when designing for those everyday users.

Wybo Houkes and Pieter Vermaas have developed ICE theory in close contact with the engineering literature on designing and the literature on functions in the philosophy of biology and philosophy of mind. As such the book is a telling example of the successful new school of philosophy of technology that is aimed at understanding engineering and technology on their own merits.

The book presents the reader with a broad and detailed understanding of technical artefacts and their functions, which is sensitive to the dynamic and socially structured practices of using and designing. This understanding shows how our technology-saturated everyday life can be subjected to rigorous philosophical analysis, and how artefacts and technical functions provide an area of inquiry that is equally fascinating as, but genuinely different from, biological items and their functions.