Git Er Done By Henry Bergeron

The philosophy of engineering can be summarized by a popular catchphrase from famous comedian Larry the Cable Guy: “Git ‘er done!” At the most simplistic level, engineering is the process of solving real life problems in spite of real life limitations. While engineering can easily be defined, the philosophy of engineering is more difficult to put into words. Once the philosophy is defined, the use of that knowledge, and when that knowledge of engineering philosophy can be used will follow. In order to show the use of the philosophy of engineering, engineering itself must be defined. Henry Grebner wrote an early article in the IEEE Spectrum, the monthly peer reviewed journal for the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers, that described

He writes that the essence of engineering can be expressed in the Greek concept of techne, which is practical knowledge used for the purposeful formation of matter to serve man’s needs (Grebner 112). This concept is amoral, in that man’s needs are not categorized as good or evil. The methodology of engineering is summed up in the engineering method, which is the recognition of an economic need, the formulation of the problem, breaking down the problem into concepts that will suggest a solution, finding elements for the solution, synthesizing the solution, and simplifying and optimizing the solution. This is similar to the scientific method, but the methodology begins with ignorance instead of a hypothesis, according to Hans Poser in “The Ignorance of Engineers and How They Know it.” “Ignorance is the starting point of each design and its development by marking a problem” (Poser 4). In addition, the goals of the engineering method and the scientific method are different. The goal of the engineering method is not knowledge for the sake of knowledge, but rather a solution to a problem. Finally, Grebner writes that engineering education must always be evolving in order to suit engineering. Although Grebner’s article was published in 1966, he acknowledged the rapid pace of technological development. As a part of the

Engineering reflects current society, just as engineering solutions affect society as a whole, according to McCarthy. She says, “The kind of knowledge generated by [modern, large scale] engineering projects. . .can never be processed by one individual” (McCarthy 321). McCarthy points out that a different approach to even thinking about these large-scale projects are needed because these huge projects require so much data and knowledge to completely understand them. She states that this philosophy is useful for interaction with the world, not only from an engineer’s point of view, but from a philosopher’s point of view. “Thus there is a role for philosophy of engineering in shedding light on established philosophical problems, and doing this through engineering, rather than philosophical, method” (McCarthy 323). She does caution that philosophers must deal with these issues in a different way than they have in the past; the nature of the knowledge contained within large scale engineering projects requires new and different methods of management that philosophers must discover. McCarthy explains, “However, it is clear that philosophers must embrace a new method to see these advantages. They must be willing to engage with practical problems, and not just in a priori reasoning, and be open to learning from artefacts as well as concepts and arguments” (325). In other words, engineers must consider the