Skill, Technology and Enlightenment: On Practical Philosophy

Skill, Technology and Enlightenment: On Practical Philosophy
Author: Bo Göranzon
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1447130014

Skill, Technology and Enlightenment: On practical Philosophy explores the problems of developing a perspective on technology and society, on the limits of enlightment, the relationship between cultural criticism and the epistemology of practical knowledge, tacit knowledge and a non-elitist conception of expertise, the role of the arts as a basis for reflection, and many other relevant topics. The 1993 international conference in Stockholm was - among other things - part of a process of building a curriculum for an international graduate programme in the area of culture, skill and technology, a process that has been under way since 1989.

Dialogue, Skill and Tacit Knowledge

Dialogue, Skill and Tacit Knowledge
Author: Bo Goranzon
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 368
Release: 2006-02-22
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0470032855

Everyone in an organization, from cleaner to CEO, has expert knowledge. Yet only a fraction of it can be codified and expressed explicitly as facts and rules. A little more is visible implicitly as accepted procedures, but even this is only the beginning. Submerged beneath the explicit and implicit levels is a vast iceberg of tacit knowledge that cannot be reliably accessed by traditional analytical approaches. And yet, without it, organizational learning means little. Interweaving theory with practical guidance, this book looks at the importance of tacit knowledge and shows how it is now being put in motion through groundbreaking analogical thinking methods. Chief among these is the Dialogue Seminar, developed by the editors, in which learning is seen as arising from encounters with differences. There can be no consensus on the value of corporate knowledge until what is meant by that knowledge is discussed and defined. Based on two decades of research and a host of practical cases, this book offers a way forward. "Göranzon argues that the question of whether machines can think is not the right question to ask. The more important question, he believes, is the impact of automation on work and human skills, and he is looking for a way of describing skills that allows us to discuss this question." —Janet Vaux, New Scientist "A Swedish initiave to rethink the relationship between learning and work." —Rolf Hughes, The Times Higher Education

Philosophy and Engineering: Reflections on Practice, Principles and Process

Philosophy and Engineering: Reflections on Practice, Principles and Process
Author: Diane P Michelfelder
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2014-01-13
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9400777620

Building on the breakthrough text Philosophy and Engineering: An Emerging Agenda, this book offers 30 chapters covering conceptual and substantive developments in the philosophy of engineering, along with a series of critical reflections by engineering practitioners. The volume demonstrates how reflective engineering can contribute to a better understanding of engineering identity and explores how integrating engineering and philosophy could lead to innovation in engineering methods, design and education. The volume is divided into reflections on practice, principles and process, each of which challenges prevalent assumptions and commitments within engineering and philosophy. The volume explores the ontological and epistemological dimensions of engineering and exposes the falsity of the commonly held belief that the field is simply the application of science knowledge to problem solving. Above all, the perspectives collected here demonstrate the value of a constructive dialogue between engineering and philosophy and show how collaboration between the disciplines casts light on longstanding problems from both sides. The chapters in this volume are from a diverse and international body of authors, including philosophers and engineers, and represent a highly select group of papers originally presented in three different conferences. These are the 2008 Workshop on Philosophy and Engineering (WPE-2008) held at the Royal Academy of Engineering; the 2009 meeting of the Society for Philosophy and Technology (SPT-2009) at the University of Twente in the Netherlands; and the Forum on Philosophy, Engineering, and Technology (fPET-2010), held in Golden, Colorado at the Colorado School of Mines.

Philosophy for Engineering

Philosophy for Engineering
Author: Priyan Dias
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 132
Release: 2019-11-12
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 981151271X

This book highlights the unique need for philosophy among engineers, which stems from issues regarding their knowledge (epistemology), role or being (ontology) and influence (ethics). It discusses practice, context, ethics, models and failure as key aspects of engineering, and provides an easy but essential introduction to philosophy for engineers by presenting four key philosophers and linking them to these aspects: Karl Popper (failure), Thomas Kuhn (models), Michael Polanyi (practice & ethics) and Martin Heidegger (context & ethics). Popper, Kuhn and Polanyi are philosophers of science (epistemologists) who have challenged the view that science is a ‘cool, detached’ discipline, since it also depends on human imagination (Popper), consensus (Kuhn) and judgment plus artistry (Polanyi); factors that are central to engineering. Heidegger (an ontologist) critiqued technology on the one hand (ethics), but also stressed the importance of ‘doing’ over ‘knowing,’ thus ‘authenticating’ the highly pragmatic engineering profession. Science is the ‘core’ component of engineering, which is overlaid by a variety of heuristics . Practice-based knowledge can be formalized, with artificial intelligence (AI) offering a valuable tool for engineering, just as mathematics has done for science. The book also examines systems thinking in engineering. Featuring numerous diagrams, tables and examples throughout, the book is easily accessible to engineers.

Spanning the Theory-practice Divide in Library and Information Science

Spanning the Theory-practice Divide in Library and Information Science
Author: William A. Crowley
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2005
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9780810851658

Reveals how practitioners, consultants, and faculty can derive theories from actual experience and use such theories in solving real world problems. Bill Crowley explores why theory, in particular theory developed by university and college faculty, is too little used in the off-campus world. The volume examines the importance of solving the theory irrelevance problem, and drawing on a broad spectrum of research and theoretical insights, it provides suggestions for overcoming the not-so-hidden secret of the academic world - why theory with little or no perceived relevance to off-campus environments can be absolutely essential to advancing faculty careers. It also addresses the implications for theory development of fundamental aspects of the American culture and economy, including: the American ambivalence towards intellectuals, the rise in the "theory-unfriendly" environments of for-profit educational institutions, and public demands for enhanced accountability.

Handbook of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Research

Handbook of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Research
Author: Felix Rauner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 1103
Release: 2008-12-16
Genre: Education
ISBN: 1402083475

Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) research has become a recognized and well-defined area of interdisciplinary research. This is the first handbook of its kind that specifically concentrates on research and research methods in TVET. The book’s sections focus on particular aspects of the field, starting with a presentation of the genesis of TVET research. They further feature research in relation to policy, planning and practice. Various areas of TVET research are covered, including on the vocational disciplines and on TVET systems. Case studies illustrate different approaches to TVET research, and the final section of the book presents research methods, including interview and observation methods, as well as of experimentation and development. This handbook provides a comprehensive coverage of TVET research in an international context, and, with special focus on research and research methods, it is a cutting-edge resource and reference.

Responsible Management

Responsible Management
Author: Richard Ennals
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 164
Release: 2014-06-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3642554016

This book takes a critical view on corporate practice, governmental action and the general approach to Corporate Social Responsibility. It draws on experience from the Workplace Innovation movement and argues that, as with motherhood and apple pie, it is hard to oppose CSR, with a community of well-meaning people. It is however necessary to challenge the foundations on which it is based. Many accounts of CSR assume a consistent model of capitalism around the world. It is suggested that capitalism can be given a human face, as companies adopt programmes which go beyond the minimum legal requirements. This builds on traditions of optional corporate philanthropy. However, without changing the underlying working of the company, only cosmetic changes are made. In the author's words: “lipstick is applied to the capitalist pig”. It can be a mistake to read too much into “Responsible Management”, when the culture of management is designed around irresponsibility. Companies have developed elaborate schemes of outsourcing, in an environment of limited liability. This cannot easily be overcome through gestures. This book seeks to engage readers and to provoke thoughts. It can be angry and polemical, but it points a finger directly at ongoing superficial developments.

Why Safety Cultures Degenerate

Why Safety Cultures Degenerate
Author: Johan Berglund
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 107
Release: 2016-06-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1134765827

From Chernobyl to Fukushima, have we come full circle, where formalisation has replaced ambiguity and a decadent style of management, to the point where it is becoming counter-productive? Safety culture is a contested concept and a complex phenomenon, which has been much debated in recent years. In some high-risk activities, like the operating of nuclear power plants, transparency, traceability and standardisation have become synonymous with issues of quality. Meanwhile, the experience-based knowledge that forms the basis of manuals and instructions is liable to decline. In the long-term, arguably, it is the cultural changes and its adverse impacts on co-operation, skill and ability of judgement that will pose the greater risks to the safety of nuclear plants and other high-risk facilities. Johan Berglund examines the background leading up to the Fukushima Daiichi accident in 2011 and highlights the function of practical proficiency in the quality and safety of high-risk activities. The accumulation of skill represents a more indirect and long-term approach to quality, oriented not towards short-term gains but (towards) delayed gratification. Risk management and quality professionals and academics will be interested in the links between skill, quality and safety-critical work as well as those interested in a unique insight into Japanese culture and working life as well as fresh perspectives on safety culture.

The Third Culture: Literature and Science

The Third Culture: Literature and Science
Author: Elinor S. Shaffer
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2011-05-02
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 3110882574

C.P. Snow's notion of a possible ""third nation"" in which the literary and the scientific culture interact has been explored in new ways by theorists on both sides of the divide. This text presents their theories.