Journal of Northeastern University(Social Science)

Journal of Northeastern University(Social Science) ›› 2016, Vol. 18 ›› Issue (5): 457-463.DOI: 10.15936/j.cnki.1008-3758.2016.05.003

• Scientific and Technological Philosophy • Previous Articles     Next Articles

The True Grand Challenge for Engineering: Self-Knowledge

Carl Mitcham1(USA)  Translated by YIN Wen-juan2， HUANG Xiao-wei3   

  1. (1. Liberal Arts and International Studies， Colorado School of Mines， Golden 80401， USA; 2. Research Center for Philosophy of Science and Technology， Northeastern University， Shenyang 110819， China; 3. School of Social Sciences， Tsinghua University， Beijing 100084， China)
  • Received:2016-04-20 Revised:2016-04-20 Online:2016-09-25 Published:2016-09-22
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Abstract:

In 2003 the U.S. National Academy of Engineering proposed a series of “grand challenges” for engineering in the 21st century. During the early decades of the 21st century the engineering-society relationship has increasingly been discussed in terms of grand challenges， that is， technical challenges that engineering is called on to address for the good of society. Placing this rhetoric in a more expansive historical and philosophical perspective nevertheless reveals a neglected challenge: cultivating self-knowledge among engineers and all of us to live in an increasingly engineer-dependent world. The role of humanities in engineering education is argued as a natural place to promote such self-knowledge about engineering.

Key words: engineering, grand challenge, humanity, self-knowledge

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