On The Change Of Epistemology And The Rise Of Engineering Epistemology

The traditional knowledge theory from ancient Greece to the present is the knowledge theory of "theoretical superiority ",that is,knowledge is defined as a proven true belief,which is the theoretical representation of the world.It takes scientific knowledge as a typical model,and thinks that all knowledge should be developed or transformed "scientifically" as scientific knowledge,and the true rational knowledge is either scientific knowledge or the use of scientific knowledge.According to this knowledge theory,engineering knowledge is naturally regarded as the application form of scientific knowledge,and the study of its knowledge theory is only the expansion of orthodox knowledge theory in the field of engineering,and engineering knowledge has no independent knowledge theory status.With the rejection of metaphysics and dissatisfaction with the knowledge theory of "theoretical superiority" in modern and contemporary philosophy,the academic circles have re-examined human knowledge from the perspectives of Marxism,pragmatism,phenomenology and contemporary cognitive science,and explored and formed the knowledge theory approach of "practical superiority ".The rapid development of modern science and engineering technology shows that more and more artificial objects replace natural objects directly constitute the material basis of human life.The process of knowledge occurrence appears a kind of "flip ",that is,in the natural thing,knowledge comes from the idea of the understanding of the ready-made natural object," there is the first to exist,then to have knowledge ".However,in the artificial object,it is necessary to construct the knowledge of the artificial object first,and then can make the related artificial object according to it,that is," first has the knowledge,then has the existence person ".There is a fundamental change in the nature of this knowledge,that is,from the knowledge of "knowing" in the sense of cognition,understanding and interpretation to the knowledge of "knowing" in the sense of cognition,understanding and interpretation of the existing beings,to the knowledge operation of "how to do" through the artificial objects themselves,and then to build the "doing" knowledge of the existence of artificial objects accordingly.The reality fully shows that it is difficult to grasp engineering knowledge only from the knowledge theory of "theoretical superiority ",and must turn to the knowledge theory of " practical superiority " in order to carry out the research of engineering knowledge theory in depth.Under the background of the change of contemporary knowledge theory and the rise of engineering philosophy,this paper understands engineering as the practical activity of designing,constructing and using artificial objects according to the triple theory of science,technology and engineering,which must be based on the production and operation of engineering knowledge.The production and operation of engineering knowledge,as the knowledge(Know what)of the artifact itself and the knowledge(Know how)of how to carry out the construction of the artifact,runs through the whole life cycle of engineering practice.This paper uses phenomenological method to critically draw lessons from the Dutch school's theory of artifacts to study the structural relationship and life cycle process of living engineering practice activities,trying to reveal the practical essence and basic form of engineering knowledge,and make its full periodicity,integration,situational,social,object and physical and other complex characteristics presented.Engineering knowledge,as a typical representative of "practical superior position" knowledge theory,on the one hand,it is beneficial to advance the knowledge theory of "practical superior position" to a new level and depth in theory;on the other hand,it can make us better understand engineering creation and carry out creation activities through the production and operation of engineering knowledge in practice.