Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Aesthetics and Ethics in Engineering: Insights from Polanyi

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Science and Engineering Ethics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Polanyi insisted that scientific knowledge was intensely personal in nature, though held with universal intent. His insights regarding the personal values of beauty and morality in science are first enunciated. These are then explored for their relevance to engineering. It is shown that the practice of engineering is also governed by aesthetics and ethics. For example, Polanyi’s three spheres of morality in science—that of the individual scientist, the scientific community and the wider society—has parallel entities in engineering. The existence of shared values in engineering is also demonstrated, in aesthetics through an example that shows convergence of practitioner opinion to solutions that represent accepted models of aesthetics; and in ethics through the recognition that many professional engineering institutions hold that the safety of the public supersedes the interests of the client. Such professional consensus can be seen as justification for studying engineering aesthetics and ethics as inter-subjective disciplines.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Birsch, D., & Fielder, J. H. (Eds.). (1994). The Ford Pinto case: A study in applied ethics, business and technology. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blockley, D. (2005). Do ethics matter? The Structural Engineer, 83(7), 27–31.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blockley, D. I., & Godfrey, P. (2000). Doing it differently: Systems for rethinking construction. London: Thomas Telford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis, M. (1998). Thinking like an engineer: Studies in the ethics of a profession. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dias, W. P. S. (2003). Heidegger’s relevance for engineering: Questioning technology. Science and Engineering Ethics, 9(3), 389–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dias, W. P. S. (2007). Philosophical grounding and computational formalization for practice based engineering knowledge. Knowledge Based Systems, 20(4), 382–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dias, W. P. S., & Al-Kabbani, I. (1997). Design and performance of 11350 cu.m. rectangular Jubilee Reservoir in Sri Lanka. Engineer, Sri Lanka, June, pp. 74–81.

  • Ferre, F. (1995). Philosophy of technology. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feyerabend, P. (1970). Consolations for the specialist. In I. Lakatos & A. Musgrave (Eds.), Criticism and the growth of knowledge (pp. 197–230). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

  • Herkert, J. R. (2001). Future directions in engineering ethics research: Microethics, macroethics and the role of professional societies. Science and Engineering Ethics, 7(3), 403–414.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joy, B. (2000). Why the future doesn’t need us. Wired, Archive 8.04. http://www.wired/com/wired/archive/8.04/joy_pr.html. Accessed 18 Nov 2009.

  • Kulasuriya, C., Dias, W. P. S., & Hettiarachchi, M. T. P. (2002). The aesthetics of proportion in structural form. The Structural Engineer, 80(14), 22–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magee, B. (1973). Popper. London: Fontana.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nair. (2001). Personal communication. Pittsburgh: Carnegie Mellon University.

  • Pantazidou, M., & Nair, I. (1999). Ethic of care: Guiding principles for engineering teaching and practice. Journal of Engineering Education, April, 205–212.

  • Pinkus, R. L. B., Shuman, L. J., Hummon, N. P., & Wolfe, H. (1997). Engineering ethics: Balancing cost, schedule and risk—lessons learned from the space shuttle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polanyi, M. (1946). Science, faith and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polanyi, M. (1958). Personal knowledge: Towards a post-critical philosophy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

  • Polanyi, M. (1966). The tacit dimension. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Popper, K. R. (1945). The open society and its enemies (Vol. 1). London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rutsky, R. L. (1999). High techne: Art and technology from the machine aesthetic to the posthuman. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tronto, J. C. (1993). Moral boundaries: A political argument for an ethic of care. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vojak, B. A., Price, R. L., & Griffin, A. (2009). Interdisciplinarity and innovation in the corporate world. In R. Frodeman, J. Klein, & C. Mitcham (Eds.), Oxford handbook of interdisciplinarity. Oxford: Oxford University Press (forthcoming).

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka

    Priyan Dias

Authors
  1. Priyan Dias
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Priyan Dias.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dias, P. Aesthetics and Ethics in Engineering: Insights from Polanyi. Sci Eng Ethics 17, 233–243 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-009-9188-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-009-9188-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation