The Methodology Of Engineering

Modern engineering construction not only needs the mastery of certain scientificand technological knowledge as well as related engineering knowledge, but also needsvalid engineering methodology more to help us analyze and solve engineeringproblems so as to make engineering construction go more efficiently andwell-organized. Since1960s, researches about engineering have been preceded.Scholars and researchers both and at home and abroad respectively proposed HardSystem Methodology, Soft System Methodology and Meta-synthesis Methodology,etc.However, all these methodologies are conducted on the basis of ‘dualism’. Naturally, itis easy for them to be excessive technicalization. As goes into the21stcentury, with thepresent of the ‘ternary mixture’ of science, technology and engineering, it is possibleto carry out the research of engineering philosophy by viewing engineering as anrelatively independent practical activity of human creation. With the boost ofengineering philosophy, a renewed campaign in the perspective of ‘ternary mixture’ tostudy engineering methodology is imperative. In this way, the research of engineeringmethodology is of great significance both in theory and practice because it is helpful tofully recover the practical nature of engineering methodology. It also emphasizes onthe non-technical elements and overcomes the trend of excessive technicalization etc.In this thesis, the author studied engineering in the horizon of practical philosophy,philosophy of action and ‘ternary mixture’ and proceeded as following: First, theauthor reveals the nature and features of engineering and then analyzes the structureand process of engineering activities to lay foundation of the ontology of the researchof engineering methodology; Second, from the comparison between engineeringthought and theory thought, the author tries to reveal the peculiarities of engineering thought; and takes a further study of the scientific methodology, technicalmethodology and engineering methodology, from which the author make preparationfor further study of the engineering methodology; Third, the author introduces andgeneralizes the Hard System Methodology, Soft System Methodology andMeta-synthesis Methodology; the author perfects the engineering methodology by theirdefects; Finally, the author comprehensively discuss the engineering methodologyestablished on the structure and process of engineering activity, including fouraspects: the methodology of engineering decisions, the methodology of engineeringdesign, the methodology of engineering implementation and the methodology ofengineering evaluation.