Applying Epistemology to System Engineering: An Illustration

Epistemology is a branch of Philosophy where the debates focus on the nature of knowledge and ways of knowing. Epistemological questions and debates are often reflected in other disciplines having a strong relationship with knowledge, such as the sciences. Furthermore, these debates may also be reflected in the practice of engineering due to its relationship with the sciences. For example: one epistemological debate is concerned with whether different cultures know things in the same way. The psychological sciences of Cultural Psychology and Cross-cultural Psychology reflect this debate by offering differing answers to questions such as “is the concept of depression valid across cultures?” Another reflection of this debate may be observed in system engineering during requirements elicitation if the several clients of a system represent multiple cultures. Here, fundamental concepts such as “proper operation” may be understood differently among the cultures, with dire consequences if the differences in knowing are unrecognized. This paper provides an illustration of how re-formulating a problem from one discipline (system engineering) into a common root discipline (epistemology) and then to another derivative discipline (psychology) may provide new beneficial insights.