On Rationality in Engineering Design
Author:
Franssen Maarten1, Bucciarelli Louis L.2
Affiliation:
1. Delft University of Technology, Faculty of TPM, Section of Philosophy, Jaffalaan 5, 2628 BX Delft, The Netherlands 2. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, 5-213, Cambridge, MA 02139
Abstract
Rationality has different meanings within different contexts. In engineering design, to be rational usually means to be instrumentally rational, that is, to take a measured decision aimed at the realization of a particular goal, as in attempts to optimize an objective function. But in many engineering design problems, especially those that involve several engineers collaborating on a design task, there is no obvious or uncontested, unique objective function. An alternative approach then takes the locus of optimization to be individual engineers’ utility functions. In this paper, we address an argument which claimed that unless the engineers hold a common utility function over design alternatives, a suboptimal, hence, irrational, design is bound to ensue. We challenge this claim and show that, while sticking to the utility-function approach but adopting a game-theoretic perspective, rational outcomes to the problem at issue are possible.
Publisher
ASME International
Subject
Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design,Computer Science Applications,Mechanical Engineering,Mechanics of Materials
Reference15 articles.
1. Fernandez, M. G., Seepersad, C. C., Rosen, D. W., Allen, J. K., and Mistree, F., 2001, “Utility-Based Descision Support for Selection in Engineering Design,” ASME 2001 Design Engineering Technical Conference and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (DETC’01/DAC-21106), Pittsburgh, PA. 2. Locascio, A., and Thurston, D. L., 1992, “Multiattribute Optimal Design of Structural Dynamic Systems,” ASME 4th International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology (DTM ’92) DE-Vol. 42, p. 229. 3. Thurston, D. L., Carnahan, J. V., and Liu, T., 1994, “Optimization of Design Utility,” ASME J. Mech. Des., 116, pp. 807–808. 4. Bucciarelli, L. L., 1994, Designing Engineers, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA. 5. Allen, B., 2001, “On the Aggregation of Preferences in Engineering Design,” ASME 2001 Design Engineering Technical Conference and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (DETC’01/DAC-21015), Pittsburgh, PA.
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