Pragmatic Idealism and Scientific Prediction by Amanda Guillán

Author:Amanda Guillán
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

5.3.2 The Artificial Realm: Prediction in the Design Sciences

From an epistemological perspective, the sciences of design develop contents of the sciences of the artificial, because of the type of object they deal with (see Guillán 2013). Scientific designs belong to the realm of the “human-made” and can be considered as the result of a task of synthesis (Simon 1996, pp. 4–5), where prediction and prescription have an important role. This issue connects with an ontological dimension, which Simon highlighted when he made the distinction between artificial objects and natural items.

He made this distinction in order to establish the boundaries for the sciences of the artificial. In his judgment, there are four main differences between them: “1. Artificial things are synthesized (though not always or usually with full forethought) by human beings. 2. Artificial may imitate appearances in natural things while lacking, in one or many respects, the reality of the latter. 3. Artificial things can be characterized in terms of functions, goals, adaptation. 4. Artificial things are often discussed, particularly when they are being designed, in terms of imperatives as well as descriptives” (Simon 1996, p. 5).

Following epistemological and ontological features, design can be characterized as a human-made undertaking, which is made through a task of synthesis and brings about an artificial thing. Moreover, according to Simon , the concept of “synthesis ” can be used as a synonymous with the notion of “design.” In his judgment, “design, as I am using the term, means synthesis . It means conceiving of objects, of processes, or ideas for accomplishing goals, and showing how these objects, processes, or ideas can be realized” (Simon 1995, p. 246). Thus, to some extent, “design” and “synthesis ” can be understood within this approach in the broad-sense of devising objects and processes, and thinking of how they can be accomplished in an effective and efficient way.

This teleological character of “design,” which has a relation with the artificial domain, leads Simon to stress the link between design sciences and technology. In his judgment, “as soon as we introduce ‘synthesis ’ as well as ‘artifice,’ we enter the realm of engineering. For ‘synthetic’ is often used in the broader sense of ‘designed’ or ‘composed.’ We speak of engineering as concerned with ‘synthesis ,’ while science is concerned with ‘analysis.’ Synthetic or artificial objects and more specifically prospective artificial objects having desired properties are the central objective of engineering activity and skill. The engineer, and more generally the designer, is concerned with how things ought to be in order to attain goals, and to function” (Simon 1996, pp. 4–5).

De facto, both technology and design sciences share the need for designs to attain their goals (Gonzalez 2008, p. 168). Nevertheless, “‘design sciences’ belong to a realm that is scientific rather than technological, and they have a scientific rationality that is different from technological rationality ” (Gonzalez 2008, p. 168). The main difference between them is neat: science seeks a variety of aims by cognitive means in order to increase our

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