The ICE-theory of technical functions

Abstract

Because this is the first contribution to the book symposium on Technical Functions, I want to give the readers a general idea of the nature of the book. The aim of the book is normative rather than descriptive:This choice means that we approach both artefacts and the actions in which they play a role largely from a normative rather than a descriptive perspective. We do not offer a theory about how people actually use or design artefacts, or how they in fact describe them in functional terms; instead we seek to provide

Scientific Methodology in the Engineering Sciences

“…Furthermore, phenomena are interpreted in terms of their physical features and in terms of their technologically relevant (dys)function. They have a dual nature so to speak (Kroes 1998(Kroes , 2010Weber et al 2013). It is also important to recognize that in the basic natural sciences, scientific understanding of phenomena is usually detached from technology -phenomena are often presented as somehow 'free-floating' in nowhere.…”