This book is about the functions of technical artefacts, material objects made to serve
practical purposes; objects ranging from tablets of Aspirin to Concorde, from wooden clogs …

Research on IS success and IT adoption has shown that object-based beliefs about IT
systems have a profound impact on subsequent IT usage. However, we still lack knowledge …

From a design science perspective, information systems and their components are viewed
as artifacts. However, not much has been written yet on the ontological status of artifacts or …

Gegen Mitte des Jahres 2010 war es gelungen, das Genom eines Bakteriums zu
synthetisieren, indem man DNA-Basissequenzen zusammensetzte. Das Ergebnis wurde als …

An analysis of the descriptions of technical artefacts by engineers shows that they use
structural and functional concepts in their descriptions. On the basis of this I argue that …

Defending or attacking either functionalism or computationalism requires clarity on what they
amount to and what evidence counts for or against them. My goal here is not to evaluate …

Arguably the central question for philosophers of science is whether what science tells us is
true. While this may sound a strange question to the outsider, it is entirely possible to argue …

Publisher Summary This chapter illustrates ontological systems, hereafter referred to as
ontologies, which satisfy the two main requirements of being formal and foundational …

How engineers know, and act on that knowledge, has a profound impact on society.
Consequently, the analysis of engineering knowledge is one of the central challenges for …

This open access book examines recent advances in how artificial intelligence (AI) and
robotics have elicited widespread debate over their benefits and drawbacks for humanity …