Philosopher in Residence in Construction Companies

该研究将有关背景下的专业知识的哲学思想应用于改善建筑公司的实践，从而提供经济，社会和文化效益。建筑是一个丰富的环境，展示了在非常激烈和独特的情况下，在各种层面上使用上下文专业知识。这项研究将探讨哲学的治疗或诊断作用及其对实践的用处，方法是放松先入为主的观念，暴露基于知识是一种活动过程（个人或社会）而不是一种可以积累的抽象商品的概念的未经检验的假设和后果。三家建筑公司，穆切尔，佩蒂弗建筑公司和莱德莱维特巴克纳尔，已同意参与。该项目将包括与这些公司的从业人员现场举行的小组研讨会，分析他们工作中的哲学困境，以使他们认识到在上下文中清晰思考的好处，以便他们能够修改他们的实践和公司流程，从而提供经济效益。有三个阶段。第一阶段将使用一系列的故事，体现哲学困境，从建筑行业，以发展语言和概念的专业知识在实践中与参与者。例如，废弃物的概念有一个上下文相关的含义，因此可能会混淆是否应该这样描述建筑物上的活动和装饰之间的缓冲时间。这些技能将在第二阶段使用，包括小组讨论，采取个人的实际实践经验，并帮助他们揭露错误和不充分的知识假设，并确定结构和流程中的组织矛盾。第三阶段将涉及一些参与者将这一活动纳入他们的组织，以及探索如何以长期可持续的方式将更严谨的思维嵌入公司结构和流程中。参与人员将更清楚地了解和重视他们的技能，背景，包括诊断他们的知识和工作环境的局限性，他们将能够与更广泛的公众沟通。这将为个人和公司带来直接利益，同时也展示了行业更好的形象，以吸引新的进入者。该活动将提高建筑从业员对哲学的文化意识，并通过该项目的宣传在整个行业中广泛传播。与此同时，该项目将挑战哲学，提供一个可以在非学术环境中欣赏的表达方式。从长远来看，这将使工作人员能够改变公司的结构和程序，使其与实践中的改进保持一致，并协助同事进行治疗和诊断思维，从而为有效的变革创造足够的工作人员。这些进程有助于从内部进行可持续的渐进式变革。

The research applies philosophical ideas about expertise-in-context to improving practice in construction companies thus providing economic, social and cultural benefits. Construction is a rich environment displaying the use of expertise-in-context at a variety of levels in very intense and unique situations. The research will explore the therapeutic or diagnostic role of philosophy and its usefulness to practice, through the loosening of preconceptions and the exposure of unexamined assumptions and consequences based on a conception of knowledge as a process of activity (individual or social) rather than an abstract commodity that can be accumulated. Three construction companies, Mouchel, Pettifer Construction, and Rider Levett Bucknall, have agreed to be involved. The project will involve small group workshops with practitioners on site in these companies analysing the philosophical dilemmas in their work in order to sensitise them to the benefits of clear thinking in context so that they can revise their practice and company processes thus providing economic benefit. There are three stages. The first stage will use a series of stories, embodying philosophical dilemmas, from the construction industry in order to develop language and concepts of expertise-in-practice with participants. For example, the concept of waste has a context dependent meaning so there may be confusion over whether buffer time between activities and adornment on a building should be so described. These skills will be used in the second stage involving small group discussion taking individual's actual experiences of practice and helping them to expose faulty and inadequate assumptions about knowledge and to identify organisational contradictions in structure and processes. The third stage will involve a number of participants taking this activity themselves into their organisations, and an exploration of how more rigorous thinking can be embedded in company structure and processes in a long term sustainable way.Individuals involved will understand and value their skills more clearly recognising their expertise-in-context including diagnosing limitations to their knowledge and work context which they will be able to communicate to a wider public. This will provide immediate benefit to the individuals and company, however, also demonstrating a better image of the industry to attract new entrants. The activity will raise the cultural awareness of construction practitioners towards philosophy and the resultant publicity from the project will broadcast this generally across the industry. At the same time, the project will challenge philosophy to provide an articulation which can be appreciated in non academic environments. In the long term, this will enable staff to change company structures and processes so they are aligned with improvements in practice, and to assist colleagues in therapeutic and diagnostic thinking thereby creating a critical mass of staff for effective change. These processes facilitate sustainable evolutionary change from within.