Philosophical Dialogue in Engineering Education: Focus on Building “Negative Capability”

This paper aims to clarify the critical role of philosophical dialogue in engineering education from the perspective of cultivating negative capability.Negative capability can be defined as the ability to endure situations that defy attempts to manage them, often involving questions that cannot be easily answered.For engineers, who are expected to communicate with citizens as well as colleagues and project associates, it is essential to acquire negative capability, as they are confronted with problems or issues where different interests and points of view intermingle.In this paper, we argue that through engaging in the practice of philosophical dialogue, in the future, engineers will be better able to deal with seemingly unmanageable situations through cultivating negative capability.