How-Why Logic Paths and Intentionality

The concepts of function in technology can be explained and described within models using etiological (causality and determinism) and teleological (intentionality) view. The function explains the prevalence and (or) persistence of object types by citing their contributions and relationships in the artefact or system. Function Analysis System Technique (FAST) is a technique for analysing the functional structure used in the Value Methodology. Therefore, this paper describes the relationships between function, goals and the purpose of a system as represented in the HOW-WHY logic of Classic FAST’s ‘Major Logic Path’. Meanwhile the other paper at this edition of Value World explains etiological function in the WHEN logic path of Classic FAST. A teleological function is that which needs to be done in order to achieve a purpose. In other words, what an object brings about in a system needs to serve its purposes and goals of the system in order to be called a teleological “function.” To optimise at the detailed level only may undermine value at the purpose level and how the teleological functional theory has been selected from the intentional design of an agent (e.g. a manufacturer). The focus of this paper is on the horizontal arrangement of functions in the HOW-WHY direction. The reason such articulation is needed is to enable the use of Classic FAST to be taken into High Technology projects that require greater alignment of engineering and scientific thinking. The underlying theory is an adaptation of Aristotle’s “Teleological cause”. The HOWWHY logic path comprises functions that need to be done in order to achieve a purpose and is a feature of how engineers develop practical expectations that underpin invention. It is this means-end logic that makes the How-Why logic path teleologic. The need to combine engineering intentionality with scientific knowledge in an explicit form provides Value Engineering an advantage because Classic FAST can represent the link between practical and theoretical intelligence. This paper uses teleological functions as the way in which the Major Logic Path structures purposive decisionmaking and so aids engineers to think more clearly about what needs to be done. It is a different logic from the accompanying paper in this edition of Value World (Woodhead & Berawi, 2004) which discusses etiological functions in the When direction of Classic FAST.