Dr. M.P.M. (Maarten) Franssen
Profile
I have master degrees in Physics and History and a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Amsterdam, for a thesis on the problem of methodological individualism in the social sciences. I joined the Philosophy Section in Delft in 1996, first as assistant professor, from 2004 as associate professor. From 1999 to 2011 I was co-leader of the research programme first titled Philosophical Reflection on Technology, then Philosophy of Technology, Design and Values.
Research
My research covers the following topics: (1) The ontology and epistemology of artefacts in technology. One thread here is conceptualizing of artefacts as organised jointly with human agents into systems, for which I have coined the notion of an instrumental system. (2) Aspects of normativity in relation to artefacts and functional entities more generally. (3) Problems occurring in multi-criteria decision making, as they abound in engineering design but also more generally.
I have designed and teach courses in argumentation, critical thinking, philosophy of science and engineering, decision theory for groups for groups of up to 150 students from various science and engineering programmes. Additionally I tutor smaller groups on critical reflection on technology and ethical issues related to technology and specific technologies. In the past I have taught courses on general philosophy of technology, environmental philosophy, and the analysis of social phenomena.
- 'Philosophy of technology as a serious branch of philosophy: the empirical turn as a starting point’ (jointly with Stefan Koller), in: Philosophy of technology after the empirical turn (Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol. 23), eds. M. Franssen, P.E. Vermaas, P. Kroes & A.W.M. Meijers, s.l.: Springer, 2016, pp. 31-61.
- ‘Design for values and operator roles in sociotechnical systems’, in: Handbook of ethics, values, and technological design: sources, theory, values and application domains, eds. J. van den Hoven, P.E. Vermaas & I. van de Poel, Dordrecht etc.: Springer, 2014.
- Artefact kinds: ontology and the human-made world, eds. M. Franssen, P. Kroes, T.A.C. Reydon & P.E. Vermaas, Synthese library, vol. 365, Dordrecht etc.: Springer, 2014.
- ‘Modelling systems in technology as instrumental systems’, in Model-based reasoning in science and technology: theoretical and cognitive issues, ed. L. Magnani, Heidelberg etc.: Springer, 2014, pp. 543-562.
- ‘Technology, Philosophy of’ (jointly with Gert-Jan Lokhorst & Ibo van de Poel), in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, E. Zalta ed., first published February 20, 2009; major revision December 13, 2013.
- ‘An impossibility theorem for verisimilitude’ (jointly with Sjoerd Zwart), Synthese 158, 2007, 75-92.
- ‘The normativity of artefacts’, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 37 (2006), 42-57
- ‘Arrow’s theorem, multi-criteria decision problems and multi-attribute preferences in engineering design’, Research in Engineering Design 16, 2005, 42-56.
- ‘The ocular harpsichord of Louis-Bertrand Castel. The science and aesthetics of an eighteenth-century cause célèbre’, Tractrix. Yearbook for the History of Science, Medicine, Technology and Mathematics 3 (1991), 15-77.
- Archimedes in bad: mythen en sagen uit de geschiedenis van de wetenschap (in Dutch), Amsterdam: Prometheus, 1990.

Maarten Franssen
Associate Professor
- +31 15 27 85795
- m.p.m.franssen@tudelft.nl
-
Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management
Building 31
Room number: B4.300
Department:
Values, Technology and Innovation
Section:
Ethics/Philosophy of Technology
Research interests:
Design for values
Additional information
Dr. M.P.M. Franssen
- publications
- subjects
-
- 2005 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2005 - Philosophy of Science
- 2005 - Methodology and Ethics of Science and Technology
- 2005 - The Other Site of Technology: Human Acting
- 2006 - Methodology and Ethics of Science and Technology
- 2005 - Integration Moment II
- 2006 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2006 - General Methods and Techniques in Research
- 2006 - Philosophy of Science
- 2006 - The Other Site of Technology: Human Acting
- 2006 - Integration Moment II
- 2007 - The Other Site of Technology: Human Acting
- 2007 - Philosophy of Science
- 2007 - Integration Moment II
- 2007 - General Methods and Techniques in Research
- 2009 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2008 - Methodology of Science and Engineering
- 2008 - The Other Site of Technology: Human Acting
- 2008 - Philosophy of Science
- 2011 - Philosophy of science for research specialization
- 2009 - Integration Moment II
- 2009 - Methodology of Science and Engineering
- 2009 - Philosophy of Science
- 2010 - Methodology of Science and Engineering
- 2010 - Philosophy of Science
- 2011 - Methodology of Science and Engineering
- 2011 - Philosophy of Science
- 2011 - Critical Reflection on Technology
- 2014 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2013 - Integration Moment II
- 2014 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2014 - Methodology of Science and Engineering
- 2012 - Integration Moment II
- 2012 - Methodology of Science and Engineering
- 2014 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2014 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2013 - Social and Scientific Values in MoT
- 2015 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2015 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2015 - Academic development 1
- 2015 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2015 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2014 - Academic development 1
- 2012 - Critical Reflection on Technology
- 2013 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2012 - Social and Scientific Values in MoT
- 2013 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2013 - Methodology of Science and Engineering
- 2016 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2016 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2016 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2016 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2016 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2016 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2016 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2016 - Methodology of Science and Engineering
- 2017 - Methodology of Geophysics and Remote Sensing
- 2017 - Philosophy of Science and Ethics
- 2017 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2017 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2017 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2017 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2015 - Academic development 1
- 2017 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2015 - Methodology of Science and Engineering
- 2018 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2018 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2018 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2016 - Philosophy of Science and Ethics
- 2016 - Methodology of Geophysics and Remote Sensing
- 2017 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2018 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2018 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2017 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2017 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2017 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2018 - Methodology of Geophysics and Remote Sensing
- 2018 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2018 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2018 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2018 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2018 - Philosophy of Science and Ethics
- 2015 - Methodology of Geophysics and Remote Sensing
- 2016 - Methodology of Science and Engineering
- 2020 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2020 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2019 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2019 - Argumentation and Philosophy of Science
- 2020 - Methodology of Geophysics and Remote Sensing
- 2020 - Philosophy of Science and Ethics
- 2020 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2020 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2020 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2019 - Philosophy of Science and Ethics
- 2019 - Methodology of Geophysics and Remote Sensing
- 2019 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2019 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2019 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2019 - Social and Scientific Values
- 2019 - Ethics for Applied Mathematics
- 2019 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2019 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design
- 2019 - Philosophy of Engineering Science and Design