---

The present book is based on the conference Software Development and Reality Construction held at SchloB Eringerfeld in Germany, September 25 - 30, 1988. This was organized by the Technical University of Berlin (TUB) in cooperation with the German National Research Center for Computer Science (GMD), Sankt Augustin, and sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation whose financial support we gratefully acknowledge. The conference was an interdisciplinary scientific and cultural event aimed at promoting discussion on the nature of computer science as a scientific discipline and on the theoretical foundations and systemic practice required for human-oriented system design. In keeping with the conversational style of the conference, the book comprises a series of individual contributions, arranged so as to form a coherent whole. Some authors reflect on their practice in computer science and system design. Others start from approaches developed in the humanities and the social sciences for understanding human learning and creativity, individual and cooperative work, and the interrelation between technology and organizations. Thus, each contribution makes its specific point and can be read on its own merit. But, at the same time, it takes its place as a chapter in the book, along with all the other contributions, to give what seemed to us a meaningful overall line of argumentation. This required careful editorial coordination, and we are grateful to all the authors for bearing with us throughout the slow genesis of the book and for complying with our requests for extensive revision of some of the manuscripts.

---

Prologue.- 1 Thinking About Computer Science.- 1.1 Human Questions in Computer Science.- 1.2 Learning from our Errors.- 2 Living Computer Science.- 2.1 The Technical and the Human Side of Computer Science.- 2.2 Hermeneutics and Path.- 2.3 Computing: Yet Another Reality Construction.- 2.4 How Many Choices Do We Make? How Many Are Difficult?.- 2.5 From Scientific Practice to Epistemological Discovery.- 3 On Reality Construction.- 3.1 Self-Organization and Software Development.- 3.2 Software Development as Reality Construction.- 3.3 The Idea that Reality is Socially Constructed.- 4 Learning to Know.- 4.1 Scientific Expertise as a Social Process.- 4.2 How to Communicate Proofs or Programs.- 4.3 Making Errors, Making Sense, Making Use.- 4.4 Artifacts in Software Design.- 5 Computer Science and Beyond.- 5.1 The Denial of Error.- 5.2 Towards a New Understanding of Data Modelling.- 5.3 A Reappraisal of Information Science.- 6 Understanding the Computer Through Metaphors.- 6.1 Perspectives and Metaphors for Human-Computer Interaction.- 6.2 Software Tools in a Programming Workshop.- 6.3 Soft Engines - Mass-Produced Software for Working People?.- 6.4 Artificial Intelligence: A Hermeneutic Defense.- 7 Designing for People.- 7.1 Shared Responsibility: A Field of Tension.- 7.2 A Subject-Oriented Approach to Information Systems.- 7.3 Anticipating Reality Construction.- 7.4 On Controllability.- 7.5 Work Design for Human Development.- 8 Epistemological Approaches to Informatics.- 8.1 Truth and Meaning Beyond Formalism.- 8.2 Informatics and Hermeneutics.- 8.3 Language and Software, or: Fritzl´s Quest.- 8.4 Activity Theory as a Foundation for Design.- 8.5 Reflections on the Essence of Information.- Epilogue.- List of Authors.

---