Design Philosophy

The Philosophy of Design is an introduction to the fundamental philosophical issues raised by the contemporary practice of design. The first book to systematically examine design from the perspective of contemporary philosophy, it offers a broad perspective, ranging across key philosophical areas such as aesthetics, epistemology, metaphysics and ethics. The first part of the book explores central issues about the nature of design and its products, and the rationality of design methods. A central theme is that Modernist ideas, such as those offered by Loos and Gropius, provide important responses to these philosophical issues. In the second part of the book, these Modernist ideas serve as touchstones in the exploration of key issues for design, including: the place of aesthetics in design; design s relation to personal expression; the meaning of function; and design s relation to consumerism. The social responsibility of designers, and the impact of design practice on ethical reasoning are also discussed.

2018

With this volume we present 24 contributions to the philosophy of design. Design is an emerging topic in philosophy and not yet one on which work is shaped by a common set of questions or by an academically entrenched discipline of philosophy of design. We therefore consider it an effort in itself that we can present 24 contributions. Throughout the years we have approached in our careers design from our separate disciplinary perspectives and probed whether design was becoming a more general topic of philosophical re ection. One of us (Pieter) is working in a philosophy department and analyzed design as part of a larger project within the philosophy of technology. This has led to a predecessor volume on the philosophy of design (Vermaas et al. 2008), analyses of design (Houkes and Vermaas 2010), joint work with design researchers on the structure of design (e.g., Vermaas and Dorst 2007), and to the creation of the Design Research Foundations book series, in which this volume has appeared. The second of us (Stéphane) is working in a design department and a design research center. He analyzed design from a phenomenological perspective and contributed to developing the knowledge of design in France. These efforts led to a monograph about how design affects, structures, and frames experience (Vial 2010) and to the founding of the French- speaking journal Sciences du Design edited by Stéphane. Our separate work may be taken as proof that design has found its way to philosophy, yet when teaming up we discovered a more substantial interest.

2007

2005

Designing sometimes yields results that are miraculous from a technical point of view. The first light bulb must have been magical to those who first encountered it, as may be the new 555 passengers Airbus A380 to us when we see it take off from Schiphol Airport. From a philosophical point of view designing is, however, wondrous at all times.

Design Studies, 2002

Design Studies, 2000

This paper focuses on the structure and dynamic of theory in design research. Problems with existing theory are explored, and a new meta-theoretical method is suggested for assisting the critical analysis, comparison and formulation of design theories and concepts. This meta-theoretical method contributes to building a simplifying paradigm of design research by providing a means to clarify the existing state of design theory in the field, to assist with the establishment of coherence and compatibility between concepts in disparate theories, to validate theory and concepts, and to uncover 'hidden' aspects of design theories.

Philosophical interpretations are essential to design thinking because as an act of imagination and choice it is not dependent on objective phenomena. It is responsive to wants and needs, is goal oriented, and guided by preferences and experience. While scientific knowledge has advanced by adopting conventions to guide disclosure of empirically established information, cumulative knowledge of designing has not developed because it has had no systematic way to consider non-empirical factors. Historically, design philosophy has been presented as aesthetic, practical or personal preferences rather than as a systematic philosophical system that could be developed, tested, and refined to support understandings of design and design thinking. The intent is to show how different philosophies relate to specific modes of purposeful thought and how such correlations supports practical application of a collaborative approach to philosophy itself.

Unisinos Journal of Philosophy, 2023

Artigo está licenciado sob forma de uma licença Creative Commons Atribuição 4.0 Internacional.