Seventeenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Telos: Practical wisdom (the Useful and the Beautiful) 1.Design and philosophy What are the relations between philosophy of design and philosophy at large? Philosophy of design can draw on insights from other fields of philosophy, like ancient Greek and Chinese philosophy. Can these ancient philosophies also offer a new insight to a more general philosophy of design? Moreover, can results from the philosophy of design be put to use in contemporary design practice, by leading us towards the creation of better design methods for more ethical artifacts and a more ethical society? Design is represented in the countless artifacts that surround us and populate our environment. Artifacts have both a very practical and functional influence on our daily lives. But what influences design? Design may be seen as significantly depending on technological and scientific knowledge, but it cannot be understood in terms of science and technology alone. Design is, before that, a cultural expression of society and, through the creation of tangible products as the incarnations of intangible ideas, it represents an expression of various cultural elements of every society. Design is represented by the transformation of ideas into products: this process of “incarnation” of the “invisible” gives to the artifacts a duality of meanings. Designers, in fact, talk about their ideas as if they already were real artifacts to talk about.