The Design Philosophy Reader

by Anne-Marie Willis (Editor)

Overview

What is design philosophy and why is it needed? This important book explains the discipline's recent emergence, the key questions which dominate it, and its potential to fundamentally change the way we practice and think about design.

The reader comprises eight thematic sections, each featuring a short, contextualising introduction and an annotated bibliography. It considers social, graphic, product and industrial design, and presents the writings of such leading design thinkers and philosophers as Deleuze and Heidegger, Aristotle and Plato. With texts ranging from philosophically informed writing on design and culture, to ancient and contemporary philosophy which addresses the concept of design, The Design Philosophy Reader is an impressive and pioneering work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780857853509
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	11/29/2018
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	7.44(w) x 9.69(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Anne-Marie Willis is Visiting Professor of Architecture and the Built Environment at the University of Adelaide, Australia and editor of Design Philosophy Papers at The Studio at the Edge of the World.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction, Anne Marie Willis

PART 1: THE ESSENCE OF DESIGN
Introduction
1. The Fault of Epimetheus, Bernard Stiegler
2. In the Beginning, Tony Fry
3. A Cautious Prometheus? A Few Steps Toward a Philosophy of Design, Bruno Latour
4. The Depth of Design, Albert Borgmann
5. Design as an Ontological Question, Tony Fry
Guide to Further Reading

PART 2: THE PRACTICE OF DESIGN
Introduction
6. Science, Art and Practical Wisdom, Aristotle
7. The Complication of Praxis, William McNeill
8. The Existential Self as Locus of Sustainability in Design, Philippe d'Anjou
9. Science of the Concrete, Claude Levi-Strauss
10. The Textility of MakingTim Ingold
Guide to Further Reading

PART 3: THE ETHOS OF DESIGN
Introduction
11. Artefacts: the Making Sentient of the External World, Elaine Scarry
12. Ethics by Design or the Ethos of Things, Cameron Tonkinwise
13. Grievability, Judith Butler
14. The One for the Other Adrian Peperrzak
15. Ethics in the Making, Bodil Jönsson et al
Guide to Further Reading

PART 4: DESIGN AND THE OTHER
Introduction
16. On Coloniality of Knowledge, Madina V. Tlostanova
17. The Enframing Gaze, Timothy Mitchell
18. The Violence of Humanitarian Design, Mahmoud Keshavarz
19. The Force of Form, the Effect of Genre, Francois Jullien
20. Why Not an Alphabet? Lothar Ledderose Guide to Further Reading
Guide to Further Reading

PART 5: BEING DESIGNED AND THINGS
Introduction
21. The Thing, Martin Heidegger
22. Materialism is Not the Solution: On Matter, Form, and Mimesis Graham Harman
23. Is Design Finished? Dematerialisation and Changing Things, Cameron Tonkinwise
24. Beyond Affordance Michael May
25. Understanding, Ontology, Thrownness and Readiness-to-hand, Terry Winograd and Fernando Flores
26. Smart meters don't make us any smarter Elizabeth Shove and Sarah Royston
27. Matter and Mattering or Why are Things "Us"? Clive Dilnot
Guide to Further Reading

PART 6: THE DESIGNING OF TECHNOLOGY
Introduction
28. Technology: Instrumental Metaphor and Cybernetic System, Adrian Snodgrass
29. The Question Concerning Technology, Martin Heidegger
30. Technical Mentality, Simondon
31. The Finite Framework of Language, Michael Heim
32. 'This System Does Not Produce Pleasure Anymore' Bernard Stiegler
Guide to Further Reading

PART 7: THE DESIGNING OF VISUALITY
Introduction
33. Form and Imitation Plato
34. The Plato Effect in Architecture Chistopher N. Henri
35. Age of the World Picture, Martin Heidegger
36. An Art Which Imitates Art Pierre Bourdieu
37. Sign Function and Class Logic Jean Baudrillard
38. Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space
Guide to Further Reading

PART 8: DESIGNING AFTER THE END
Introduction
39. What is the Anthropolitical? Claire Colbrook
40. The Intrusion of GAIA Isobel Stengers
41. Cosmoecological Sheep Vinciane Despret and Michel Meuret
42. Outing Artificial Intelligence: Reckoning with Turing Tests Benjamin H. Bratton
43. The Posthuman Rosi Braidotti
44. The Sustainment Tony Fry
45. Spinoza and Us Gilles Deleuze
Guide to Further Reading

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

In the case of The Design Philosophy Reader, the editor's proficiency as an educator and design scholar becomes evident in how each excerpt is curated for a higher education context. Willis skillfully navigates the limitations of the format and manages to offer a coherent, thought-provoking whole that dynamises the relationships between the selected texts.” —Journal of Design History

“More clearly perhaps than any other human science or profession, and in the face of complexly intertwined social, ecological, and cultural crises, design is emerging as a crucial domain of thought and action about life itself. The present is thus an auspicious moment for systematizing a philosophy of, from, and for, design as a strategy for rendering design into a more thoughtful and effectively reconstructive practice. By drawing on both philosophy and the most current strands of critical social theory, The Design Philosophy Reader provides us with the pillars for such a project. I cannot think of anybody more qualified to undertake this task than Anne-Marie Willies, a true pioneer of the design/philosophy interface. In contrast to the much more limited and highly popularized paradigm of design thinking, the Reader demonstrates why the redesigning of design, as the redesigning of the conditions of our collective existence, is the most important intellectual and political project designers and informed citizens can undertake in the current planetary conjuncture.” —Arturo Escobar, Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA

“This is a thoroughly comprehensive text which highlights the connections between philosophy and design. Useful guides to further reading are presented throughout. There is an acceptable balance between older and newer texts, organised into eight distinct parts, together covering an impressively wide range of thinking. Numerous contributors highlight the pervasiveness of design, the current state of thinking and practice of design. This text will be of value to both design theoreticians and practitioners, and should prove to be an essential addition to all design libraries or collections.” —Michael Hann, Chair of Design Theory at the University of Leeds, UK

“The Design Philosophy Reader reminds us that inquiry into the histories and systems that structure 'design' - language, visuality, colonialism, capitalism – must ground our understandings of, and engagements with, it.” —Shana Agid, Assistant Professor of Art, Media and Communication at Parsons, The New School, USA

“Through Willis' astute selection and structuring of key texts, The Design Philosophy Reader offers theoretical apparatus to develop critical thinking within the study and practice of design. It fundamentally opens design to be interrogated and theorized beyond the parameters of professional design and norms within academic design theory today. It will be of interest to anyone interested in questioning design as a condition of existence, and those who seek to problematize the discipline.” —Matt Malpass, Programme Coordinator for Ceramic and Industrial Design at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, UK

“Editor Anne-Marie Willis's own practice of 'designing' the Reader is demonstrated in the introduction to this section, where in just two pages the she gives a richly considered, potted-history of philosophy, showing how notions and practices of design and philosophy are mutually implicated... The Reader contains older, essential design-related texts from philosophers such as Claude Lévi-Strauss, Jean Baudrillard, Henri Lefebvre, Martin Heidegger, Gilbert Simondon, and more recent significant thinkers such as Bruno Latour, Bernard Stiegler, Rosa Braidotti, Isabelle Stengers and Judith Butler... The book contains essays that should be required reading for both research and professional work... Willis's curation of the Reader is compelling, not least because she has a critical vision; this is not a sample of work, or just a collection of the great and good.” —John O'Reilly, Eye Magazine

“This book establishes in a very clear way the grounds for research on the philosophy of design. It raises meaningful contradictions that allow postgraduate students to reflect more deeply on their roles as researchers in design. The sections covering designing of visuality and narrative are absolutely brilliant!” —Dr. Catarina Lelis, Senior Lecturer in Branding and Innovation, University of West London, UK

From the Publisher