Philosophy of design

Philosophy of design is the study of definitions of design, and the assumptions, foundations, and implications of design. The field, which is mostly a sub-discipline of aesthetics, is defined by an interest in a set of problems, or an interest in central or foundational concerns in design. In addition to these central problems for design as a whole, many philosophers of design consider these problems as they apply to particular disciplines (e.g. philosophy of art).

Although most practitioners are philosophers specialized in aesthetics (i.e., aestheticians), several prominent designers and artists have contributed to the field. For an introduction to the philosophy of design see the article by Per Galle^[1] at the Royal Danish Academy of Art.

Notable philosophers and theorists

Philosophers of design, or philosophers relevant to the philosophical study of design:

• Roland Barthes
• Anne Balsamo^[2]
• Jean Baudrillard
• Albert Borgmann
• Richard Buchanan
• Clive Dilnot^[3]
• Johanna Drucker^[4]
• Umberto Eco
• Cameron Tonkinwise
• Vilem Flusser^[5]
• Jane Forsey
• Tony Fry^[6]
• Bruno Latour^[7]
• Marshall McLuhan
• Per Mollerup^[8]
• Victor Papanek
• Glenn Parsons
• Martin Heidegger
• Bernard Stiegler
• Peter-Paul Verbeek^[9]

References

1. Galle, Per (18 February 2015). "Philosophy of Design". KADK. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
2. Balsamo, Anne (2011). Designing culture : the technological imagination at work. Durham NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0822344452.
3. Dilnot, Clive (2017). "Design, knowledge and human interest". Design Philosophy Papers. 15 (2): 145–163. doi:10.1080/14487136.2017.1388963.
4. Drucker, Johanna (2014). Graphesis: Visual forms of knowledge production. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-72493-8.
5. Flusser, Vilém (1999). The shape of things: a philosophy of design. London: Reaktion. ISBN 9781861890559.
6. Fry, Tony (September 2020). Defuturing: A New Design Philosophy. Radical Thinkers in Design. London, England: Bloomsbury Visual Arts.
7. Latour, Bruno (2009). "A Cautious Prometheus? A Few Steps Toward a Philosophy of Design (With Special Attention to Peter Sloterdijk)". In Fiona Hackne, Jonathn Glynne; Minto, Viv (eds.). Proceedings of the 2008 Annual International Conference of the Design History Society -- Falmouth, 3-6 September 2009 (PDF). Universal Publishers. pp. 2–10.
8. Mollerup, Per (2019). Pretense Design: Surface over Substance. MIT Press.
9. Verbeek, Peter-Paul (2005). What Things Do: Philosophical Reflections on Technology, Agency, and Design. Pa., Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 0271025395.