Is there an ethical role for the history of design? Redeeming through history the possibility of a humane world

Is there an ethical role for the history of design? Redeeming through history the possibility of a humane world

Dilnot, Clive

Keynote Speaker:

What follows is not the abstract or even the basis of the talk that I will give in Aveiro so much as a sketching out, in the form of an extended working paper, of the ethical basis from which I would like to try to think about the meaning of doing and thinking about the history of design today. The talk itself will try to ground these abstractions in some concrete exemplars. But in the light of where we are in the world today, a preliminary understanding the ethical and political position of doing work in design, whether as history or practice (and these two things should not be separated) is essential. Such an understanding cannot not but be also philosophical, all the more so that the prime requirement here is to think the linkage between the characteristics and capabilities of design and the possibility of redeeming the world in a humane direction: a project now essential to the question of how this century is survivable without human and ecological catastrophe.

What follows is not the abstract or even the basis of the talk that I will give in Aveiro so much as a sketching out, in the form of an extended working paper, of the ethical basis from which I would like to try to think about the meaning of doing and thinking about the history of design today. The talk itself will try to ground these abstractions in some concrete exemplars. But in the light of where we are in the world today, a preliminary understanding the ethical and political position of doing work in design, whether as history or practice (and these two things should not be separated) is essential. Such an understanding cannot not but be also philosophical, all the more so that the prime requirement here is to think the linkage between the characteristics and capabilities of design and the possibility of redeeming the world in a humane direction: a project now essential to the question of how this century is survivable without human and ecological catastrophe.

Palavras-chave:

DOI: 10.5151/despro-icdhs2014-0003

Como citar:

Dilnot, Clive; "Is there an ethical role for the history of design? Redeeming through history the possibility of a humane world", p-57-81. In: Tradition, Transition, Tragectories: major or minor influences? [=ICDHS 2014 - 9th Conference of the International Committee for Design History and Design Studies]. São Paulo: Blucher, 2014.
ISSN 23186968, DOI 10.5151/despro-icdhs2014-0003