Week 7 ETHICS & SUSTAINABILITY
Reading
Ethics in Design
Why we need ethics of design
Reason 1: bad industrial design can cause fatality and pose danger to people.
Reason 2: corporate and businesses use designers as a way to make money and stimulate consumption, often disregarding of cultural values.
Reason 3: the way urban design is built does not match with the desired experience. The choices made in urban design is still very poor in a technology-driven society.[1]
All three reasons suggest importance of considering the subjective views of the individuals more than just for organisations to make profits. That design helps to build an image which connects the artificial with the natural world.
The ethics we need:
Fights against capitulation of human interests compared to the market.
Against the greed of global capitalism.
Prevents economic errancy and to withstand negative impacts from negative globalisation.
Does not just take what is given but fights against negative actions.
Ethics will help to form a belief that it is possible to create something a lot better beyond what the market needs. The designed item is promoting the interest of human beings and not of the market.[2]
Ethics make it possible to create things sustainably and in a humane manner.
Ethics of Design relates to 4 moments, those of:
Persons
Relations
Situations
Contexts
Design starts and finishes with relation to persons. It considers the needs and dependence upon the artefact which the person will interact with. However this is sometimes forgotten so design ethics reminds designers to consider the consequences of their designs. Relations between persons and things, and things and nature. Unethical designs just puts regards on commodity relations.[3]
1. Design a package to look larger on the shelf?
Most said that it can be annoying, but it would not bring harm, so I do not mind taking on this project. Most of the class members also agree. Also this could be during the manufacturing process, and not a part of the design.
2. Design a package for a cereal aimed at children, which has low nutritional value and high sugar content?
Yes because the packaging often requires nutritional information on the box for people to look at, so the customers can choose whether or not to buy it. Most consumers would already know a lot of cereal has lots of sugar anyway. Also often the parents buy the cereal so the parents can choose for their kids.
3. Design a line of t-shirts for a manufacturer who employs child labour?
No because the children in the labour cannot choose to not work, and it is not always clear on the t-shirt that the manufacturer employs child labour.
Writer: Megatron
Ethics in Design
Why we need ethics of design
Reason 1: bad industrial design can cause fatality and pose danger to people.
Reason 2: corporate and businesses use designers as a way to make money and stimulate consumption, often disregarding of cultural values.
Reason 3: the way urban design is built does not match with the desired experience. The choices made in urban design is still very poor in a technology-driven society.[1]
All three reasons suggest importance of considering the subjective views of the individuals more than just for organisations to make profits. That design helps to build an image which connects the artificial with the natural world.
The ethics we need:
Fights against capitulation of human interests compared to the market.
Against the greed of global capitalism.
Prevents economic errancy and to withstand negative impacts from negative globalisation.
Does not just take what is given but fights against negative actions.
Ethics will help to form a belief that it is possible to create something a lot better beyond what the market needs. The designed item is promoting the interest of human beings and not of the market.[2]
Ethics make it possible to create things sustainably and in a humane manner.
Ethics of Design relates to 4 moments, those of:
Persons
Relations
Situations
Contexts
Design starts and finishes with relation to persons. It considers the needs and dependence upon the artefact which the person will interact with. However this is sometimes forgotten so design ethics reminds designers to consider the consequences of their designs. Relations between persons and things, and things and nature. Unethical designs just puts regards on commodity relations.[3]
Situations is referred to design transforming the existing situation into a preferred one. Design questions all the possible situations that can be transformed and that also represents the interests of the project of persons. Again, the reading stresses that ethical design should not worry about the profits to earn from the product but needs to worry more about the usability of the product by people.[4]
Core of design is ontological and anthropological act. Ontology is study of being, anthropology is study of human, their behaviours, and societies. Design ethics require compassion. The artefact should have some emotional value to the user.[5] Being ethical in design is also to be able to take critiques.[6]
Lecture:
Lecture:
Design ethics, ethical design, and design for social change (Chris Thornton)
Ethics: from ethos. It concerns about the good life, and ontology: The way of being.
Morality: values that govern right and wrong. Whereas ethics: rules applied to determine the difference between right and wrong. Ethics is a set of moral principles, and is the principles of conduct governing an individual or group. To understand how to make the whole community happy, we need to understand happiness of an individual.
According to Aristotle, wealth does not bring happiness. Happiness is the most final end-goal of a person, there is nothing else to strive for beyond happiness itself. Virtue is moderation: when you choose to enjoy something not too much and not too little, just at the right amount. However not everything should be done in moderation, but not at all, for example murder. Socrates believes virtue involves intellectual knowledge, so people with virtue should be able to define it. To Aristotle it involves one’s own rational sense or perception. Aristotle believes virtue brings one’s enjoyment and leads them to personal excellence. Making the right choices is something which you learn until it becomes second-nature.
Moral status: How to choose what is right or wrong.
Historical philosophers thought mostly only human beings have moral status because we have self-awareness, language, rationality. But it’s being questioned e.g. for animals because some animals probably have more rationality than humans for example a chimpanzee vs. a baby.
Now it is believed social status should be given by considering sentience which is the ability to feel pain. Some philosophers think it should be given to all living things including plants.
UtilitarianismActions are morally permissible if and on if they produce as much net happiness as any other available action. Therefore the less suffering produced by an action, the better it is. Any other action that is not the ‘best’ regarded is considered morally wrong.
Utilitarianism is combined with a value theory and the theory of action. For example the value theory has to lead to happiness, then the theory of action is the best option which maximises the happiness value. However there are cons: an example was if a person was in lots of pain and required a medical technique that would require costing many people’s entertainment to a game, then utilitarianism would choose the many people’s entertainment over one person’s relief of pain.
Ethical position summary:
The ‘Greatest Good’: will the action lead to the greatest good for the greatest number of people?
The Golden Rule: empathy which we put ourselves in the position of others.
Real World Ethics: common sense, having sharing similar moral values to others.
Tutorial:
Designers need to consider customers as people, and not just as consumer. Correlates with the reading. Ethics is personal and subjective. Being ethical to someone is different to another. Non-ethical designs reduces all the things that can be to the interaction of purchase.
Tutorial
We discussed some examples of:
According to Aristotle, wealth does not bring happiness. Happiness is the most final end-goal of a person, there is nothing else to strive for beyond happiness itself. Virtue is moderation: when you choose to enjoy something not too much and not too little, just at the right amount. However not everything should be done in moderation, but not at all, for example murder. Socrates believes virtue involves intellectual knowledge, so people with virtue should be able to define it. To Aristotle it involves one’s own rational sense or perception. Aristotle believes virtue brings one’s enjoyment and leads them to personal excellence. Making the right choices is something which you learn until it becomes second-nature.
Moral status: How to choose what is right or wrong.
Historical philosophers thought mostly only human beings have moral status because we have self-awareness, language, rationality. But it’s being questioned e.g. for animals because some animals probably have more rationality than humans for example a chimpanzee vs. a baby.
Now it is believed social status should be given by considering sentience which is the ability to feel pain. Some philosophers think it should be given to all living things including plants.
UtilitarianismActions are morally permissible if and on if they produce as much net happiness as any other available action. Therefore the less suffering produced by an action, the better it is. Any other action that is not the ‘best’ regarded is considered morally wrong.
Utilitarianism is combined with a value theory and the theory of action. For example the value theory has to lead to happiness, then the theory of action is the best option which maximises the happiness value. However there are cons: an example was if a person was in lots of pain and required a medical technique that would require costing many people’s entertainment to a game, then utilitarianism would choose the many people’s entertainment over one person’s relief of pain.
Ethical position summary:
The ‘Greatest Good’: will the action lead to the greatest good for the greatest number of people?
The Golden Rule: empathy which we put ourselves in the position of others.
Real World Ethics: common sense, having sharing similar moral values to others.
Tutorial:
Designers need to consider customers as people, and not just as consumer. Correlates with the reading. Ethics is personal and subjective. Being ethical to someone is different to another. Non-ethical designs reduces all the things that can be to the interaction of purchase.
Tutorial
We discussed some examples of:
Milton Glaser’s Road to Hell-Would you:
1. Design a package to look larger on the shelf?
Most said that it can be annoying, but it would not bring harm, so I do not mind taking on this project. Most of the class members also agree. Also this could be during the manufacturing process, and not a part of the design.
2. Design a package for a cereal aimed at children, which has low nutritional value and high sugar content?
Yes because the packaging often requires nutritional information on the box for people to look at, so the customers can choose whether or not to buy it. Most consumers would already know a lot of cereal has lots of sugar anyway. Also often the parents buy the cereal so the parents can choose for their kids.
3. Design a line of t-shirts for a manufacturer who employs child labour?
No because the children in the labour cannot choose to not work, and it is not always clear on the t-shirt that the manufacturer employs child labour.
Writer: Megatron
_____________________
[1] Clive Dilnot, "Ethics in design: 10 questions," in H. Clark & D. Brody (Eds.), Design studies: a reader, (Oxford: Berg., 2009), chap 26, 180 & 181.
[2] Dilnot, "Ethics in design," 182.
[3] Ibid., 183.
[4] Ibid., 184.
[5] Ibid., 187.
[6] Ibid., 189.
Bibliography
Dilnot, C. "Ethics in design: 10 questions." In H. Clark & D. Brody (Eds.), Design studies: a reader. (Oxford: Berg., 2009). 180–190.
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