Design Philosophy after the Technology Turn

Through a collection of essays, this open access book brings together perspectives on philosophy of technology and design.

Taking stock of recent changes in technology – including recently emerging digital tools like AI – the authors look to expand the discussions that draw upon both design philosophy and technological developments.

The editors of the book argue that we are already a long way from the conventional interpretation of design philosophy as a ‘philosophy of design’, where philosophers remained distant from the practice of design itself. They maintain that designers must welcome cross-fertilisations between disciplines that make possible alternative interpretations of design philosophy, for example, as ‘a designerly way of doing philosophy’ or as ‘designing things philosophically’, perhaps even as ‘the design of philosophy’.

The book is structured in two parts: the first comprises chapters that address foundational issues arising at the crossroads of philosophy and design; the second addresses chapters that address special topics, including AI and democracy, fashion design, professional ethics, and climate engineering.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the TU Delft Open Access Fund.

Fernando Secomandi is Assistant Professor of Service Design for Emerging Technologiesat TU Delft, the Netherlands. He contributes to the fields of industrial design and the philosophy of technology as author, editor, and reviewer of academic productions. He currently serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Human-Technology Relations.

Peter-Paul Verbeek is Rector Magnificus of the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He is author of books about philosophy of technology and design, including What things do (2005) and Moralizing technology (2011). He is currently chairperson of the UNESCO World Commission for the Ethics of Science and Technology (COMEST) and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Human-Technology Relations.