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.

Editorial introductions to extracts help to contextualise and highlight implications for design students

PrefaceIntroduction, Anne Marie WillisPART 1: THE ESSENCE OF DESIGNIntroduction1. The Fault of Epimetheus, Bernard Stiegler2. In the Beginning, Tony Fry3. A Cautious Prometheus? A Few Steps Toward a Philosophy of Design, Bruno Latour4. The Depth of Design, Albert Borgmann5. Design as an Ontological Question, Tony FryGuide to Further ReadingPART 2: THE PRACTICE OF DESIGNIntroduction6. Science, Art and Practical Wisdom, Aristotle7. The Complication of Praxis, William McNeill8. The Existential Self as Locus of Sustainability in Design, Philippe d'Anjou9. Science of the Concrete, Claude Levi-Strauss10. The Textility of MakingTim IngoldGuide to Further ReadingPART 3: THE ETHOS OF DESIGNIntroduction11. Artefacts: the Making Sentient of the External World, Elaine Scarry12. Ethics by Design or the Ethos of Things, Cameron Tonkinwise13. Grievability, Judith Butler14. The One for the Other Adrian Peperrzak15. Ethics in the Making, Bodil Jönsson et alGuide to Further ReadingPART 4: DESIGN AND THE OTHERIntroduction16. On Coloniality of Knowledge, Madina V. Tlostanova17. The Enframing Gaze, Timothy Mitchell18. The Violence of Humanitarian Design, Mahmoud Keshavarz19. The Force of Form, the Effect of Genre, Francois Jullien20. Why Not an Alphabet? Lothar Ledderose Guide to Further ReadingGuide to Further ReadingPART 5: BEING DESIGNED AND THINGSIntroduction21. The Thing, Martin Heidegger22. Materialism is Not the Solution: On Matter, Form, and Mimesis Graham Harman23. Is Design Finished? Dematerialisation and Changing Things, Cameron Tonkinwise24. Beyond Affordance Michael May25. Understanding, Ontology, Thrownness and Readiness-to-hand, Terry Winograd and Fernando Flores26. Smart meters don't make us any smarter Elizabeth Shove and Sarah Royston27. Matter and Mattering or Why are Things "Us"? Clive DilnotGuide to Further ReadingPART 6: THE DESIGNING OF TECHNOLOGYIntroduction28. Technology: Instrumental Metaphor and Cybernetic System, Adrian Snodgrass29. The Question Concerning Technology, Martin Heidegger30. Technical Mentality, Simondon31. The Finite Framework of Language, Michael Heim32. 'This System Does Not Produce Pleasure Anymore' Bernard StieglerGuide to Further ReadingPART 7: THE DESIGNING OF VISUALITYIntroduction33. Form and Imitation Plato34. The Plato Effect in Architecture Chistopher N. Henri35. Age of the World Picture, Martin Heidegger36. An Art Which Imitates Art Pierre Bourdieu37. Sign Function and Class Logic Jean Baudrillard38. Henri Lefebvre, The Production of SpaceGuide to Further ReadingPART 8: DESIGNING AFTER THE ENDIntroduction39. What is the Anthropolitical? Claire Colbrook40. The Intrusion of GAIA Isobel Stengers41. Cosmoecological Sheep Vinciane Despret and Michel Meuret42. Outing Artificial Intelligence: Reckoning with Turing Tests Benjamin H. Bratton43. The Posthuman Rosi Braidotti44. The Sustainment Tony Fry45. Spinoza and Us Gilles DeleuzeGuide to Further ReadingBibliographyIndex