Philosophy and Design

Finally Springer published the long expected volume "Philosophy and Design. From Engineering to Architecture" edited by Pieter Vermaas, Peter Kroes, Andrew Light and Steven A. Moore. It consists of 25 essays reflecting engineering and design as issues for philosophy and ethics. The contributions provide philosophical and ethical analyses ranging from rather traditional engineering to emerging practices in genetics, nanotechnology, software design and information technology. The editor's introductory chapter emphasizes the meaning of design and engineering as a theme for philosophy and maps comprehensively the field according to philosophical, societal and ethical issues. Carl Mitcham, author of "Thinking Through Technology" praises the book as "significant contribution to the expanding field of design studies [...] It is also the first collection of philosophical papers to bridge the divide between critical reflections on design in engineering and in architecture."
Bernhard Rieder and I are pleased to contribute a piece on software design using open source as an example to emphasize the cultural context of engineering.
 
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