Sweeting, Ben (2016) The ethics of ethics and the ethics of architecture. In: Relating Systems Thinking and Design Symposium (RSD), 13-15 Oct 2016, Toronto, Canada.

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Abstract

In designing architecture we put forward ways in which to live, enabling particular
patterns of living while limiting other possibilities. In this sense architecture has a
normative function and can be compared to the way that ethical theories and moral
codes purport to guide us on how to live. Given this, I suggest that ethical reflection
about how we design—and in particular about how we constitute the relationship
between designers and those they design for—can be used to help formulate ethical
questions regarding how we speak and reason about ethics itself. Recognising Heinz von
Foerster’s criticisms of moral codes as an instance of this, I use the example of designing
architecture to challenge and extend von Foerster’s position, suggesting the recursive
application of ethics to its own discourse.

Item Type:	Conference/Workshop Item (Paper)
Divisions:	Faculty of Design
Date Deposited:	30 Aug 2017 15:31
Last Modified:	20 Dec 2021 18:03
URI:	https://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/1949

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