CFP: Philosophy, Design and Aesthetics

The University of Warsaw’s Department of Aesthetics is pleased to announce the upcoming research seminar dedicated to the critical examination of the aesthetic discourse surrounding design.
The seminar will take place in Warsaw, Poland, on April 10th, 11th and 12th 2025.
The research seminar is organized in partnership with the University of Social Sciences and Humanities (SWPS).

Recent developments in aesthetic theory indicate a renewed philosophical interest in the topic of design. However, this interest takes two parallel routes that occasionally diverge: the exploration of design’s influence on contemporary taste and the challenges it poses to sustainability. On the one hand, scholars, oscillating between formalist and functionalist accounts of aesthetic theory (e.g., Forsey, 2013; Parsons, 2016; Gal, 2022), are outlining the features of the particular impact that design has exerted on the state of current taste. On the other hand, in light of design theory's acknowledgment that this practice has contributed to the creation of an unsustainable world (Fry, 2009; Escobar, 2018; Staszowski and Tassinari, 2021), scholars are attempting to define new aesthetic categories and sensibilities that can oppose this untenable progress (Alexander, 2017; Saito, 2023; Di Stefano, 2024). The call for papers adopts a critical stance toward existing aesthetic theories (functionalists and formalists alike), which appear to disregard the widespread skepticism towards considering design mainly as an aesthetic practice adopted by emerging trends in design theory.

According to Greg Bamford (1991), the term ‘design’ can be understood in two distinct ways: firstly, as a general type of "cognitive activity"; and secondly, as a "social or institutional practice, or profession." ‘Design,’ in the aesthetic discourse, is predominantly associated with the latter, thus referring to professional aesthetic practice. This definition establishes a connection between design and the well-established subject of aesthetic research, specifically art; consequently, it provides a rationale for applying aesthetic theories to the evaluation of design products, which are influenced by widely acknowledged theories of artistic beauty. However, the aesthetic aspect of the practice often intersects in reality with the objectives of marketing activities, prompting design theorists to express scepticism about the predominant association of design with an aesthetic exercise as well as the perceived worth of its products in terms of aesthetic stimulation.

Another example of the limit of an art-centric definition of ‘design’ is the absence of 'technology' from theories of aesthetic appreciation of design objects, despite its centrality in the construction of an ontology of design. Design objects are characterized as a set of technologically mass-manufactured objects, contrasting with more traditional artworks like paintings and sculptures that rely more on manual labor. This characterization establishes a connection between design and other artistic disciplines, such as photography and cinema, and elicits hypotheses regarding their impact on societal sensibility (Vitta 2012, Folkmann 2016), similar to Walter Benjamin's analysis of the inception of cinema in the XX century. Today we could extend the scope of this conversation by exploring the relationship between even newer technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), and the practice of design. Still, the fact remains that the technological aspect of designs’ production in general is frequently overlooked in the delineation of the modes of their aesthetic appreciation. Similarly, social and ethical values delegated to technological artifacts within their design (Verbeek 2005) elude aesthetic theory.

Given these premises, the workshop-conference will examine the limitations and justifications for the definitions of 'design' that function in the aesthetic discourse. Our aim is to question the validity of the limitations imposed by an art-centric discourse and explore, for example, the feasibility of conceptualizing design as an expanded form of daily practice (e.g., “diffuse design”, Manzini, 2015), transcending its current professional connotation. By doing so, we aim to not only challenge the boundaries of the aesthetic discourse on design but also to investigate what may lie beyond these boundaries.

To explore the research questions and potential themes of interest for the seminar, we invite you to visit our website at: https://designaesthetics.wfz.uw.edu.pl Additional details regarding deadlines, venues, and fees are also available on the website.

Abstracts must not exceed 300 words, and conference committee members will anonymously review each submission. Please email all submissions [email protected] no later than October 20, 2024.