I'd like to merge Lubomir's comment with Richard's.
As you both probably know, Alexander Baumgarten coined the word "Aesthetica",
sensibility, "perceptio", redefining knowledge by defining a "scientia
cognitionis sensitivae", a science of sensible cognition. Seldom confused
with a philosophy of Art, Aesthetica results solely from Baugarten's notion
that knowledge was not only achievable through Logic (old Alex was a
celebrated Logic).
In a sense, Europeans were so addicted to science (like gambling addicted)
that they even invented a science of non-scientific knowledge!
As to design sensibility, without wanting to replace Thomas' probable
interesting answer, I would start to say that, from the Design Schools point
of view, we teach to pre produce objects or the parts of objects destined
mostly to the sensible cognition also using cognitive processes originated
in the senses (in this case I would dare to say mostly originated in the
vision as substitute for other senses)
So Design sensibility would be (also) a way of knowing Design (without
logic) of cognising - both in objects, (reflexively) as in projects
(projectively) their special ability for being perceived sensibly.
A Baumgarten's English contemporary, Edmund Burke defined the Sublime pretty
much as an Aesthetical knowledge. Beholding the Sublime, my mind is un
capable of entertaining any other object, says Burke (he is in the Gutemberg
project)
I've been also following the colonial thread and I think that I will not
make any comment except to underline Gandhi's remarkable answer about the
Western civilization and add the following:
A few of the founding Myths about Europe, the kidnapping of Europa by Zeus
or Dedalus arrival in Crete show and tell the idea that Europa was a very
uncivilized land compared with the refinement of the Asian and African
cultures. For ages, the Greek cities paid tribute to eastern empires. The
legend and the poems about Troy celebrate the liberation from that
dominance.
A final note. I really think that Europe's advantage in the early modern
days was the combined use of three drugs Alcohol, Tobacco and Coffee. By
using the three together Europe kept awake thinking creatively uncountable
more hours than other cultures. J.
Cheers,
Eduardo
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