 |
 |
Thank you all for the discussion regarding the design canon's'. As usual, I have only questions that I would like you to help me with. If my questions are 'wrong' or 'useless', please tell me, and better still tell me why. Is the suggestion to 'read di versely and critically' a easy way out of the painful discussion of canon? Are 'core books' and 'core texts' more politically-correct terms for 'canon'? If they are, are these just a disguise or a shield to avoid attacks on a particular canon? Stretch i ng this further, is this to avoid the examination of the philosophical priori on which the canon is based (refer to David Sless' comments)? I appreciate everything that have been said about the pros and cons of a canon, the canon as a tool for commun ication and reflection, the danger of agenda setting and the importance of pluralism and diversity. While I was listening to the discussion, I felt like I was standing on a crossroad. But if I want to get somewhere, I need a point of a departure. I fee l a need to make a decision into which ideas I should buy, without a decision I can never find out if I am right or wrong, or worse, I can't change my mind. I need a canon! Everybody is egocentric, as my psychology teacher likes to say. The danger of d en ying oneself being egocentric is that one doesn't examine the subjective self. I see this as a parallel to the denial of a canon, a denial of our subjective beliefs and values which go unexamined. Thus my questions. Thanks. Rosan Rosan Chow Grad uate Student College of Design North Carolina State University – - %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%