Hi Mike
I find that Richard Rorty's pragmatism (via Dewey, Wittgenstein, Davidson) and that of educationalist like Cleo Cherryholmes helps get us out of this relativist trap, particularly where practical outcome or consequences (to use Rorty's turn of phrase) are important. From this perspective the interpretations (or theories or texts or books) are not equal if we consider the pragmatic purposes or consequences of the drawings. That is for particular purposes there will be a choice to be made between options (compare democracy, socialism, communism, etc.) and the choice, which we will not be so naive as to call the Truth, will fit what we want to achieve and perhaps (in political terms) some other basic principle. Thus in liberal democracy we will not take up an option that hurts other human beings but will accept one that continues to allow freedom to a majority. The same principle has been applied to educational options by Cherryholmes and I'm sure it can be worked into design practice.
Cherryholmes, C. H. (1999). Reading pragmatism. New York: Teachers College Press.
Cherryholmes, C. H. (1988). Power and criticism : poststructural investigations in education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Rorty, R. (1982). Consequences of pragmatism : essays, 1972-1980. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Actually also I am co-supervising a Masters student (Design Research) who is investigating through ethnogrpahic case study how graphic designers construct their work from the brief through visual and verbal means - somewhat akin to your piece.
Oh, hello it's being done (see my raw ripped version of Google Scholar below)
[BOOK] Peirce's Pragmatism: the design for thinking - all 2 versions »
P Chiasson - 2001 - books.google.com
Page 1. PEIRCE'S PRAGMATISM The Design for Thinking 8CLJ-H9S-T9DP Page 2. I M VIBS
Volume 107 ... Page 9. x PEIRCE‘S PRAGMATISM: THE DESIGN FOR THINKING PREFACE ...
Cited by 2 - Related Articles - Web Search - No Full Text Available - Libraries Australia
Making a Difference: Organization as Design - Full Text Via SFX - all 9 versions »
AGL Romme - Organization Science, 2003 - extenza-eps.com
... The pragmatism of design research can be expressed in more detail by exploring the
normative ideas and values characterizing good practice in pro- fessions ...
Cited by 30 - Related Articles - Web Search - BL Direct
[CITATION] Design, Deliberation, and Democracy: On the New Pragmatism of Firms and Public Institutions
CF Sabel - Conference on Liberal Institutions, Economic Constitutional *, 1995
Cited by 10 - Related Articles - Web Search
Pragmatism and Spatial Layout Design - all 3 versions »
SL Epstein, B Moulin, W Chaker, JI Glasgow, J * - COSIT 2001, 2001 - Springer
Page 1. Pragmatism and Spatial Layout Design Susan L. Epstein 1 ... be included
191 Pragmatism and Spatial Layout Design Page 4. is a ...
Cited by 7 - Related Articles - Web Search - BL Direct
Naturalism, Pragmatism, and Design - all 2 versions »
J Capps - Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 2000 - muse.jhu.edu
... pressures. 2 Naturalism, Pragmatism, and Design 163 Page 4. JOHN CAPPS 164 ... sense
Naturalism, Pragmatism, and Design 165 Page 6. JOHN CAPPS 166
Gavin Melles
Swinburne University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code: 00111D
NOTICE
This e-mail and any attachments are confidential and intended only for the use of the addressee. They may contain information that is privileged or protected by copyright. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution, printing, copying or use is strictly prohibited. The University does not warrant that this e-mail and any attachments are secure and there is also a risk that it may be corrupted in transmission. It is your responsibility to check any attachments for viruses or defects before opening them. If you have received this transmission in error, please contact us on +61 3 9214 8000 and delete it immediately from your system. We do not accept liability in connection with computer virus, data corruption, delay, interruption, unauthorised access or unauthorised amendment.
Please consider the environment before printing this email.
|