> Do simply beautiful artefacts ALWAYS instantiate good design?
Philosophers of art have taken up a similar question with regard to Leni Riefenstahl's _Triumph of the Will_, which appears to meet, exceed, and even in some ways define modern standards of cinematic beauty while actively contributing towards evil ends. Can beauty and evil coincide in one and the same work? Plato says no but Triumph seems to be a troubling counter-example.
If this question is answered in the affirmative, then _Triumph of the Will_ is among other things, a "good design." In addition to the bizarre ethical implications of that, it also seems to erase any distinction between ANY human artifact and design.
I'd find it difficult indeed to defend such a thesis.
Jeffrey
Reference:
Mary Devereaux. Beauty and evil: the case of Leni Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will. In Jerrold Levinson, ed. Aesthetics and Ethics. Cambridge UP, 1998.
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