Design and Value: The Ethical Nature of Beautiful Design.

Design theory is increasingly acknowledging the ethical nature of Design. At the same time, philosophers are becoming increasingly aware of the aesthetic potential of Design, and of its distinctive claim to beauty. Yet Design theorists and philosophers alike have failed to note the connection between the ethical nature of Design and its beauty. In this article, I argue that beautiful design is fundamentally ethical in nature. To this end, I develop what I call an axiological conception of functional beauty, whereby beauty is linked to other values, I broaden the notion of functions relevant to design to accommodate the many possible affordances of Design objects, and I argue that beautiful design is design that manifests deep, ethical, concern: beautiful design is carefull design. I suggest that this can take a number of forms, and seek to distill some of these through detailed discussion of several examples of beautiful design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]