We make choices about values and ethics

• There will never be agreement about ethical ideas, moral standards and their consequences

• It can get 'preachy' and 'holier than you' to talk about your ethics

• Creative people tend to be motivated by values and a sense of purpose

Ethical philosophy

• Find useful signposts from ethics to help with design

Virtue ethics

• Classical virtues - justice, courage, temperance and prudence

• Theological virtues - faith, hope, charity and love

• Modern virtues - humanity, simplicity, honesty, compassion and respect

These are held up as those which are good at shaping one's conduct and actions - the things we are taught as young children.

Social contract ethics

- Externally agreed standards of behaviour

- Statutory law, civil law, common law

• Legal precedents determined over years that demarcated right from wrong

• We stick to them so not to get into trouble even if we don't agree

• There are consequences for breaking these such as fines, prison etc.

- Professional code of practice

eg. Medical ethics - corporate social responsibility

- Broader social contract

- As a designer we feel a sense of good practice regardless of if it's illegal or not

• There is no written code of practice for designers

Emotivism

• Emotional rather than logical responses

• Flow from feelings rather than logical argument

Pragmatism

• What actually happens in practice rather than upon the search for the universal of being 'right' and 'good'

• Thinking about the 'why' and 'if' of what we do

• Looking at the consequences of actions

• Ethical assessment changes as consequences become apparent

The expansion of care

• Expansion = broadening out

• Personal capacity of being 'good'

• Social capacity for doing right by others

• Creative capacity for developing new ways of interacting within the broader context

• New ways to integrate within the natural world

Design practice should be clear and self reflective

• For our self

• For others

• Towards broader social responsibility

• Towards caution principle (consequences of action

Ourself - flourishing = becoming more than we are at the moment

Other people - having relationships from emotional intelligence

Animals - different views on this

• Animals are resources for humans

• Animals are emotionally intelligent like humans

It is a symbolic marker of how ethical we are as a society

Nature as a whole - 'rights' of nature

• We need a more careful approach to nature

• People will have different ethics on this

Applied ethics

Does design have the purpose to:

• Explore human needs, emotions, meanings, pleasures, pains

• Give voice to the real lives and felt experiences of people, as they live their lives

• Inspire humanity through design, art, film, music and literature to feel their common human heritage and act accordingly

• Is it necessary for designers to develop a particular ethical debate within itself for itself?

• Can the specific nature of design work contribute something distinctive to the expansion of care?

• What is it, if anything that the designer can teach the philosopher about the relationships between reason and emotion; between the human spirit and logic; between freedom and responsibility?

What does it mean for me for ethics within design?

ie. Vapes - meant to be good for adults to quit smoking, however, have become very popular with a young audience

What would I do if asked to design advertising/ packaging which aims the vapes towards a young audience?

If I had sufficient income where I could turn this project down without worrying about paying bills/ feeding myself and my family then yes, I would turn it down. However, my family would come first and if this meant going against my ethics I think there would be a certain extent that I would go to.

Has this changed my manifesto?

'Be Valuable - add to the world to provide something that is needed'

Although this is an important quote in my manifesto I think there is more to this. design doesn't have to provide something that is needed but could also create a need for something that has not been thought of before such as the iPhone.

Therefore I would change this line in my manifesto to:

'Be Valuable - add to the world to provide something that is beneficial and/or desired.'

An example would include the pet portraits I create. There is no need for a customer to have this painting; they have the photos of their beloved pets however they have the desire to have something 'more special' to remember their pets by.