Literature

A straightforward but very important way of cultivating a new field of inquiry is to facilitate access to what has been published about it so far. That is what we try to do here, for our particular field of inquiry, the philosophy of design.

Introductions
If you would like to familiarize yourself with the philosophy of design as a discipline, in terms of what it is about and what it is for, or how it emerged, you might wish to begin with:

An introduction paper on what the field is about and what it is for.

A short historical account of the origins of the field.

The CEPHAD bibliography
Whereas the introductions above are relatively static, we plan to monitor the evolving body of literature dynamically by our online bibliography on the philosophy of design.

Some of the entries provide links to commercial sites where articles may be purchased or downloaded by subscribers. We also have a number of papers of our own, which we offer for downloading or printing, free of charge. We hope to extend this service as the bibliography develops.

At present, however, it is at a fairly rudimentary stage of development. We are not yet able to claim anything near complete coverage of the relevant literature. To improve coverage as quickly as possible, we need help from you and other users. This is why the bibliography includes a call for contributions, and a statement of our editorial policy.

Journals
Design Studies covers all areas of design research, including theoretical and methodological work. However, since the publication of Volume 23 no. 3, which was a special issue on the philosophy of design, the number of papers on the subject has been growing. The phrases ‘philosophy of design’ and ‘design philosophy’ appear on the list of controlled terms which authors are asked to use for classifying the contents of their papers. (Web access and search facilities available here.)

Design Issues is a scholarly journal focusing on design history, theory and criticism. It has occasionally published papers of relevance to the philosophy of design.

Working Papers in Art & Design is an academic online journal focusing on practice-based art & design research. It also occasionally brings papers of philosophical content. No subscription is required.

Founded in 2003, Design Philosophy Papers (DPP) is an online journal dedicated to the philosophy of design. It has developed a clear emphasis on ethics and sustainability issues related to design, often verging on political philosophy. DPP is published independently of CEPHAD.

Conferences
The biennial international conferences held by the Design Research Society (DRS) usually feature papers of relevance to our field. The latest conferences in the series were the 'Wonderground' conference held in Lisbon in November 2006, and the 'Undisciplined!' conference in Sheffield, 2008. The DRS is developing a public online digital archive of conference proceedings, which may prove to become a valuable source of information for people interested in the philosophy of design.

There are many more conferences on design research outside the DRS. The Design Research News, an electronic newsletter published by DRS (available regardless of membership), is a rich source of information about upcoming conferences.


Copenhagen Working Papers on Design
CEPHAD has not, so far, undertaken regular publication. However, we have access to a limited amount of space for publications of our own, in the report series Copenhagen Working Papers on Design. This is one of the ways in which our host institution, The Danish Design School, supports CEPHAD.


Other sources of information
See also our Links page for information on Internet resources on philosophy and other subjects that may be highly relevant for students and workers in the field of philosophy of design.