Category: philosophical counseling
-
Measured breath for the ear
Directness: to mean, with each statement, what I say and to say, with each statement, what I mean–this and no more. To avoid expressions of sentiment; to be restrained, temperate, composed, never therefore to blurt out. To get to or at something at the appropriate time rather than beating around the bush. Never to be…
-
On awkwardness and accountants
The word ‘awkward’ fascinates me not least because it implies that there is a recognizably crucial connection between goodness and beauty. Derived from ‘awk,’ which means ‘directed the other way or in the wrong direction, back-handed, from the left hand’ (OED), the word applies to persons who lack ‘dexterity or skill in performing their part’ (OED).…
-
Design thinking: Can good design begin with the question of needs?
This post can be regarded as a further thought about design thinking. I may have something else to say about problem-based solution thinking in a couple of days. * The innovative design thinker, Tim Brown of IDEO, suggests in a number of places that design thinking occurs at the intersection of desirability, viability, and feasibility,…
-
Design ethics: The good life and the art of inquiry
I’ve been invited to write two chapters for a forthcoming collected volume on design ethics. The first chapter will be concerned with philosophical inquiry and the good life, the second with three different conceptions of ethics: conviction, responsibility, and attention. In my first chapter, I’ll be arguing, at least in part, that (a) philosophical inquiring…
-
A brave man and a coward
‘[For Socrates,] courage is a virtue particularly connected with keeping a clear sense of what one regards as most important.’ –Bernard Williams, ‘A Critique of Utilitarianism’ ‘If my soul could only find a footing, I would not be assaying myself but resolving myself. But my soul is ever in its apprenticeship and being tested.’ –Montaigne, ‘On Repenting’…
Andrew Taggart, Ph.D. 