WEEK 8: ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY

As designers, we may need to confront challenges that question personal character and values. 

Morality and ethics were talked about a lot in the lecture. Morality is about our responsibility to others and the rules that govern what is right and wrong. An example of this is if a cigarette company were to ask you to create an ad campaign: is it morally right to work for a company that essentially causes cancer, and effectively kills people? The answer would then come down to your personal ethics. Ethics are about what sort of person you are, and the way you live your life. Good ethics would say that you should not advertise for the cigarette company, however there are many other things that could come into play that could sway someone’s decision making.

Aristotle founded the thinking that happiness exists in blessedness. This means that living a life that is righteous, and that right-thinking people would admire will result in happiness. Aristotle also believed that if you think wealth will make you happy, you are wrong, as wealth is no good to you if you do not have an understanding of what to do with it. Happiness can be seen as final – it is not a means to anything, it is the end goal of any actions in life.

There are 3 key rules to summarise an ethical standpoint on life and design:

1.     The Greatest Good – the more good that results, the more ‘right’ the action is. If a ethical decision has to be made, choose what is most beneficial.

2.     The Golden Rule – do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you are making a decision that impacts others, make sure the outcome is so that you wouldn’t be upset if someone did it to you.

3.     Real World Ethics – apply common sense. People share moral rules and values instinctively, so this is why it’s referred to as common sense.

Creators of propaganda in war and other circumstances believe that are influencing people to behave for the greatest good.

When designing it is important to think about if we are solving a problem or merely contributing to it less. Exposing our practices to ethical scrutiny must become a trend in the design community especially.