Wojciech Gasparski

Design Methodology: A Personal Statement

I believe that practice can be clarified with just as much exactness as theory; indeed, I would go further and say that the study of design methodology will significantly improve practice — and one ought to recall that doing science, even theoretical science, is a practical activity which we must do by design. With this in mind, I turn first to the definition of the term ‘methodology.’

ON PRAXIOLOGY OF PREPARATORY ACTIONS

Abstract Praxiology, the so-called science of efficient action, is a French-Polish contribution to systemism. The French chapter of praxiology belongs to its prehistory, while the classical praxiology of the 20th century has been originated and developed by Polish philospher Tadeusz Kotarbinski (1886-1981), a member of well known Lvov-Warsaw school of philosophy and logic. The paper is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Tadeusz Kotarbithskis birthday. In the article a new chapter of praxiological studies, i.e., science of efficient action preparation, called preparatorics, is introduced. The sub-discipline is considered as praxiological response to the growing importance of pre-actions in general and meta-actions, like decision-making, designing, planning, and other practical problem solving activities, in particular.

Praxiology and Decision Theory

Praxiology and decision theory analyze phenomena of essentially the same kind. Moreover, their points of view are very similar, sometimes identical: they both try to evaluate human goal directed actions in terms of such criteria as efficacy with respect to the goal, efficiency of means applied, and the like. Yet, the two disciplines originated and developed quite independently. Even now there are very few points of actual contact. As a result, they differ considerably in the type of questions they ask, in the methods they apply, and particularly in their conceptual apparatus.

Beyond the Prose of Business

The prose of technologically oriented world of organizations and its management being narrowly efficient is not effective in a larger scale. It is because of, among other reasons, lack of poetry playing an important role in human life. If an employee, a manager, a leader is repeatedly called to based his/her conduct on integrity he/she has not only acts the same way he/she speaks but also to be the same person in his/her workplace he/she is outside it. Spirituality in its proper shape is called recently to bridge a gap between the inside and outside worlds in the context of business and managerial activities. Although some of ‘spiritual’ techniques are suspicious17 (new age, magical techniques, sects etc.) there are grounded believes worthy to be taken into account seriously as components of an endfull treatment of a human being: “Act so that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as a means only.” (Kant, 1969, p.44). The endfull treatment call also for tolerance and acceptance of diversity. Finally, the challenge of integrity must not be limited to the internal stakeholders of a company, external stakeholders have also their spiritual side.

Designer's responsibility: methodological and ethical dimensions

A designer is anybody who designs, where ‘to design’ - from Latin designare - means ‘to mark out’. Those who design professionally are professional designers, i. e. who „see and seek value in new designs“. Seeing an seeking might be done in two ways: narrower or broader. According to the approach characteristic for design-methodological reductionism those things which are designed are considered the designed objects. In this approach the designer’s task is limited to narrowly understood artifacts like buildings, bridges, machines, devices etc. The relation between a designed object and the reminder of the world is of a secondary consideration or ignored even. The postponed consequences are of physical, social, psychological, and economical nature. Systemic design methodology is different. It describes that ‘what is designed’ in terms of an object of design, a system (a whole) separated from the ‘rest of the world’ to an extent that can minimise a negative ‘immunological effect’. The object of design is a spectem is used. An independently developed programming language entitled NQC (Not Quite C) is used to program the robots. The students are initially given three lectures dealing with robotics in general, methods of locomotion and state based programming principles. Small workshops and discussions about ways of tackling the assigned problem followed these lectures. The work of Rechtin is shown wherein the methodology of “architecting” combines heuristics, hierarchies and intuition to reach design solution spaces. The students are then allowed to form teams whereby they must include members from each faculty. The students are also responsible for forming committees to collectively make decisions about the competitions. The committees decide general attributes of the robots such as size (Constructors Committee) as well as the rules for the competition (Race Committee). The Communication Committee was entrusted to develop a communication protocol (using Infrared transmitters) and the Code Committee decided whuse. Once producing and teaching good science is the main tasks of scholars, those among the scholars who are involved in design science are responsible not only for producing good design science but also for educating designers as reflective practitioners conscious of what every designer should know about objects of design and ethics related to the profession.

In Search for a New Balance: The Ethical Dimension of the Crisis

In his book, Business Fairy Tales: Grim Realities of Fictitious Financial Reporting (2006), Cecil W. Jackson quotes the words of Arthur Levitt, the former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who draws attention to the habitual behaviours that lie in the grey zone; that is, between what is legal and what is not. Illusion wins over honesty, continues the cited author; we are witnessing a specific kind of deception. These words seem to be incredibly prescient, considering the crash on the US financial market. Craftiness turns out to be more valuable than integrity. Is this because — in the words of John Hendry (2004) — we live in a bimoral society? Perhaps not everybody, but rather the ‘developed’ (in terms of what: unreliability or integrity?) societies of highly active economies, though globalization stimulates the attitude of ‘getting as much as possible, as fast as possible, in whatever way’, which does not have a place of origin and continues to spread to remote places in the world.

Systems Approach as a Style: A Hermeneutics of Systems

This paper develops the subject-matter I initiated with an article presented in Washington in 1982 at the Annual Conference on Systems Methodology organized by the Society for General Systems Research (now International System Science Society).

Designology : studies on planning for action

The more complex a human action is, the greater the need to formulate a plan of action, devise a method of implementation, and evaluate its execution. Such preparation is called design or planning, and can be defined as a conceptual preparation for action. Design and planning by themselves are so complex and important that they need informed preparation, which calls for systematic designological studies. This volume brings together original contributions of researchers and practitioners in design theory, design research, and design studies. Its main purpose is to highlight the possibilities of the discipline of designology. Doing and thinking, or thinking and doing, whatever the order, are intertwined. That is why praxiology, the science of action, defines design as a conceptual preparation of action. Included here are contributions from Jack Brzezinski, Eduardo Corte-Real, Nigel Cross, Michel Faucheux, Joelle Forest, Wojciech W. Gasparski, Ioannes B. Kapelouzos, Thorbjoern Mann, Tom Maver, Tarkko Oksala, Tufan Orel, Sevil Saryldz, and Ladislav Tondl. Designology is the latest volume in Transactions highly regarded Praxiology series.

From a Study of Practice to a Philosophy of Practicality. Tadeusz Kotarbiński’s Contribution to the Lvov-Warsaw School of Philosophy

The Lvov-Warsaw School of Philosophy, or LWSP for short, was a world-famous group of eminent Polish philosophers who made an outstanding contribution to twentieth century philosophy. One of its leading figures was Tadeusz Kotarbinski (1886–1981). This paper is intended as an overview of his contribution to the achievements of the school. Let us start from a brief description of the intellectual context of philosophical studies as seen by the school’s originator Kazimierz Twardowski and characterized by a pupil of his:

A Treatise on Good Robots

This volume investigates the ways emerging technologies in the fields of robotics and bio-robotics are influencing society. It necessarily considers both philosophical and technological study of robots, including what it means for robots to exist as good and moral entities, and how they benefit humans and enhance their quality of life. Contributors address artificial intelligence and social functions as well as technical matters. Chapters are wide-ranging, and consider robots in science fiction; the need for designers to create moral robots; specific technology; and the development of biological robots. Also addressed are robotic technologies already enhancing human bodies, such as exoskeletons that allow paraplegics to walk. The contributors foresee robots becoming involved not only in mundane domestic tasks such as washing dishes, but also in providing health care to the disabled and companionship to the elderly. This volume offers exciting philosophical reflections that unveil new connections between robotics and praxiology and their practical applications.