Design ethics: Reflecting on the ethical dimensions of technology, sustainability, and responsibility in the Anthropocene

Ethics is integral to design in many ways. But design ethics has remained under-developed despite an increasing relevance in the Anthropocene, when many novel ethical issues and problems are anticipated to emerge from man-made artifacts and systems. The aim of this article is to revitalize the discourse of design ethics. Firstly, I define 'design ethics' in relation to the distinction between 'ethics' and 'morality'. Secondly and through the perspective of ethics, I draw out new issues and questions by examining three commonly encountered categories in design, namely, 'technology', 'sustainability' and 'responsibility'. Finally, I conclude by suggesting that it is important not to relinquish the formative potential of ethics for design despite its complexity, or its ostensible intractability.