From “ethics of the eye” to “ethics of the hand” by collaborative prototyping
| Pages | 3-9 |
| Published date | 04 March 2014 |
| Date | 04 March 2014 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-11-2013-0048 |
| Author | Ellen Christiansen |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance |
From “ethics of the eye”
to “ethics of the hand”
by collaborative prototyping
Ellen Christiansen
Department of Communication and Psychology,
Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark
Abstract
Purpose – The aim of this paper is to answer the question: how can judgment about good and bad
behavior of a device or service under development be included in the development process?
Design/methodology/approach – By distinguishing between detached good/bad judgment, called
“ethics of the eye”, and judgment about good and bad behavior embedded in doing and dialogue, called
“ethics of the hand”, two examples of designer judgment are examined, one embedded and one
detached. The outcome is explained by means of an application of Ricoeur’s hermeneutics, where he
shows how narration comprises pre-figuration, con-figuration and re-figuration. An examination of
collaborative prototyping in Krzysztof Wodiczko’s work on building a vehicle together with homeless
people in Manhattan, New York, is contrasted with an example of the detached evaluation of use in
Joseph Weizenbaum’s account for use of his computer therapy program Eliza.
Findings – The difference is identified as the difference between joint making and dialogue, resulting
in re-configuration, and detached evaluation, which sticks with the pre-figuration. The paper concludes
that for engineering and design at large “ethics of the hand”, the collaborative doing and dialogue, where
the engineering and the designerly way of understanding come together over a prototype, brings out a
shared frame, which makes ethics an integrated part of the development process.
Originality/value – The paper discusses how judgment about good and bad behavior of a device or
service under development can be included in the development process and shows that the answer is
collaborative prototyping.
Keywords Collaboration,Ethics, Hermeneutics, Collaborativeprototyping, Design practice,Narration
Paper type Conceptual paper
Design must acknowledge the multiple worlds of its stakeholders (Klaus Krippendorff )
Introduction
My understanding of “ethics” is the naı
¨ve, folk-understanding, that ethics is about right
and wrong behavior. For professional conduct, which is our topic here, judgment
regarding right or wrong behavior depends on framing of the object of discussion.
In development of digital technologies debates about ethics often become
keeping-at-arms-length discussions, an “ethics of the eye”, from the onlooker’s position.
As opposedto such a detached view I have, throughoutmy nearly 30 years as a teacherof
higher education students on their way to professional carriers in Informatics, tried to
make questionsabout right or wrong behavioran integrated part of the practiceof making
digital artifacts. From the very beginning I alert the students to the dilemma caused by
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
The author is grateful to the editor for support and fruitful comments on an earlier version.
Received 17 November 2013
Revised 27 November 2013
Accepted 28 November 2013
Journal of Information,
Communication and Ethics in Society
Vol. 12 No. 1, 2014
pp. 3-9
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-11-2013-0048
From “ethics of
the eye” to “ethics
of the hand”
3
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