The Design Thinking as a Method of Applied Ethics

Abstract

This paper deals with the argument that the design thinking in engineering has an important viewpoint for ethics. The design thinking has two interpretations. First, I point out that these interpretations do not make the content of the design thinking clear. Second, I argue that the design thinking applies to all the practical problems, including ethical problems. Third, I show four features of the design thinking, namely complexity of constraints for solving a problem and trade-offs among the constraints, an ethical factor as one of the constraints, acceptance of multiple solutions and insolubility, and the design thinking as a method for agents.