The etymology of design: Pre-socratic perspective

Design Issues

Volumn 23, Issue 4, 2007, Pages 69-78

  Terzidis, Kostas ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DESIGN;

EID: 38149004872     PISSN: 07479360     EISSN: 15314790     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1162/desi.2007.23.4.69     Document Type: Article

References (17)

1. Precisely, the root of (pronounced schedon) is derived from (pronounced eschein), which is the past tense of the verb (pronounced eho), that is "to have." Therefore, design literally Is about the reminiscence of a past possession, at an indefinite state, and at an uncertain time. Similarly, the word "scheme" from the Greek means "shape" and also is derived from the root.
2. (pronounced eschein) is also the root of the English word "scheme."
3. Similarly, in the game of peek-a-boo, a baby is mysteriously fascinated by an appearing/disappearing face.
4. The Socratic analogy of shadows in a cave illustrates the Illusion-prone nature of the senses, and the inability to distinguish reality (light) from its representation (shadow). The feeling of sensory Illusion is so comfortable that attempts to reveal their deceptive nature is met with fierce resistance [The Republic, book VII). While in Plato's dialogue Parmenides there is a clear distinction between the Socratic theory of ideas and Parmenides's existential philosophy, both are in agreement on the deceptive nature of the senses.
5. To paraphrase a paradox by Zeno, a student of Parmenides, It can be argued that novelty resembles an arrow moving forward in time and, as a moving arrow, either it is where it is or it is where it is not yet. If it is where it is, then it must be standing still, and if it is where it is not, then it can't be there; thus, it cannot change position. Of course, the paradox is just a metaphor to show the inability to achieve something out of nothing (i.e., to create something new).
6. Alternative versions of the word (i.e., "existence") in Greek are, which is equivalent to ex-sistere and, which literally means "this which Is." Ov (pronounced on), which is the root of the word "ontology," Is the present participle of the verb (i.e., "I am").
7. See R. Evans, "Not to Be Used for Wrapping Purposes," AA Files 10 (1985): 70. In this article, Evans makes an elegant distinction between design, as an accumulative process, and transformation as a different type of design where only relations alter.
8. Along the line of pre-Socratic thought, the prefixes a-, un-, and in-, when used in the sense of negation, opposition, or contrast to reality, are absurd, confusing, and pointless. Either something exists or not. The preposterousness that is inherent into the negation of existence is very apparent in two linguistic constructions namely the words "unknown" and "unreal." Both are terms that, while they exist as words, are both preposterous.
9. Beginnings and endings represents change and transitions such as the progression of past to future, of one condition to another, of one vision to another, or of one universe to another. New or old do not have existence of their own, but rather are seen as transitions from one state to another.
10. Perault, the architect of the peristyle of the Louvre, argued that architecture is a fantastic art of pure invention. He asserted that architecture really exists in the mind of the designer and has no connection to the natural world. In addition, architecture as an imaginative art, obeys its own rules which are internal and personal to each designer, and that is why most creators are vaguely aware of the rules of nature and yet produce excellent pieces of art. A similar point also is argued by Giovanni Battista Vico. In his work The New Science (1744), Vico argues that one can know only by imagining. The twisting of language and meaning can lead one to discover new worlds of fantasy. He argued that one can know only what one makes. Only God can understand nature, because it is his creation. Humans, on the other hand, can understand civilization, because they made it. The world of civil society certainly has been made by humans, and its principles therefore are to be found within the modification of our own human mind.
11. In Greek, the word "false" is (pronounced lathos), which is derived from the word, which means "oblivion." In contrast, the word "truth" is a (pronounced aletheia), which is derived from the negative prefix a and the word, therefore denoting the negation to forget. Thus, the connection is that truth is unforgettable and falsity is oblivious; or rather that truth leads to facts that will be remembered for a long time, while falsity leads to facts that, while impressive at the moment, will pass into oblivion. The word is translated by Heidegger as "concealment," therefore reinterpreting the act of forgetting as one "sunk away into concealedness." See M. Heidegger, Parmennies(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992), 71.
12. See C. Hamacher, Z. Vranesic, and S Zaky, Computer Organization (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1984), 520-1.
13. See G. Bataille, Visions of Excess: Selected Writings, 1927-1939, A. Stoekl, ed. (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1985), 171-7.
14. See also D. Hollier Against Architecture: The Writings of Georges Bataille (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1989), 57-73.
15. See A. Rossi "An Analogical Architecture" in Architecture and Urbanism 56 (May 1976).
16. Also in Theorizing a New Agenda for Architecture, Kate Nesbitt, ed. (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 19961, 348-52.
17. See A. Rossi, The Architecture of the City (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1984), 7.