The role of pragmatism in De-sign: persevering through paradoxes of design and semiotics

Abstract

To know anything about reality is to rely on signs, and to live life semiotically is to transform reality by engaging in design. De-sign is a notion coined to introduce the fusion of design and signs. In the reiterative de-sign process, there are no separations or absolute boundaries between thinking and doing as ways of conceiving a possible action or developing further actions. The free movement within simultaneous multiplicities, transcending the appearance of things and creatively handling a range of polarities, is inherent to design thinking and semiotic interpretation. To be involved in the de-sign process is to persevere through several paradoxes. Contradictory beliefs and bewildering antinomies are intrinsic to De-sign; they are not only acceptable, but are also welcome if we can develop the capacity to persevere through them. Paradoxes are not a result of a mistake in our reasoning, but a defect in our ability to deal with a cognitive dissonance. Through the maxim of pragmatism, our thoughts and actions can be determined, and how appropriate their consequences are can be assessed. This is where pragmatism, as the method of ascertaining the meaningfulness of De-sign, determines the congruency between the intention of our thoughts and the appropriateness of our actions. Since pragmatism is a method of experimentation that reveals the effectiveness of thought and action, De-sign demands perseverance. To persevere through the paradoxes of De-sign is to be at ease with what is and what might or could be, to be comfortable with ambiguity and uncertainty, and to be patient with the emergent process of that-which-is-yet-to-become, thus, sharing with the Divinity the agapastic act of creation.