An attempt to bridge the subject-object distinction through ‘design’

This article addresses the Cartesian Subject–Object divide in Western philosophy, which has historically fragmented the relationships between designers, users, and artefacts. By critiquing this dualism—where the Subject is viewed as an isolated mind and the Object as passive matter—we ask how design can be reconceptualized to reconceive this distinction rather than reproduce it. Using John Heskett’s definition as a structural taxonomy, we develop four core propositions framing design as a poietic-mimetic endeavour. These explore the designer’s fundamental dependence on representation (P1), the mutual lack between user and Object (P2), poietic becoming through embodied simulation (P3), and the ontological union of form and function (P4). By positioning design as an ‘included middle’, the article argues that agents and artefacts co-constitute one another. This relational ontology offers a transformative paradigm for design research, practice, and education.