ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the critique of people's current predicament within a dominant ideology of naturalistic materialism, which judging by its outcomes appears to be seriously flawed in terms of its ethical and environmental implications. It suggest that any meaningful notion of sustainability must be grounded in a firm foundation of those values that are common to all the great wisdom traditions, both religious and non-religious, as well as to contemporary progressive forms of spirituality, and that through adherence to such values design can make a tangible, discernible and positive difference to the nature and effects of people's material goods. The chapter considers some of the fundamental values common to all the major traditions, which provide a basis for ethical decision-making. It explains some features of ethically questionable, unsustainable design practices, followed by an exploration of more ethical, sustainable design decision-making. The chapter focuses on some of those that are especially relevant to design and sustainability for illustrative purposes.
