The epistemological limits of design thinking: innovation, myth and contemporary rationalization
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71112/c39dnv85Keywords:
design thinking, critical epistemology, mythos and logos, organizational innovation, contemporary rationalized mythAbstract
This essay critically analyzes Design Thinking from epistemological, ontological, dialectical, and complex perspectives, interpreting it not only as an innovation methodology but also as a socially constructed and institutionally legitimized contemporary myth. Through a qualitative critical-hermeneutic and transdisciplinary approach, a documentary analysis of philosophical and scientific literature indexed in Scopus, Web of Science, and other high-impact databases published mainly between 2018 and 2025 is conducted. The study confronts pragmatic positions that defend the effectiveness of Design Thinking with critical perspectives that question its universalization, epistemological fragility, and function as a modern organizational narrative. The findings reveal that, although Design Thinking promotes creativity, innovation, and organizational adaptability, its global expansion also responds to dynamics of symbolic legitimization, institutional power, and contemporary innovation discourses. It is concluded that Design Thinking simultaneously constitutes an operational tool and a contemporary organizational mythos partially detached from classical philosophical logos.
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