Craftsmanship provides an insight into an inherently human dimension of work resulting from our immersion in an occupation or profession. The present book illustrates and defines the vital, social, aesthetic, and ethical dimensions involved in craftsmanship, which rejects a dissociation between handwork and wit, or between action and thought. This also contrasts with the neglect contemporary psychology has shown toward craftsmanship and its reduction to mere ‘human factors.’ Drawing on artistry as an emblem, the present account conveys that skilful action can only be renewed in a cycle involving both the personal and the transgenerational.
There is little doubt in psychological and anthropological literature that the current global crises cannot be separated from social predicaments; namely, from the commodification of craftsmanship. In this book, the development of skilful action attests to a fundamental involvement required to sustainably perpetuate human endeavours. The role of expressivity in reappropriating technical activity is key in showing the continuous revaluation of our ethics and aesthetics of work, practice, and creation. The overall arc of the volume shows a movement from responsivity to responsibility. In short, if we are to reformulate our relationship to work and craft, we need to see through our responsibility in technique. The particularities of craftsmanship described here aim to contribute to such reformulation.
Author(s): Pablo Rojas
Series: SpringerBriefs in Psychology
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2021
Language: English
Pages: 135
City: Cham
Author’s Preface
Editors’ Preface
Back to the Woods Themselves
Acknowledgments
Contents
About the Author
Chapter 1: Expressivity and the Development of Skill
1.1 Skill and Expressivity
1.2 The Developmental Character of Skill
1.3 Skill from the Standpoint of Cognitive Science
1.4 On the Risks of a Nondevelopmental Approach to Skill
1.5 An Exploration into Common Felt Sense
References
Chapter 2: Physiognomy in Motion
2.1 Form, Repetition and Variation
2.2 Motifs as Promoters of Cohesion in Variation
2.3 The Physiognomic Character of Perception
2.4 The Intermodal Organization of Perception
2.5 The Chiasma Between Affect and Form-Giving
2.6 From Kinetics to Kinesthetics
References
Chapter 3: Expressivity and Skillful Motifs
3.1 Expressivity
3.2 Stylistics
3.3 Reprises: Musical and Relational
3.4 Apprenticeship Motifs
3.4.1 The Principle of Dual Control
3.4.2 The Myth of the Musical Eternal Return
3.4.3 To Breathe Is to Keep Music Alive
3.4.4 I/Me—Playing/Studying
3.4.5 Virtuosity and Musicality
3.4.6 The Mastery of the Instrument Is the Mastery of Oneself
References
Chapter 4: Technical Rhythms and Harmonies
4.1 Eurhythmy in Technique
4.2 Reprises in the Study of Techniques
4.3 The Expressivity of Musical Instruments and Luthiery
4.4 Eurythmic Harmony
4.5 The Limits of Expressivity and the Lifecycle of Techniques
References
Chapter 5: Craftsmanship Reprised
5.1 Sprezzatura
5.2 Mistakes, Play, and Leisure
5.3 Artisan and Community
5.4 Craftsmanship Reappraised
References
Index
