The Phenomenology of Craftsmanship

Course Leader: Tanner Horst (Tidelines Institute, Alaska)
Dates: 9 / 16 / 23 / 30 March 2025 (Sundays)
Time: 7.15-8.45pm (BST)
Location: Online (Zoom)

Registration open now!

Course Summary:

The encounter with man-made objects is a fundamental scene of phenomenology. The history of the object, the technologies used to make it, the care or lack of care required by a human maker, the object’s world, its material, form, and purpose— all of these stand before us as sites for inquiry. In our era of mass-production, questions about production technology and its traces and effects are particularly salient.

What really distinguishes an IKEA wardrobe from one by a late Victorian master carpenter? As makers and consumers, we each are thrown into a world where we constantly ask and answer questions about quality, material, provenance, and expense— and are sold stories about what matters in manufacture. This course will have participants think and critique the built environment as mediated by technologies of production through two very different thinkers: the philosopher Martin Heidegger and the craftsman and professor of design David Pye.

Topics will include handwork vs. machine work, Pye’s immersive and phenomenological aesthetics of the built environment next to Heidegger’s notion of art as salvific from technologies of mass production, and pragmatic concerns: How do you know if you’re dwelling, or if a craftsperson really dwelt in building your house? What is the value of handcrafted goods, over and above a romanticized cottage life? Is craft vital, or is it superfluous, a dalliance of those who can afford it?

These two thinkers will test one another chiastically: we will consider Pye’s practical aesthetics from the lens of Heidegger’s existential ontology, and Pye will challenge Heidegger’s thinking about technology, poeisis and building to apply to actual objects, which we will examine as part of this course.

Course Outline:

Week 1. Risk, Certainty, and Poiesis

Week 2. Technology, art and workmanship. Salvation from mass production?

Week 3. Critique of the built environment (each participant must present an item, discussion of practical dimensions of Pye and Heidegger.)

Week 4. The mark of the craftsman? Comparing Pye’s “diversity” and Heidegger’s “dwelling” and “art”

Course Information:

If any reading is assigned, PDFs will be made available in good time for each session, and you will be notified.
For those who cannot attend a week, there will be a video recording available for 7 days.
Links to Zoom will be sent out the day before the course starts.

Course requirements:

No course requirements
There are a limited number of places for the course – see ‘Registration’

Course leader:

John Tanner Horst is an Alaska-based educator and the Director of the Good River Campus at Tidelines Institute, where he is the longest-running employee. He co-runs and teaches in a programme modelled after Deep Springs College, an accredited “study away” experience that delivers a semester’s worth of liberal arts courses through seminar-style learning while expecting students to contribute 20 hours of labour on the homestead and engage in democratically run student self-governance. With a decade of experience supporting and convening educational communities—including at Deep Springs, Harvard Forest, and Arthur Morgan School—Tanner is committed to experiential education that fosters character development. At Tidelines, his work revolves around giving students needful work, whether that means building structures alongside them or guiding them towards reasoned judgement. As Campus Director, he wears many hats: seminar instructor, shop teacher, and experiential educator, all in service of creating a rigorous, hands-on learning environment.

BSP Online Courses Overview:

The British Society for Phenomenology was founded with the intention of promoting research and awareness in the field of phenomenology and related philosophical ideas. Currently, the society accomplishes these aims through its journal (JBSP), essay prize, impact agenda, podcast, and events.

Online Courses are part of the BSP Events offerings. All courses will focus on phenomenological thinkers or topics and will be taught by experts in the field. Each short course has a total of six hours. The sessions will last 1.5 hours and are held once a week on Zoom, for four consecutive weeks. This will include a lecture and time for discussion / Q&A. Reading materials or any other course materials will be provided in advance.

The BSP is a not-for-profit organisation and fees charged are to help the society cover the costs of its events, podcast, journal, etc.

Course Fees:

To attend BSP Events, including our Online Courses, you need to be a member of the BSP.
For BSP members our online courses cost £25, or a concessionary rate of £15 if eligible. Concessionary rates apply if you are a scholar who is emeritus, independent, student, unwaged, or has financial hardship (including low income, temporary contracts, etc.).
Non-members can join the BSP and become members to attend a course. The membership fees are £40 per year for a standard membership or £20 for concessionary membership. Once again, concessionary rates apply if you are a scholar who is emeritus, independent, student, unwaged, or has financial hardship (including low income, temporary contracts, etc.). In becoming a member you can attend any of our courses, conferences, or other events during your membership year without having to pay membership fees again. In addition, you will also receive a year’s subscription to the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology accessed through the portal at Taylor & Francis Online. There are four issues a year, plus you have access to our archive with 50+ years of articles. Details on membership, and how to join, can be found here. You can either join in advance of signing up for the course, or as part of registering for the course.

Registration:

Register for BSP2025OC1: The Phenomenology of Craftsmanship

Registration closes midnight 7 March 2025 or before if maximum number of attendees is achieved
The number of attendees is restricted to 35 for this course

More Information:

If you require more information about the course, please contact Zoe Waters, BSP Chair of Online Courses via [email protected].