Having Different Things to See

Abstract

We have talked a lot in the preceding pages about the connection between philosophy and craft, and how that connection is not simply metaphorical but is as real as the well-made things that the philosopher must learn to see. We have insisted that this activity holds forth the promise of shaping character. We looked to the ancient Greeks, whom we think had it right when they envisioned craft as a revelation of a higher, divine order. This part of our exploration has not been easy going, the tacking back and forth between genuine abstraction and the piercing intensity, as Sloane would have it, of material things. Certainly, with his love and attention to wood, Sloane furnished a tangible example of what it means to “see contemplatively” and with wonder.