• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

DONATE
  • Home
  • About Us
    • About Our Bloggers
    • Commenting Policy
  • Reading Lists
  • Scholar’s Compass
    • Scholar’s Compass Booklet
    • View Recent Posts
  • Connect
    • Membership
    • Events
    • Donate
    • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Vocation / Academic Vocations / Thinking with Your Hands: Part I

Thinking with Your Hands: Part I

March 6, 2009 by Tom Grosh IV No Comments

Books and Culture March/April 2009
Books and Culture March/April 2009

In the March/April edition of Books & Culture:  A Christian Review, Nicholas Wolterstorff’s review of Richard Sennett’s The Craftsman (Yale University Press, 2008) raises concerns of particular relevance to Emerging Scholars.

First, Wolterstorff digs into Sennett’s critique of the lower status given to animal laborans (i.e., the laboring human being, who asks How?) in relationship to homo faber (i.e., the human being who asks Why? and assumes the role of guide/critic to animal laborans).  Some quotes from The Craftsman which particularly resonate with Wolterstorff include:

Thinking and feeling are contained within the process of making. … Western civilization has had a deep-rooted trouble in making connections between head and hand, in recognizing and encouraging the impulse of craftsmanship. — from Thinking with Your Hands, by Nicholas Wolterstorff, Books & Culture:  A Christian Review, March/April 2009, p.30.

After sharing his own cabinetmaking/craftsman heritage, Wolterstorff points out the pecking order found in higher education (personally experienced by him not only at Yale, but also Calvin College):

If you use your hands or teach those who use their hands — “hands” being used both literally and metaphorically here — you are inferior to those who use only their heads:  practicing musicians are inferior to musicologists, painters are inferior to art historians, teachers of business are inferior to economists, teachers of preaching are inferior to theologians.  The basic attitude was stated crisply by Aristotle at the opening of Metaphysics: “We think the master-workers in each craft are more honourable and know in a truer sense and are wiser than the manual workers” — from Thinking with Your Hands, by Nicholas Wolterstorff, Books & Culture:  A Christian Review, March/April 2009, p.30.

More from the review to come. …  But first, let’s consider the relationship between animal laborans andhomo faber.  Do you agree with the dichotomy?  Is it helpful?  Is there a proper and improper use of the distinction?  Does it exist on your campus, in your discipline?  How do you interact with it as one who follows The Craftsman, One who not only shaped wood as the son of a carpenter, but all of the creation in the beginning (and continues to do such in some manner)?

*Note:  If you are not already a subscriber to Books & Culture:  A Christian Review, click here for information on the great deal for members of the Emerging Scholars Network.

About the author:

Tom Grosh IV
Website | Posts

Tom enjoys daily conversations regarding living out the Biblical Story with his wife Theresa and their four girls, around the block, at Elizabethtown Brethren in Christ Church (where he teaches adult electives and co-leads a small group), among healthcare professionals as the Northeast Regional Director for the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA), and in higher ed as a volunteer with the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). For a number of years, the Christian Medical Society / CMDA at Penn State College of Medicine was the hub of his ministry with CMDA. Note: Tom served with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA for 20+ years, including 6+ years as the Associate Director of ESN. He has written for the ESN blog from its launch in August 2008. He has studied Biology (B.S.), Higher Education (M.A.), Spiritual Direction (Certificate), Spiritual Formation (M.A.R.), Ministry to Emerging Generations (D.Min.). To God be the glory!

    This author does not have any more posts.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • More
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: Academic Vocations, Book Review/Discussion, Christ and the Academy, Christian Thought and Practice, The University Tagged With: academic culture, Book recommendations, culture-making, end of education, flourishing, integration, vocation

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

Become a Member

Membership is Free. Sign up and receive our monthly newsletter and access ESN member benefits.

Join ESN Today

Scholar’s Compass Booklet

Scholar's Compass Booklet

Click here to get your copy

Top Posts

  • A Prayer for Those Finishing a Semester
  • The Message of Genesis 1
  • The Mechanism of Creation - The View from Science, Pt. 2
  • Faith and Reason, Part 2: Augustine
  • Christian Views of Creation

Facebook Posts

Facebook Posts

Footer

About Us

The Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) is a national network within InterVarsity’s Graduate & Faculty Ministries which supports those on the academic pathway as they work out how their academic vocation serves God and others. We encourage and equip undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and early career faculty as they navigate each stage of their academic vocation and transition to the next step in or beyond the academy.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Recent Posts

  • Forgiveness
  • Confession
  • Temptation: The Little Lie

Article Categories

Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Contact Us
Member of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students
Copyright © 2023 - InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA ®. All rights reserved.

InterVarsity, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, and the InterVarsity logo are trademarks of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA and its affiliated companies.