The ideal of craftsmanship Summary by C. Wright Mills BBS 2nd year

Written by C. Wright Mills who was a popular sociologist was born in 1916 and dies in 1962. He taught at Columbia University for many years. He is best known for writing ‘the power Elite’.

The Ideal of Craftsmanship bbs 2nd year

As the title imply, this essay deals with some ideas which are related to the craftsmanship. Here, the craftsman is a person who makes beautiful things by hand like a painting, wood carving, stone carving, making beautiful statues, composing music, writing literature and creating artistic monuments. A craftsman is an artist and his craftsmanship is his skill in creating art. Now, the ideal of craftsmanship refers to the guiding principles of a craftsman that make him so skillful, hard-working and satisfied. So this essay is about the basic principles of a craftsman that make him so much devoted to his work. Craftsmen create art which are really eye catching and the people enjoy looking at it. The craftsman gets pleasure in creating and the people get pleasure looking at it. Such pleasure the art provides is called aesthetic pleasure. 

The Ideal of craftsmanship by C Wright Mills 

In this essay, the writer discusses on the guiding principles that make an artist so much hardworking, creative and satisfied. He talks about how they create art and what encourages them to be involved in such work. He says that the artist gets a great pleasure in creation which does not let him think about any other thing than the product. He is not interested in money and matter even though life is difficult for him. In the same way, the writer says that there are six major features of the craftsmanship such as:

The ideal of craftsmanship summary in English

A. Work gratification or pleasure at work :

According to the writer, why an artist is devoted to his work so much is that he gets more pleasure in his creation. The hope of getting pleasure in his product pays the continuous attention for the quality and completion of his art. It creates a will-to-work spontaneously on a particular project of his art. All other motives like earning money and improving his lifestyle are not focused. After the work is completed, he gets a kind of pleasure and satisfaction which is called work gratification.

B. The tie between the product and producer :

Another working principle of an artist is the psychological tie between his mind and his product. All the time, even after so many years, the artist thinks that it is his art and its ownership goes to him. Sometimes he does not have legal ownership to his art because he is paid for that; but his psychology believes that it is his own. He never stops to think so. Of course he also gets consumer satisfaction but his creator satisfaction is greater.

C.  Freedom to control his work :

The craftsman is always free to begin, design or modify his work no matter whether it was paid art or preordered. He has a freedom on how to make plans, how to begin, and how to accomplish. Both plan and performance are one for him because he is the master of his art. His problems and difficulties during the making should be dealt by himself alone. 

D. Learning from his work and developing his skills :

The craftsman's work a continuous process of learning from his work and developing his skill until his death. The more he creates, the more he learns and the better his product is. Such cumulative skill is obtained by his devotion and practice. An artist is a self learned craftsman at a higher level. Famous artists like Shakespeare and Leonardo da Vinci learned from themselves they didn't have superior teacher above them.  

E. No split of work and play :

For the ideal craftsman, there is no difference between his work and play. He feels that he is fairly while he is creating his art. It is an activity done for himself, exercised for his own shake, not for economic value or any ulterior purpose. He also compares his work with culture. The means of being better cultured is his work. Work is the means and culture is the end. 

F. Craftsmanship determines the mode of living :

Finally, the writer says that artists never flee from their work into a separate sphere of leisure. All the time, day and night they think about their work but still they do not have stress. Instead, they have happiness, satisfaction and pleasure in life. Art and artists are never separated. His work of art is his faithful daily companion. Apart from mere animal rest, he is always with his art which makes him peaceful and clam both mentally and physically. So his work determines his mode of living.