This post contains an MA essay on how craft united the philosophical fields of ethics and metaphysics in the writings of Alan of Lille and Bernardus Silvestrus.

The idea that, in the twelfth century, the School of Chartres connected metaphysics and ethics is not novel. Wetherbee states ‘These poems [of the Chartrian school] explore the significance of the cosmos as motive force and source of meaning in human existence, centering on the ordering power of nature and natural philosophy as means to stability and moral guidance.’ More recently, Robertson has argued that the Chartrian authors felt it necessary to explain the place of matter to ground their respective ethical visions. This paper builds on this work by examining the interrelationship of ethics and metaphysics at Chartres. It offers the first systematic and detailed account of the connections between these two philosophical fields in the pertinent writings. Furthermore, it argues that craft was often used as a literary device to show the union between ethics and metaphysics. Three works were focused on to explore these issues: Alan of Lille’s Anticlaudianus, Bernardus Silverstris’ Cosmographia and an older fourth century text that was influential at Chartres, Calcidius’ On Plato’s Timaeus. Occasionally, other texts will be cited if they are pertinent to the discussion. I will argue my case using the relevant texts in three sections. The first will examine how the role of craft occupies three levels in Chartrian and Neoplatonic thought. In turn, I will examine God’s role as craftsman, Nature and her assistants as craftsmen and finally the craft of mortal men. In each instance, the way in which craft connects ethics and metaphysics shall be revealed. The second section of the essay will ask a pivotal question that follows on from this. Namely, why did writers choose the language of craft as a way to connect these two separate philosophical fields? Finally, the last section argues that the medieval texts used in the essay must force us to reconsider the role of craft in our modern society. It offers a manifesto that shows the importance, and ultimately philosophical, significance of craft.

However, first, before beginning, it is necessary to provide a brief introduction to the texts that will be used in this essay. The best exposition of Silvestris’ Cosmographia comes from the author himself in the summary section. In the first part of the text, Megacosmus, Nature complains to Noys, or Divine Providence, about the confused state of primal matter. Noys responds and orders the universe. In Microcosmus, Noys wishes to finish her work with the creation of man, she orders Nature to search for Urania and Physis to aid in this task. Alan of Lille’s Anticlaudianus similarly describes the creation of a man, but this time the perfect man with all flaws removed. Nature is again involved in this task and summons the virtues to help her. It is resolved at a council that Prudentia will journey to heaven to ask God to create a soul. Near the end of the text, Allecto and the Furies hear of the new man and so they raise an army of vices to stop him. The virtues triumph in battle. Calcidius’ On Plato’s Timaeus is a commentary on Plato’s cosmological dialogue Timaeus. Calcidius’ translation and account was one of the main ways Platonic and Neoplatonic thought reached medieval readers. With the three key texts introduced, I will now begin to analyse them.

The first way in which craft, as a literary device, is used in Chartrian thought is when the authors talk about the divine craftsman, God. The characteristics of matter, and God’s role in shaping it, form the first way God and craft are interlinked. The state of primal matter is described by Nature in the Cosmographia. Silvestris writes that matter is ‘an unyielding, formless chaos, a hostile coalescence’ and is said to be ‘the motley aspect of substance, a mass discordant with itself.’ The link between ethics and metaphysics is clear here. Matter is described as chaotic and as an opponent, it has properties that make it negatively moral. This view of matter also emerges in On Plato’s Timaeus, when Calcidius discussed the Pythagorean view that matter is evil and requires a craftsman to shape it into something good. The idea that matter needs shaping into something good is not however exclusive to Calcidius. Silvestris also describes how matter needs a ‘tempering power’. Meanwhile, also in the Cosmographia, Nature when talking to Noys asks the latter to ‘quicken what is inert, control what moves at random, impose shape and bestow splendor’ on matter. The language of craft is present here, matter needs to be controlled and made into something different and Noys, the divine mind, or God can do this. Because of craft’s metaphysical ability to change matter it also has an ethical element as it can alter its ‘evil’ qualities. However, just because God’s crafting ability can shape matter, does not mean he does it perfectly. Silvestris describes how the midpoint of air is full of ‘evil spirits’ who are only ‘slightly cleansed of the ancient evil of matter.’ God’s craft, even if imperfect, has both metaphysical and ethical effects.

Another way in which ethics and metaphysics are linked by the idea of God as craftsman, emerges when discussing how he permeates his creation. With matter now shaped into the universe in the Cosmographia, Silvestris describes God as ‘concealed in the majesty of divine darkness’ and as ‘manifest in the clear traces of his handiwork.’ The term ‘handiwork’ has connotations of craft and it is clear from this statement that this ability to create is evidenced throughout God’s creation. Alan of Lille, in Anticlaudianus, similarly writes, ‘the divine mind imprinted form on things and shape on the universe’. God’s activity is ‘imprinted’ throughout the universe. Calcidius confirms this trend of thought when he writes that ‘the divine mind penetrates and informs it [matter] completely.’ Therefore, God is connected metaphysically to the universe due to his role in crafting it, he is physically tied to it. This also has ethical implications, if an omnibenevolent being is dispersed throughout his creation then it is likely the universe itself takes on an ethical character. This seems at odds with Silvestris’ statement that ‘evil spirits’ and ‘evil matter’ are still present in the created universe, but it does not necessarily need to be seen as contradictory. The ‘evil’ part of the universe is that matter which escaped God’s crafting. Nevertheless, it is still clear that ethics and metaphysics are interrelated when discussing God’s permeance. The language of creation and craft again unites them.

The final way in which God as a craftsman connects ethics and metaphysics is seen through God’s role in creating the soul of man. In Anticlaudianus, Prudentia, as previously mentions, journeys to heaven to ask God to create a soul. Meanwhile, the Cosmogtaphia states ‘man will derive his mind from heaven, his body from the elements, so that he dwell bodily on earth, mentally in heaven.’ The language of craft is not as explicit here, but we must not ignore these quotes. God’s role in creating the soul makes man an ethical being. It also allows the intellect of man to discern between what he sees (the appearance of things on earth) and the Platonic world of ideas (the true world behind what man sees). God’s crafting of the world makes man able to analyse it both ethically and metaphysically.

With God’s role as craftsman outlined and having examined how it interlinks ethics and metaphysics, I will now proceed to outline the craft of Nature and her assistants and how they also connect the two philosophical disciplines. The first important role of Nature is to translate the Platonic world of ideas into the sensible world. Truitt has previously highlighted this important role. The world of ideas, as also discussed in the previous paragraph, is the world which contains the true reality of objects or the true, perfect immaterial archetypes. What we see in our world, according to Platonic doctrine, are the physical and imperfect manifestations of these ideas. These essential features constitute key aspects of Platonic and Neoplatonic metaphysical thought. The way in which Nature translates the ideas into our world is compared to a craft, most notably painting. When describing Nature’s garden, Alan of Lille discusses ‘a charming mural’ that ‘depicts man’s character.’ He also writes that painting ‘turns the shadows of things into things and changes every lie to truth’. Later the Anticlaudinaus also states ‘the palace with its mural has these appearances of things, these figures and phantoms of truth and it is gay with so much beauty’. Painting is used as an explanatory device to discuss how the Platonic world of ideas is translated into reality. The painting, Nature’s creation, shows the world of appearances. Painting may have been chosen to discuss Platonic metaphysics because the craft only results in a representation of what it portrays, not the actual thing. However, the language of craft also goes far beyond just metaphysics. The painting also has ethical implications. It depicts, as mentioned, man’s character, and it also has beauty. Nature has a formative role in man’s character by translating the archetypes from the world of ideas to the intelligible world and a craft, painting, is used to explore these ideas. Ethics and metaphysics are those tied together again by the language of craft.

Before discussing Nature’s role in forming the body, I must briefly elaborate on Nature’s assistants and their crafting role. In both, Anticlaudianus and the Cosmographia, Nature is assisted in her creations. In the latter, Urania and Physis play a pivotal role in creating man. Meanwhile, in Alan of Lille’s text, virtues and the liberal arts help Nature on her quest to create the perfect man. One of these is geometry and Alan discussed how she ‘adopts the craftsmen’s role’ She focuses on an object and ‘puts the material, the lead, in order and many a hammer-blow falls upon it.’ Geometry then ‘fashions it into the form she desires’ and thereby ‘frees it from its former defects.’ Metaphysics and ethics are again linked here. Geometry’s ability to change the form of something allows her to eliminate its negative characteristics. Craft is chosen as the literary device to do this, likely because of how crafting is an activity that changes the form of things and due to its ability to eliminate previous errors. The craft of Nature’s assistants therefore links metaphysics and ethics together again.

There is another way in which ethics and metaphysics are tied together by Nature’s craft. Most notably, when discussing the creation of the human body. In Anticlaudianus, Nature seeks ‘ideal matter from which to shape an outstanding lodging.’ She then collects from the elements; earth, wind, air and fire, all the ‘purer’ parts to shape the body. Nature then ‘makes ready the material for the human body.’ Man is therefore drawn and made from the elements that make up the constitution of the physical world. He is directly associated with its metaphysics. The ethical element here is that man is made of the ‘purer’ parts, the parts that have been cleansed of evil matter. Craft is again the connecting factor between this ethics and metaphysics. The ‘material’ is made ‘ready’ and the body is made into ‘shape’. Therefore, there is yet another instance of craft linking ethics and metaphysics.

I have now discussed how ethics and metaphysics are linked by the role of God and Nature and her assistants as craftsmen. However, the language of craft occupies a final, if less explicit, level in Chartrian thought when referring to man. According to the earlier Calcidius, matter is ‘bestowed ready-made upon mortal craftsmen by other craftsmen, and upon the latter by nature, upon nature by God.’ Man is given control of matter from a hierarchy that descends from God. Man has the potential to shape the metaphysical properties of the world. This is emphasised by how Calcidius describes matter as compliant with the intellect, allowing itself to be ‘subdued’ and ‘overcome’. It may be true here that Calcidius is referring to the Divine Craftsmen, God, but the same can also be said of man. Man can also make matter compliant with his intellect, therefore shaping the metaphysical properties of the world. The ethical element here is the fact that crafting derives from the intellect, matter can be shaped for good and evil purposes from the mind. Craft is therefore linking metaphysics and ethics again, even if it is less obvious than previous cases.

Man’s role in ethical and metaphysical craft is also emphasised by his role in forming himself. Alan of Lille discussed how Noys, the divine mind, searches mankind to create an archetype for the new man. It is described that the new, perfect, man will contain ‘the wisdom of Judith, the zeal of Phineas, the faith of Abraham.’ It is notable how the new man will be composed of the characteristics of men who have already existed- suggesting mankind itself already has some ethical properties and has a role to play in his own crafting. This supports Truitt’s point that the boundary between man and nature when it comes to creation is not always clear. The theme of man having a role in creating himself is again emphasised in Anticlaudianus when Alan discusses some of the various attributes of men that the new man should have. Most notably, ’Seneca, the best cultivator of morals, and husbandmen of reason, forges character by reason.’ It is interesting how character is ‘forged’ like an activity of craft. The language of craft again penetrates discussion of ethics. The metaphysical element is not as prominent here when compared to other examples, but we must remember how metaphysics informs the creation of the new man. The new man is partly created from parts of mankind that already have a physical presence in the world. Therefore, ethics and metaphysics are again tied together, however tentatively in this instance, by craft.

So far I have outlined the three levels on which craft, ethics and metaphysics are interrelated in Calcidius and medieval Neoplatonic thought. However, one pivotal question remains, why was craft often employed as a literary device to link ethics and metaphysics? There are two reasons why. The first to consider is the intellectual background of Chartrian thought. Classical writers, originating before the authors in this study, conceived of craft or techne as not just an activity, but a form of knowledge. Plato, for example, in the Gorgias, associated techne with logoi (the latter refers words, speech and reason.) Meanwhile, Aristotle said techne is ‘not strictly activity, but it is a capacity for action, founded in a special kind of knowledge.’ It is evident that even from an early stage techne or craft was associated with the pursuit of knowledge. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that philosophical fields, like ethics and metaphysics, are often associated with craft. Craft was more than just a making activity, it was a form of philosophical reflection and thought. If classical authors paved the way for Chartrian thought, we must also accept the contribution of the also twelfth-century Hugh of St Victor. Hugh, in his Didiscalion, places the seven mechanical arts alongside the other theoretical and practical arts. Mechanical arts, like fabric-making and armament, go alongside the arts found in other categories, like theology and mathematics, in Hugh’s scheme. This means he sees craft as important philosophically. With this train of thought in mind, it is possible to see how craft became increasingly associated with philosophy around the time of Alan of Lille and Bernardus Silvestris. A final intellectual factor worth considering is that the Chartrians wrote in the midst of the twelfth century renaissance. This period saw an explosion of scholarly and literary activity. One form of writing that became more predominant was poetry. Chenu writes ‘curiosity about literature, together with all its apparatus, is ever able to serve the discovery of nature and man.’ This means that poetry, like Anticlaudianus and the Cosmographia¸ increasingly became accepted as a way of exploring metaphysical and ethical truths about the world. Considering the rise of philosophical poetry, it is easier to see why Alan and Bernardus’ works are so interrogative of ethics and metaphysics. This, considered alongside the other intellectual factors, accelerates our understanding of why craft as a literary device might have been used as a way to explore ethical and metaphysical truths.

The second reason why craft was often chosen to link metaphysics and ethics derives from the significant technological changes Europe was facing before and during when Alan and Bernardus wrote. The so-called ‘Medieval Industrial Revolution’ saw a period of technological development starting from the ninth century onwards. New technologies, like the appropriation of water power, made significant changes in daily life for medieval society. Technology became more predominant throughout the medieval European world and affected crafting activities, like smithing, through water-powered tools like hammers. With crafting therefore becoming more ominous and present in the medieval landscape, it is easy to see why the Chartrians integrated it into their thinking. They could hardly ignore the changes and their philosophical implications. The ‘Medieval Industrial Revolution’ therefore forms another reason why craft, ethics and metaphysics were often linked together.

I have now explained why craft was often chosen to link metaphysics and ethics. I will now, using the insights from the first two sections, argue that the medieval view of craft as ethical and metaphysical forcers us to reconsider its role in modern society. I will now offer a manifesto that argues for the renewed philosophical significance of craft. This is not, however, the first paper to explore the philosophical implications of craft. Langland, for example, connects crafting to knowledge. He writes ‘when we made things, we accumulated a certain kind of knowledge, we had an awareness and an understanding of how materials worked and how the human form has evolved to create from them.’ Sennett, meanwhile, argues that craft can provide insight into the techniques of experience that can shape our dealings with others.’ This paper agrees with these philosophical ideas, but argues that medieval thinking provides additional insights. The most important thing the medieval view of craft tells us is that metaphysics and ethics are interrelated even today. Too often we fall into narrow specialisation and miss connections between different areas. Craft, because it shapes the person doing it as much as the world, can help us examine life in the full. It is a way of exploring fundamental truths of the world, just as the Chartrians used it to explore their own truths. Secondly, craft allows us to change things. For the Chartrians, this was changing matter and the form of objects, but it also has ethical and metaphysical implications. Through craft man can make changes to the world therefore adding or subtracting to its ethical or metaphysical constitution. Finally, craft allows us link the theoretical to the practical. It allows us to connect high-minded ideas and how they might link to the practical world. When we talk about craft, we cannot escape its practicality, even when discussing it philosophically. To summarise, craft is of philosophical significance because it allows us to examine truths, because it can make changes to the world and because it allows us to connect the practical and theoretical together.

This essay has explored how craft links metaphysics and ethics together in Bernardus Silvestris’ Cosmographia, Alan of Lille’s Anticlaudianus and Calcidius’ On Plato’s Timaeus. It did this in three sections. The first explored how craft connects the two philosophical fields together. The second asked why craft was often chosen to do this. The final section offered an an argument for the seeing craft as philosophically important today. Future research could examine the last point in more detail. It could be interesting to compare the medieval and modern philosophical approaches to craft to see if they can engage in dialogue with each other. Furthermore, it could also be possible to examine philosophical fields other than ethics and metaphysics, to see if the use of craft extends to more of medieval philosophy. A final area of research could examine a higher frequency of sources. The whole of the Chartrian corpus and the texts it contains could be examined to analyse the extent craft is used in medieval Neoplatonic thought. Nevertheless, despite these potential areas of research, it is now clear that ethics and metaphysics in Chartrian thought and Calcidius are linked together by the use of craft as a literary device.

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Alan of Lille, Anticlaudianus in Alan of Lille: Anticlaudianus or The Good and Perfect Man translated by James. J Sheridan. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1973.

Bernardus Silvestris, Cosmographia in Poetic Works: Bernardus Silvestris translated by Winthrop Wetherbee. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2015.

Calcidius, On Plato’s Timaeus in On Plato’s Timaeus: Calcidius translated by John Magee. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2016.

Hugh of St Victor, Didascalion in The Didascalion of Hugh of St Victor: A Medieval Guide to the Arts translated by James Taylor. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961.

Secondary Sources

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Langland, Alex. Craeft: How Traditional Crafts Are About More Than Just Making. London: Faber and Faber, 2017.

Mitcham, Carl. Thinking Through Technology: The Path Between Engineering and Philosophy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994.

Reynolds, Terry S. “The Medieval Roots of The Industrial Revolution.” Scientific American 251, 1 (2010) 122-131. Accessed May 11 2021. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24969418?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

Robertson, Kellie. “Medieval Materialism: A Manifesto.” Exemplaria 22, 2 (2010) 99-118. Accessed May 9 2021. https://www-tandfonline-com.libproxy.york.ac.uk/doi/abs/10.1179/104125710X12670926011996.

Sennett, Richard. The Craftsman. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.

Truitt, Elly R. Medieval Robots: Mechanism, Magic, Nature and Art. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015.

Wetherbee, Winthrop. Platonism and Poetry in the Twelfth Century: The Literary Influence of The School of Chartres. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972