Law Commons^™

Law As Craft, Brett G. Scharffs

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Article explores the similarities between the law and other craft traditions, such as carpentry, pottery, and quilting. Its thesis is that law--and in particular adjudiction---combine elements of what Aristotle described as practical wisdom, or phronesis, and craft, or techne. Craft knowledge is learned practically through experience and demonstrated through practice, and is contrasted with other concepts, including art, science, mass production, craftiness, and hobby. Crafts are characterized by four simutaneous identities. First, crafts are made by hand-one at a time-and require not only talent and skill, but also experience and what Karl Llewellyn called "situation sense." Second, crafts are …