ABSTRACT

Aristotle designates the human activity that by means of professional experience (technō or ‘art’) aims to create or produce something by the word poiō sis. Of course he knew of no conflict between man and technology. But his distinction between poiō sis and praxis demonstrates a subtle understanding of the difference between professional skill on the one hand and moral judgement on the other. A poiō sis delivers a product with man as the causa efficiens. In part this means that the form exists in the human consciousness before being ‘transferred’ to a given material and in part that artefacts differ from natural products, because the relation of form and matter is arbitrary-a statue can be made in marble or bronze. The making of artefacts belongs of course to that region of the world where things ‘could happen otherwise’. But-as opposed to ethics-it is possible to set down general rules; the artisan knows how to proceed to obtain his desired result.