Veblens Instinct of Workmanship pg. 234-240

 This section starts with Veblen stating that in the handicraft era, the individual craftsman is again the dominant force in the economy.  This in turn implies three key facts that are important to Veblen.  The first key fact is that the instinct of workmanship is an important element in how humans think and act again. we can perhaps think here that the instinct of workmanship is less contaminated by other instincts in the handicraft era. Another key piece is that the "common stock of technological knowledge" is open to all and easily mastered by the individual crafts person. If we recall, Veblen wrote that this technological knowledge is always held in commons by all people but in certain eras it is dominated by a small group of individuals whereas in the handicraft era it is shared by many crafts people. The final key fact is that craft persons can easily understand technical and natural forces as they need to and machines are devised to be in accordance with the needs of craftsperson.

That said, crafts people do come in for some criticism from Veblen. He writes for example that, " but they (other non crafts people) lack that substantial ground of finality which the craftsman in his genial conceit arrogates to himself and his work." (Veblen, 1914, pg. 238).  This is written such that Veblen clearly views crafts person as taking excessive pride and justification for their output and effort. I would guess this is tied to the fact that technology is still drawn from the common knowledge of the community and humanity. He also writes that by the beginning of the industrial era, crafts people have convinced everyone else of their importance, "so convincingly evident is the efficiency of the skilled workman, and so patent is his primacy in the industrial community, that by the close of the era much the same view has been accepted by all orders of society." (Veblen, pg. 239).

We see a clear explanation of Vebeln's way of thinking here, " the central fact in the scheme of things under the handicraft system, and the range of concepts by use of which the technological problems of that era are worked out is limited by the habit of mind so induced in those who have the work in hand and in those who see it done." (Veblen, pg 240). The habits of mind clearly dominant how people the problems before them and more importantly what kind of solutions can be tried.  

In an interesting application, Veblen argues that this way of thinking shaped the kind of tools that were created during the handicraft era.  This meant that tools for "facilitating or abridging labor" were favored by crafts person. This habit of thought carried over into the industrial age as experts talked about "labor saving devices".

In summary, the instinct of workmanship is highly charged or highlighted by the nature of the handicraft technology and ways of acting in the economy.  This instinct drives certain habits of thought which will inlfluence the entire community. These habits may carry over into other technological eras such as the industrial era with important performance implications.

A note here is that Veblen does not always look at macro performance implications but does implications and performance for individuals and communities in very specific ways. This may be different than how we think of economic performance or describe it today.