techne (Greek, ‘art’, ‘craft’), a human skill based on general principles and capable of being taught. In this sense, a manual craft such as carpentry is a techne, but so are sciences such as medicine and arithmetic. According to Plato (Gorgias 501a), a genuine techne understands its subject matter and can give a rational account of its activity. Aristotle (Metaphysics I.1) distinguishes techne from experience on the grounds that techne involves knowledge of universals and causes, and can be taught. Sometimes ‘techne’ is restricted to the productive (as opposed to theoretical and practical) arts, as at Nicomachean Ethics VI.4. Techne and its products are often contrasted with physis, nature (Physics II.1). See also ARIS- TOTLE , PHYSIS , PLAT. W.J.P.