Politics & SocietyGreek → English
Praxis
/ˈpræksɪs/noun
Practice as opposed to theory, especially action that tests and reshapes an idea.
The Greek roots
πρᾶξις
prâxis
action, doing
Literally: “doing”
Follow a root:πρᾶξις4 words
The story of the word
Aristotle separated πρᾶξις, doing, from ποίησις, making, and from θεωρία, contemplation. Praxis has its end inside itself: acting well is the whole point, while making aims at a product outside the act. Marx and later Freire took the word for practice that puts theory under pressure, which is why it turns up in radical education and liberation politics rather than in ordinary English.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Medieval Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
practicepragmaticpractical
In a sentence
The reading group met weekly, though nobody could say how the theory connected to praxis.