Praxis (process)
This has been a recurrent topic in the field of philosophy, discussed in the writings of Plato, Aristotle, St. Augustine, Francis Bacon, Immanuel Kant, Søren Kierkegaard, Ludwig von Mises, Karl Marx, Antonio Gramsci, Martin Heidegger, Hannah Arendt, Jean-Paul Sartre, Paulo Freire, Murray Rothbard, and many others.
[4] Cieszkowski argued that while absolute truth had been achieved in the speculative philosophy of Hegel, the deep divisions and contradictions in man's consciousness could only be resolved through concrete practical activity that directly influences social life.
[4] Although there is no evidence that Karl Marx himself read this book,[5] it may have had an indirect influence on his thought through the writings of his friend Moses Hess.
[6][7] Marx uses the term "praxis" to refer to the free, universal, creative and self-creative activity through which man creates and changes his historical world and himself.
[13] In the Critique of Dialectical Reason, Jean-Paul Sartre posits a view of individual praxis as the basis of human history.
[17] Conditions of scarcity generate competition for resources, exploitation of one over another and division of labor, which in its turn creates struggle between classes.
[18] Sartre recognizes both natural and man-made constraints on freedom: he calls the non-unified practical activity of humans the "practico-inert".
[22] Thus, she argues that more philosophers need to engage in everyday political action or praxis, which she sees as the true realization of human freedom.
In Maurizio Passerin d'Etreves's estimation, "Arendt's theory of action and her revival of the ancient notion of praxis represent one of the most original contributions to twentieth century political thought.
Moreover, by viewing action as a mode of human togetherness, Arendt is able to develop a conception of participatory democracy which stands in direct contrast to the bureaucratized and elitist forms of politics so characteristic of the modern epoch.
[26] In the British Channel 4 television documentary New Order: Play at Home,[27][28] Factory Records owner Tony Wilson describes praxis as "doing something, and then only afterwards, finding out why you did it".
This principally involves the juxtaposition of a dialectical and scientific audit of reality; against all existing normative, ideological, and therefore counterfeit accounts.
Essentially a 'philosophy' based on 'a practice', Marx's philosophy, is described correspondingly in this manner, as the only 'philosophy' that is at the same time a 'history in action' or a 'life' itself (Gramsci, Hoare and Nowell-Smith, 1972, p. 332).
This is, figuratively, perception and, by implication, intelligence; transitively, a mandate: advice, behaviour, decree, discretion, judgment, reason, taste, understanding.
