Re: What is praxis?

maria judith sucupira costa lins (costlins who-is-at ism.com.br)
Tue, 04 May 1999 22:17:21 -0300

Nate,
Freire has used the word "praxis" when he wrote in portuguese, as many of us.
this is a common word used in portuguese in the marxist context, and also it is
known from Aristotle. maria lins

nate escreveu:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Diane HODGES <dchodges who-is-at interchange.ubc.ca>
> To: <xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 04, 1999 1:15 AM
> Subject: Re: What is praxis?
>
> My inclination is the CHAT site is based on the Artistotlian division that
> Bruce mentions. In reference to Friere I would be curious if "praxis" was
> Freire's word or what it was translated from. I see Freire, Activity
> Theory, Pragmatism for better or worse attempts at dealing with this
> dualism. Freire's notion of "praxis" would be closer to what Newman and
> Holzman refer to as "tool and results" than a "tool for results" in my
> opinion. Theory or Freire's "praxis" emerges within practice not a priori
> to it. Dewey, pragmatism and all that "wonderful" stuff that ocurred with
> progressiveism is how I have tended to see "praxis" (action) in that theory
> (that ivory tower) was a priori to practice.
>
> Some of the more "post" stuff is questioning the whole division itself and
> the progressive assumptions that theory should influence practice. The
> argument goes like the so called theory that occurs in "institutions of
> bourgeois development" is also a practice, but ought not be put in a
> position to have answers for other practices. In constrast to activity
> theory which I see as attempting the synthesize the division of practice
> and theory, the post perspective questions the whole aristotian division in
> the first place. Rather than creating a synthesis of two polor opposites
> it questions if the division in the first place is useful.
>
> > my first thought on this was, under what conditions is any
> > action NOT theorized, or any practice not influenced by theory?
>
> To use another comment of Freire's one cannot have a revolution for the
> people, but only with the people. For me this points toward a theory and
> practice, rather than a theory for practice. So much stuff in the
> progressive era was an attempt at theory for practice in which it
> transformed others, but wasn't willing to be transformed. On one level as
> Vygotsky hinted at theory should be in a subordinate position to practice
> rather than the other way around. Theory emerges within practice as a way
> to understand and transform it, rather than something seperate from and a
> priori to practice itself.
>
> Nate
>
> > """"""""""""""""""""""" """""""""""""""""""""""""""""
> > When she walks,
> > the revolution's coming.
> > In her hips, there's revolution.
> > When she talks, I hear revolution.
> > In her kiss, I taste the revolution.
> > (poem by Kathleen Hanna: Riot Grrl)
> > ******************************************
> > diane celia hodges
> > university of british columbia
> > centre for the study of curriculum and knowledge
> > vancouver, british columbia, canada
> >
> >