Liberation 101:3 What is Praxis
Praxis is an old and much-used philosophical term employed by nearly every major Western philosopher, including Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Immanuel Kant, Georg Hegel, and Karl Marx. Because of its long history, praxis has a variety of definitions, almost all of which describe a relationship between theory and practice. While the assumptions in these definitions range from a complete separation between theory and practice to a complete conflation of the two, modern philosophers tend to favor a definition that highlights the interdependence of thought and action. In fact, within the past 20 years, contemporary educators have embraced the term praxis, using it to mean reflective practice, or a union between thought and action.
Proponents of praxis believe that theory should be grounded in practice in order to keep theory applicable, pragmatic, and meaningful. As such, praxis refers to the process by which a theory or lesson becomes part of a lived experience. Rather than a lesson being simply absorbed at the intellectual level, ideas are tested and experienced in the real world, followed by an opportunity for reflective contemplation. In this way, abstract concepts are connected with lived reality.
For Aristotle, praxis is guided by a moral disposition to act truly and rightly; a concern to further human well-being and the good life. For Aristotle, praxis meant reflective action informed by phronesis, the prudential reasoning and practical skill that enable a person to transform a tradition’s meaning into the immediate social context. In praxis there can be no prior knowledge of the right means by which one realizes the end in a particular situation. For the end itself is only specified in deliberating about the means appropriate to a particular situation. The way to achieve something depends on what one wants to achieve, and vice versa. There is a continual interplay between ends and means. This process involves interpretation, understanding, and application in “one unified process.” Praxis is not simply action based on reflection. It is action that embodies certain qualities. These include a commitment to human well-being and the search for truth and respect for others. It is the action of people who are free, who are able to act for themselves.
Moreover, praxis is always risky. It is about both production and “right conduct.” It is informed action, as well as politically and ethically conscious action that in its functioning overlaps practical and productive knowledge. It requires that a person make “wise and prudent practical judgments” about how to act in any particular situation. As such, word and action, action and reflection, theory and practice are all facets of the same idea. This action is not merely the doing of something, what Aristotle described as poiesis, and Paulo Freire later referred to as activism. Poiesis is about acting upon, doing to: It is about working with objects. Praxis, however, is creative: It is other-seeking and dialogic. Praxis seeks to get at the interaction of deed and thought, the holistic embodiment of meaning. It is correctly understood as the critical relationship between theory and practice wherein each is dialectically influenced and transformed by the other.
More technical, philosophically grounded definitions of praxis describe it as an act in opposition to meaningless, uncreative labor; sometimes it is defined in opposition to abstract, inert theory. One of the latest definitions is one by Hegel, who placed practical above theoretical and argued that the unity of the two should be found in a third and higher moment. For Hegel, the practical comes first. The power of Marx’s critique of Hegel is that it attempts to more strongly ground a theory of the social subject and mutual recognition in a theory of domination—in the oppressive historical contingencies and structures of economic and social life. In Marxist theory, praxis means the imperative to apply what you learn in order to change what you observe; to put theory into action. The particular focus of Marx is on capitalist societies where the commodification of labor results in alienated labor. According to this model, only the worker as slave is in a position to understand true freedom as equality; the resulting revolutionary consciousness then becomes the basis of a new form of society that abolishes class division. How is the working class to become self-conscious and create a revolution? How does the culturally deprived, alienated worker become an active learner when these very conditions inhibit the formation of reflective consciousness? According to Marx, revolutionary praxis is an activity that implies a theory of learning: the process through which dominated consciousness might be transformed into emancipatory consciousness.
Marx’s theory of action takes the form of a productive paradigm that views praxis as a form of productive activity (work) understood in terms of a subject-object relation. According to Jürgen Habermas, however, the model of praxis as production tends to equate action with work (instrumental action), thus downplaying the linguistic and communicative aspects of social life. For Habermas and Freire, the key to reconstructing the theory of praxis is found in the dialogical learning processes that might mediate between the realities of human need and the capacity to reflect and act in liberating ways. From this perspective, Freire extends the Aristotelian concept of praxis as ethics in practice. His concept of praxis is based on the analysis of the simplest element of human dialogue, the word. Freire explains that the word is two-dimensional, composed of reflection and action. He contends that these two dimensions are in such radical interaction that if one is sacrificed—even in part—the other immediately suffers.
Freire’s account of praxis is based on the richly textured synthetic vision of the pedagogy of the oppressed. Freire’s liberation pedagogy is a cultural action or process toward liberation. It has two phases: critical consciousness (conscientization) and critical praxis. Conscientization is the process by which members of a group (class) become aware of their cultural oppression, of their colonized mentality, and, as a result, discover that they have a popular culture, a political identity, and a societal role. Conscientization is in itself a liberatory process, as one is freed from self-depreciation. It is important for Freire that the oppressors must also be considered, as they too must become aware of their dehumanizing situation, which maintains injustice. But consciousness alone is not sufficient. As a second phase, conscientization requires critical praxis. Such praxis is not a revolutionary seizure of power from the oppressors. Rather, it is a peaceful intervention in order to develop alternatives. Developing such alternatives must include the oppressors, by transforming unjust power relations through dialogue. According to Freire, praxis is the dialectical union of reflection and action.
Praxis is an active learning experience. It is the act of reflectively constructing or reconstructing the social world. It is a dynamic process that recognizes the reciprocal relationship between theory and practice and how each can inform the other. Praxis is thoughtful action—the kind of action that unites the elements of intention, mindfulness, and critical theory. This is distinguished from task-oriented doing. Praxis refers to a relationship between theory and practice in which one creates and constructs knowledge and meaning from experiences. Within a praxis framework, one assesses a situation, understands it through reflection and discussions, and makes sound judgments that lead to justifiable actions. One is then able to perceive situations within the larger context, make generalizations from their experiences, and take action as a responsible professional to modify and develop all levels of practice.
Praxis is reflective of a relationship between individuals and their wider community. It means bridging the gap between individual and fragmented awareness on the one hand and building sustainable communities as alternatives on the other. What is fundamental to the concept of praxis is that it is the integration of reflection with action or, simply, it is action informed by theory, with a view to transform the larger social community. The nature of this interaction may be that theory transforms action, which may in turn reshape theory, and so on, in a holistic relationship. It is also essential to this concept that the individuals and community are empowered to decide on the changes best suited to their specific contexts and are enabled to identify or develop the tools to effect such change.
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It’s very good article.