Dictionary, for normal usage:
Practical application or exercise of a branch of learning.
Habitual or established practice; custom.
Philosophical dictionary:
A term in use since Aristotle, to whom praxis is one of the three basic activities of human beings (the others being theoria, or theory, and poiēsis, or skilful manufacture). Praxis in Aristotle includes voluntary or goal-directed action, although it sometimes also includes the condition that the action is itself part of the end, an action done for its own sake. In Kant, praxis is the application of a theory to cases encountered in experience, but is also ethically significant thought, or practical reason, that is, reasoning about what there should be as opposed to what there is. Kant's placing of the practical above the theoretical influenced the subsequent thought of Fichte, Schelling, and Hegel.
But it is in Marx that the concept becomes central to the new philosophical ideal of transforming the world through revolutionary activity. The subordination of theory to practice is connected with the inability of reason to solve contradictions, which are instead removed by the dialectical progress of history. Praxis is also connected with genuinely free, self-conscious, authentic activity as opposed to the alienated labour demanded under capitalism. See also false consciousness. This bold bit is what Atty is talking about.
Thesaurus:
praxis
noun
A habitual way of behaving: consuetude, custom, habit, habitude, manner, practice, usage, usance, use, way, wont. See usual/unusual.
Praxis (disambiguation)
Praxis may refer to:
Praxis (process), the process of putting theoretical knowledge into practice
Praxis (Eastern Orthodoxy), the practice of faith, especially worship
Praxis (band), a Bill Laswell musical project
Praxis (moon), a planetary body in the Star Trek universe
Praxis may also be:
Praxis, a genus of moth in the subfamily Calpinae
Praxis, one of the names of Aphrodite in Greek Mythology
See also
The Praxis, a novel by Walter Jon Williams
Praxis test, a teacher certification exam
Praxis school, a school of Marxist philosophy
This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title.
So as you can see, it's got a whole range of associations, from Marx to cheesy-but=readable sci-fi (I've got the 3 Praxis novels
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