Its all Greek to me: The terms praxis and phronesis in

environmental philosophy
ian.umces.edu/blog/2013/08/29/its-all-greek-to-me-the-terms-praxis-and-phronesis-in-environmental-philosophy/

Bill Dennison
Two of Peter Olivers favorite words were praxis and phronesis. These Greek terms were part of the vocabulary of
the ancient Greek philosophers and used by Aristotle to describe practical wisdom (phronesis) and thoughtful,
practical doing (praxis). They were used within a broader vocabulary to describe various elements of learning and
knowledge.
In my attempt to interpret and communicate the meaning of these Greek words and concepts, Peter and I
collaborated on a series of conceptual symbols to denote a variety of Greek words which are described here.
Nous means intellect or understanding and often interpreted as good
sense. Aristotle considered the term nous to be a uniquely human
quality. He thought that truth revealed the capacity of the soul and that
the attainment of nous an important goal of an educated person. In
Aristotles view, there was both cosmic nous and human nous. Both
Aristotles teacher Plato and Platos teacher Socrates used the term
nous. The term nous appears in the Iliad when Agamemon is talking
to Achilles, so Homer used the term as well. In order to depict nous,
we used the four fundamental elements described by Aristotle: earth,
water, fire and air/wind. Aristotles fifth element, aether, a divine
substance which comprised the heavenly bodies, was not included.

Nous described by the four fundamental elements of

earth, water, fire and air/wind.

Sophia means wisdom, and Aristotle considered sophia to be theoretical wisdom. This could be interpreted in
modern day terms as book smart, which does not necessarily mean common sense. Sophia needs to be coupled
with nous to be both book smart and having common sense. The word philosophy is derived from sophia, and it
can be translated in this way as the love (philo-) of wisdom (sophia). It is interesting that of the various Greek words,
this is a word that people have chosen as a commonly used name for women. For the depiction of sophia, we
chose a four level learning pyramid. The base of the pyramid is data (depicted as a number series), the second
level is information (depicted as a graph), the third level is knowledge (depicted as a book) and the top layer is
wisdom (depicted as a human head). We chose a womans head, given the feminine word sophia.

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Sophia depicted as a four level learning pyramid with

data as the base, information as the second level,
knowledge as the third level, and wisdom as the top
level.

Techne means craftsmanship or art. The intent of the word techne is

the making or doing as opposed to the understanding. It is the root of
technique, technical and various other derivatives. Aristotle viewed
techne as an imperfect human representation of nature. Socrates and
Plato also used the word, and distinguished craftsmanship (which
they viewed in a positive light) from art (which they viewed in a
negative light). The depiction of techne that we chose was the hands
of a sculptor forming a bowl.

Techne depicted as the hands of a sculptor forming a

bowl.

Episteme means knowledge or science. The verb form of this word translates to know. Epistemology, the study of
knowledge, is derived from episteme. Episteme was viewed by the Greeks as a partner to techne. Plato used
episteme to denote justified true belief. In modern terms, the word paradigm popularized by Thomas Kuhn is often
used in a manner similar to episteme was used by the Greeks. To depict episteme, we chose an interconnected
network of books or knowledge to capture this concept of knowledge systems.

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Episteme shown as an interconnected network of

books or knowledge.

Praxis means thoughtful, practical doing. Aristotle, who loved to

categorize various concepts, developed a three-tiered basic attributes
of man scheme. This scheme describes 1) theoria or theoretical with
the goal of truth, 2) poiesis or doing with the goal of production and 3)
praxis or practical, thoughtful doing with the goal of action. The word
praxis promotes both practice and reflection, seemingly paradoxical
concepts. Combining these two elements is the genius of this word
and why we find it so attractive. To depict praxis, we developed two
overlapping circles, both containing iconic sculptures by the French
sculptor, Auguste Rodin. The thoughtful component of praxis is
depicted by Rodins famous The Thinker sculpture, and the practical
doing component of praxis is depicted by Rodins famous Two
Hands sculpture.

Praxis depicted by The Thinker sculpture for the

thoughtful component, and Two Hands sculpture for
the practical component.

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Phronesis means practical wisdom. Aristotle distinguished between

sophia and phronesis in the following manner. Sophia involves
reasoning concerning universal truths, while phronesis includes a
capability of rational thinking. In order to practice phronesis, Aristotle
felt that political abilities were required, as well as thinking abilities.
Aristotle categorized there elements of character (ethos) in the
following manner: 1) phronesis (how to act in particular situations), 2)
arete (virtue) and 3) eunoia (goodwill). He also felt that phronesis was
both necessary and sufficient for being virtuous. To depict phronesis,
we developed two overlapping circles, not unlike the symbol for
praxis. In the case of phronesis, the intersection of values (depicted
as human figures holding hands in a circle) and knowledge (depicted
as a book) are used.

Phronesis depicted as two overlapping circles, with the

intersection of values (shown as human figures
holding hands in a circle) and knowledge (shown as a
book).

While all of these Greek terms are ancient ways to describe the human condition and help describe the way that we
interact with the world around us, they have relevance with important modern concepts. For example, adaptive
management is a popular term for learning by doing, not unlike what the Greek terms phronesis and praxis are
promoting.
Developing a practical philosophy for environmental science
Science can be viewed as an attempt to develop nous (intellect) and sophia (wisdom), using the Greek terms
promoted by Socrates, Plato and most importantly, Aristotle. These are classic attributes that we associate with
science and learning. The way that Aristotle used the terms are akin the common sense (nous) and book smart
(sophia) in modern vernacular. We can view these two terms as complementary skills needed by scientists. Since
these terms are rather passive in that they do not involve any action, they can be seen as relatively theoretical and,
in a sense, a historical perspective on what is needed for science.
The addition of techne (craftsmanship) and episteme (knowledge) to the repertory of a scientist provides an actionoriented aspect to science. Techne and episteme are also Greek words and were used as complementary terms just
as nous and sophia were complementary terms. Modern science needs both sets of terms; nous and sophia
combined with techne and episteme.
In Dancing with Dugongs, Peter Oliver and I promote two additional Greek terms for the scientific
approach; praxis and phronesis. Praxis, defined as practical, thoughtful doing, combined with phronesis, practical
wisdom where values intersect with knowledge describe what needs to happen in environmental science. We feel
that these two terms are at the core of developing a practical philosophy for environmental science. It is simply not
enough to know what should be done, or even recommend what should be done (e.g., science integration). Action is
also required and this doing in terms of environmental science can take the form of protection or restoration
activities.

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Table depicting Greek words from Dancing with Dugongs: Having fun and developing a practical philosophy for
environmental teaching and research.

This blog post is an excerpt from Dancing with Dugongs: Having fun and developing a practical philosophy for
environmental teaching and research by Peter E. Oliver and William C. Dennison, which will be released at the 2013
Riversymposium in Brisbane, Australia.

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