Introduction: Questions of Practice: Related Perspectives from Pragmatism and Practice Theory

Questions of practice abound in Western intellectual thought. Their ubiquity partly reflects the venerable pairing of Theory and Practice. This binary has helped structure philosophical thought, and humanistic reflection more generally, ever since Plato and Aristotle worked out initial understandings of these now august matters. Since then, questions about theory and practice have multiplied. The great Greek philosophers argued that a life of theory or contemplation is the highest form of life for humans. Vivified by this consecration of theory, a subsequent stream of Western thinkers held—when considering the pair—that theory should dominate practice. This attitude has taken various forms, including the claim that practice should hew to the dictates of theory and the conviction that theory (or reflection) develops the criteria or framework for evaluating and passing judgment on practice. Consequent on the rise of science in the modern era, this attitude helped engender wider issues about the roles of science, reason, and expertise vis-à-vis practice and society.