While praxis may not form part of many workers overt vocabulary, practice, a pale derivative, did. Theory and practice Practice is often depicted as the act of doing something. It is usually contrasted to 'theory' - abstract ideas about some thing or phenomenon. In this 'theory' tends to be put on a pedestal. These in turn can be applied to the problems of practice.
Theory is 'real' knowledge while practice is the application of that knowledge to solve problems.
In many ways, this is a legacy of Aristotle and his three-fold classification of disciplines as theoretical, productive or practical. The basis of the distinction lies in the telos , or purpose, each serves. If the form of thinking associated with theoretical activities was contemplative, the enquiry involved in productive disciplines was a 'making' action or poietike . Aristotle associated this form of thinking and doing with the work of craftspeople or artisans. Hence, the making action is not simply mechanical.