Theory and Praxis in Aristotle and Heidegger :: Aristotle heidegger Essays

Theory and Praxis in Aristotle and HeideggerABSTRACT The discussion of Heideggers destructive retrieve of Aristotle has been intensified in upstart years by the publication of Heideggers courses in the years surrounding his magnum opus. Heideggers explicit commentary on Aristotle in these courses permits one to read cosmos and Time with Aristotles Nicomachean ethical motive and Metaphysics. My paper analyzes a network of differences between the two thinkers, focusing on the relationship between theory and praxis. From Aristotle to Heidegger, in that location is (1) a shift from the precession of actuality to the priority of possibility. This shift, I argue, is itself the metaphysical ground of (2) a shift from the priority of theory to the priority of praxis. This shift is seen most clearly in the way in which (3) Heideggers view of Theorie is a modification of his poesis. The temporal ground of the reversal is seen in (4) Heideggers notion of transcendence towards the world, an d not towards an eternal being.Heideggers destructive retrieve of Aristotle is getting much attention recently, as the courses he gave in the years surrounding the appearance of Being and Time be gradually becoming available. Heideggers explicit commentary on Aristotle in many of these courses permits one to read Being and Time as a work written in conversation with the Greek master. Contrasting Being and Time with Aristotles Nichomachean Ethics and Metaphysics, my paper analyzes a network of relations and differences between the two thinkers, focussing on the relationship between theory and praxis.Between Aristotle and Heidegger, there is 1) a shift from the priority of actuality in Aristotle, to the priority of possibility in Heidegger. This shift, I argue, is itself the metaphysical ground of 2) a shift from the priority of theory in the one thinker to the priority of praxis in the other. This shift is seen most clearly in the way in which 3) Heideggers notion of Theorie is a m odification of a more original posis. The temporal ground of the reversal is seen in 4) Heideggers notion of transcendence towards the world, and not towards an eternal being.I. From Aristotles Actuality to Heideggers PossibilityFor Heidegger, possibility precedes actuality though humanity beings have a factical structure, the way that we interpret the world is on the basis of possibility. For Aristotle, however, actuality is prior to potentiality (Meta 1049b 4ff). Now Aristotles notion of physical potentiality and what Heidegger calls possibility are not identical.