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

Theory and Praxis in Aristotle and Heidegger ABSTRACT: The discussion of Heidegger's â€Å"destructive retrieve† of Aristotle has been intensified in recent years by the publication of Heidegger's courses in the years surrounding his magnum opus. Heidegger's explicit commentary on Aristotle in these courses permits one to read Being and Time with Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics 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, there is: (1) a shift from the priority 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) Heidegger's notion of Theorie is a modification of his poà ­esis. The temporal ground of the reversal is seen in (4) Heidegger's notion of transcendence towards the world, and not towards an eternal being. Heidegger's "destructive retrieve" of Aristotle is getting more attention recently, as the courses he gave in the years surrounding the appearance of Being and Time are gradually becoming available. Heidegger's 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 Aristotle's 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) Heidegger's notion of Theorie is a modification of a more original poà ­Ãƒ ©sis. The temporal ground of the reversal is seen in 4) Heidegger's notion of transcendence towards the world, and not towards an eternal being. I. From Aristotle's Actuality to Heidegger's Possibility For Heidegger, possibility precedes actuality: though human 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 Aristotle's notion of physical potentiality and what Heidegger calls possibility are not identical.