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It might be fruitful to look at Marx's idea of 'praxis' found in his early writings. Use of the word 'praxis' instead of action was central in the development of French philosophy from 1950-60. Merleau-Ponty writes:

"What Marx calls praxis is the meaning which appears spontaneously at the intersection of the actions by which man organizes his relationship with nature and with others."

Mario,

Where is this quote by Merleau-Ponty to be found? It is very insightful.

As ever, Robert

yes absolutely. I had imagined that the thesis on feuerbach as the ideal place to start. The use of the term praxis in particular is an interesting path, as it comes to play such a central role in the thinking of the frankfurt school as well. In that vein it might be interesting to read some aristotle as well.

This class seems so pressing . . . What's going on?

This class is in the midst of organization and we are planning a first session for mid-January, 2010. Stay tuned, and send along any and all ideas for how we should proceed!

A possible place to start might be with chapter 1 of Karl Marx's, 'Capital.' It is here that Marx defines the essence of capitalism as, ultimately, a social relation. The object of capitalism is not commodities, but social relations. Deleuze and Guattari echo this by saying that capitalism functions and proliferates itself by a process of fragmenting and segmenting the social field. All of this, of course, makes it easier for capital to dominate and regulate the relations that exist between people.

Praxis, in radical opposition, forms relations between heterogeneous groups that cross these fixed boundaries- a traversing. Guattari defines revolution as a process of "decompartmentalization."

I don't know, maybe? . . .

The inaugural session of Theory/Practice has been scheduled!

Can a specific curriculum or reading list be made available before the first class so we can prepare for discussion?

Hi all (and ssbothwell, apologies for taking so long to respond!),

Chandler and I've met and decided that our first class session won't take place as a discussion of assigned readings, but rather as a more open-ended conversation about various notions of theory/practice. We'll also be strategizing - as a class - the structure of class sessions to come, i.e. whether we want to conduct Theory/Practice as a formal class, or whether other, as yet undefined ways of proceeding are more interesting to us as a group.

To this end, we are amassing a series of "sound bytes" from various thinkers, writers, and so on that deal with theory/practice. We'll either make these excerpts available in advance of the session, or simply bring in handouts that we can all read together. May a fascinating discussion ensue! We're very excited.

More on this later today,

S

Ok! Here's the definitive plan for next Sunday:

Chandler and I will be bringing in sound bytes relating to theory/practice for us to discuss and we ask that each of you find some to bring in as well. That way we can approach T/P from multiple points of inquiry (as opposed to simply looking at a curated selection of excerpts that would inevitably represent the facilitators' own personal interests and perspectives). Sound good? Sound bytes can come from anywhere - there are no restrictions on what you might choose to bring in.

Don't worry about making copies for the full class as we won't know in advance how many people will be attending. If you'd like to make a few copies to pass around, that would be great, but we can also read aloud as well as circulate individual sheets of paper through the room. Hooray for minute logistical details!

Lastly, there IS one assigned reading for our upcoming session. It is the following statement, made by Karl Marx in his Theses on Feuerbach:

"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point, however, is to change it."

Any questions at all? Post to the list or email me at sarah.rebecca.kessler@gmail.com.

Hi all,

Just a friendly reminder that Theory/Practice will be happening tomorrow night at TPS, from 7-9 PM! Come one, come all, with textual or other excerpts related to theory/practice in tow!

Hope to see you tomorrow,

Sarah

***LAST-MINUTE CLASS POSTPONEMENT***

Hi all,

We're so sorry to do this so last-minute, but one of the course facilitators has unexpectedly fallen ill and we have to postpone tonight's meeting. Again, our most sincere apologies. We're going to try to reschedule for sometime next weekend and will send you more information on this tomorrow.

To those who have already paid for the course: Please contact me and we'll arrange for payback, unless you'd like to skip that step and just attend the first session when it's been rescheduled. Email: sarah.rebecca.kessler@gmail.com.

All the best and more very shortly,

Sarah

OK! This class has been rescheduled for Saturday, February 13th, from 12 PM - 2 PM at The Public School. I hope you all can make this new day/time!

"Reading" & assignment remain the same - the Marx quote posted below and excerpts/snippets relating to theory/practice.

We look forward to seeing you on the 13th.

Best,

S