Introduction
The following introduces existentialism as a theory of praxis. Praxis will first be defined and discussed in terms of its illumination around human activity and the anticipation it has to develop a thought into a material entity. Following from this discussion will be an extensive examination of the theory of existentialism and its many themes and ideas. An assessment will be made regarding the merits of existentialism as a form of praxis, within this assessment connections will be made between praxis and its existential product. Personal analyses will also be made and evaluated in terms of the applicability of each theory to the other.
Praxis
As a philosophical tenet, praxis is the term underlying a process where an action is preceded by a thought. Human activity, a central theme embedded in praxis, encompasses the concrete reality of doing something, making it a material entity. The thought behind doing that action, passivity, encompasses ideology. Vazquez (1977) defines Praxis in the sense of human activity as ‘…actions designed to transform an object [are] initiated on the basis of an ideal result or end, and culminate in an actual, concrete result or product (p.150)’.
A central idea of praxis is that of acts to ends. Human activity is regarded in terms of human consciousness; the intervention of that consciousness in a particular activity determines the ideal, end result as a real product. The idea is projected in the form of an end goal and the active outcome of this intention is accordingly structured to fit that idea in a material form. The anticipation of a result is what gives human activity its conscious character. Because praxis can also apply itself to natural activities it is important to consider that then being associate ...