Poiesis

In philosophy, the term poiesis (from ancient Greek ποιέω , 'to make' ) denotes a purpose-related action (in contrast to practical and theoretical action) ( Aristotle : poietics ).

While in practice acting is an end in itself (leisure, art, meditation), poietic work is geared towards producing something or achieving another purpose (e.g. payment or benefit) via the detour of work. Poietic actions are more self-contained and attainable (defined end state> material product> object of use). Aristotle particularly emphasizes the criterion of teachability and precise description of the steps of poietic action that must be carried out in order to produce a work or workpiece. With the completion of such a work, the poietic act is completed.

The alienation effects of poietic attitudes are viewed critically, namely with regard to

the labor (workers can be replaced, the product is a commodity. See Karl Marx )
of society (cf. Hannah Arendt , Cornelius Castoriadis ) and
of nature (belief in and dependence on technology, environmental destruction and resource depletion, cf. Heidegger's criticism of technology ).

Basically, this distinction is to be understood conceptually, since a purpose can be found for most actions and each action has both poietic and practical aspects depending on the perspective.

Jürgen Habermas calls purposeful action strategically success-oriented when it is based on competitive thinking, while instrumentally success-oriented action serves the purpose of understanding and observation (change of state due to events).

The distinction between purposeful, instrumental and strategically success-oriented action from communication-oriented action based on understanding does not capture the specific difference between poiesis and practice; In the Aristotelian theory of action, practice was also the action of the free, while poietic action was reserved for the craftsmen or even slaves.

In the systems theory of the 20th century, the term autopoiesis gained some meaning.

literature

Dirk Cürsgen: Phenomenology of Poiesis. Würzburg (Königshausen and Neumann), 2012. ISBN 978-3-8260-4958-3