Editing Theory (section)

== Ancient usage ==
The English word ''theory'' derives from a technical term in philosophy in [[Classical Greece|Ancient Greek]]. As an everyday word, ''[[theoria]]'', {{lang|grc|θεωρία}}, meant "looking at, viewing, beholding", but in more technical contexts it came to refer to [[contemplation|contemplative]] or [[speculative reason|speculative]] understandings of [[nature (philosophy)|natural things]], such as those of [[natural philosopher]]s, as opposed to more practical ways of knowing things, like that of skilled orators or artisans.{{efn|1=The word ''theoria'' occurs in [[Ancient Greek philosophy|Greek philosophy]], for example, that of [[Plato]]. It is a statement of how and why particular facts are related. It is related to words for {{lang|grc|θεωρός}} "spectator", {{lang|grc|θέα}} ''thea'' "a view" + {{lang|grc|ὁρᾶν}} ''horan'' "to see", literally "looking at a show". See for example dictionary entries at Perseus website.}} English-speakers have used the word ''theory'' since at least the late 16th century.<ref>{{OEtymD|theory|accessdate=18 July 2008}}</ref> Modern uses of the word ''theory'' derive from the original definition, but have taken on new shades of meaning, still based on the idea of a theory as a thoughtful and [[reason|rational]] explanation of the general [[nature (philosophy)|nature]] of things.

Although it has more mundane meanings in Greek, the word {{lang|grc|θεωρία}} apparently developed special uses early in the recorded history of the [[Greek language]]. In the book ''From Religion to Philosophy'', [[F. M. Cornford|Francis Cornford]] suggests that the [[Orphics]] used the word ''theoria'' to mean "passionate sympathetic contemplation".<ref>{{cite book|last=Cornford|first=Francis Macdonald|url=https://archive.org/details/fromreligiontoph0000corn|title=From religion to philosophy: a study in the origins of western speculation|date=8 November 1991|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|isbn=978-0-691-02076-1|pages=198|url-access=registration}}</ref> [[Pythagoras]] changed the word to mean "the passionless contemplation of rational, unchanging truth" of mathematical knowledge, because he considered this intellectual pursuit the way to reach the highest plane of existence.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Cornford|first=Francis M.|title=From Religion to Philosophy: a study in the origins of western speculation|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=1991|isbn=0-691-02076-0|location=Princeton|pages=200}}</ref> Pythagoras emphasized subduing emotions and bodily desires to help the intellect function at the higher plane of theory. Thus, it was Pythagoras who gave the word ''theory'' the specific meaning that led to the classical and modern concept of a distinction between theory (as uninvolved, neutral thinking) and practice.<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Bertrand Russell |last=Russell |first=Bertrand |title=History of Western Philosophy |year=1945|title-link=History of Western Philosophy (Russell) }}</ref>

Aristotle's terminology, as already mentioned, contrasts theory with ''praxis'' or practice, and this contrast exists till today. For Aristotle, both practice and theory involve thinking, but the aims are different. Theoretical contemplation considers things humans do not move or change, such as [[nature (philosophy)|nature]], so it has no human aim apart from itself and the knowledge it helps create. On the other hand, ''praxis'' involves thinking, but always with an aim to desired actions, whereby humans cause change or movement themselves for their own ends. Any human movement that involves no conscious choice and thinking could not be an example of ''praxis'' or doing.{{efn|1= 
The [[A Greek–English Lexicon|LSJ]] cites two passages of Aristotle as examples, both from the ''[[Metaphysics (Aristotle)|Metaphysics]]'' and involving the definition of [[natural science]]: [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0052%3Abook%3D11%3Asection%3D1064a 11.1064a17], "it is clear that natural science (φυσικὴν ἐπιστήμην) must be neither practical (πρακτικὴν) nor productive (ποιητικὴν), but speculative (θεωρητικὴν)" and [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0052%3Abook%3D6%3Asection%3D1025b 6.1025b25], "Thus if every intellectual activity [διάνοια] is either practical or productive or speculative (θεωρητική), physics (φυσικὴ) will be a speculative [θεωρητική] science." So Aristotle actually made a three way distinction between practical, theoretical and productive or technical—or between doing, contemplating or making. All three types involve thinking, but are distinguished by what causes the objects of thought to move or change.}}