The Idea Of Practice

In this chapter, we attempt to develop MacIntyre’s work in the light of the previous discussion of contextuality. We aim to show how contextuality and practice are related. We aim to illustrate that practices form part of a nest of concepts, which range from the particular to the more general, and that practices are layered in the sense that they overlap to differing extents. One practice is located within one nest. At a particular level, there is an activity which is nested within a practice at another level, which is nested within a tradition at another level which is nested within some narrative unity of a life overall. An activity may also be nested within alternative practices and traditions. In that sense, activities and practices are layered. For example, when asked why we knocked a nail in a piece of wood, we may respond by focusing on a number of levels within a nest – the activity itself, or the practice of joinery, or the tradition within which joinery has meaning, or some overall sense of what we are trying to achieve. The activity of nailing also forms part of the practice of building, so the practices of building and joinery may be said to be layered.