ARISTOTELIAN “PRAXIS” AND THE UKRAINIAN PHILOSOPHY OF ACTION IN WARTIME CONDITIONS

Abstract

The article presents a philosophical and cognitive analysis of the Aristotelian concept of praxis as ethical action with an intrinsic purpose, examined within the context of contemporary Ukrainian philosophy of action during full-scale war. Building on Aristotle’s classical distinction between praxis, poiesis, and theoria, the authors explore how phronesis – practical wisdom – becomes a key factor in moral choice amid collective uncertainty, traumatic experience, and existential resistance. Special attention is given to how praxis, in the Ukrainian context, acquires political and cultural dimensions – transforming into a means not only of ethical self-realization but also of expressing identity, enacting resistance, and practicing solidarity. Based on recent works by Ukrainian philosophers, the article demonstrates that praxis in wartime conditions shifts from individual ethical choice to a collective practice of survival, integrating moral responsibility, cultural memory, social empathy, and civic engagement. The Aristotelian model of praxis, which posits action aimed at achieving the good, is reinterpreted under new circumstances as ethical action rooted in historical reality – capable of shaping a renewed ethics of communities that resist and seek value-based orientation. Moral decisions are no longer abstract or universalized but embedded in the lived experience of war. The article proposes an interdisciplinary approach that combines philosophical hermeneutics, cognitive ethics, cultural analysis, and trauma studies. This framework allows praxis to be understood as a key category of adaptive thinking in wartime – capable of generating new ethical models in situations of risk, loss, and extreme moral choice. The presented concept opens perspectives for further research in the fields of action theory, war ethics, post-traumatic philosophy, and cognitive resilience.