I wished to see the term ‘theory’ freed from essentialist assumptions – assumptions
based on the nature of the world, or the human mind or language that shaped
its meaning in Greek thought – and put to the service of praxis (see Elliott 2009,
28–38). Concepts should rather be seen as characterising value-laden conceptions of
ends. They constitute concrete universals in as much as their meaning can only be
determined through concrete practical experience. Moreover, their meaning changes
over time and with experience.