In 1978 I made a distinction between educational research, aimed at the realisation
of educational values, and research on education. I depicted the former as a
form of commonsense theorising (see Elliott 2007a, 91–98, especially 95–98). In
this respect it differed significantly from Aristotle’s view of practical ethical reasoning
as non-theoretical. Theoretical knowledge (episteme) for Aristotle was quite
distinct from practical wisdom and reasoning. As Dunne points out, for Aristotle the
spheres of theory and practice are incommensurable, the former being ‘emphatically
distinguished from any knowledge that might have practical import’ (Dunne 1993,
238). Theoretical knowledge consisted of a contemplative grasp of the principles
that governed an unchanging and eternal cosmic order transcending the contingencies
of everyday living.