Pragmatism is a philosophy that is based on the experience and context. It may not have a clear ethical framework or foundational principles. This can lead to a loss of idealistic aspirations and transformative change.In contrast to deflationary theories about truth, pragmatic theories of truth do not deny the idea that statements relate to states of affairs. They simply elucidate the roles that truth plays in our daily tasks.
Definition
The term "pragmatic" is used to describe people or things that are practical, logical and sensible. It is often contrasted with idealistic which refers to an individual or notion that is based upon ideals or principles of high quality. A pragmatic person looks at the real-world situations and circumstances when making decisions, focusing on what is realistically accomplished rather than seeking to determine the most optimal possible outcome.
Pragmatism is an emerging philosophical movement that focuses on the importance of practical consequences in the determination of value, truth or value. It is a third option to the dominant continental and analytic traditions of philosophy. Founded by Charles Sanders Peirce and William James with Josiah Royce as its founding fathers, pragmatism evolved into two competing streams one of which is akin to relativism, and the other toward the idea of realism.
One of the major issues in pragmatism is the nature of truth. While many pragmatists agree that truth is a key concept, they are not sure what it means and how it operates in the real world. One approach, heavily influenced by Peirce & James, focuses on how people solve questions and make assertions and gives priority to the speech-acts and justification projects people use to determine if something is true. Another approach, influenced by Rorty and his followers, concentrates on the more mundane aspects of truth--the way it serves to generalize, commend, and caution--and is less concerned with a full-fledged theory of truth.
The first flaw with this neo-pragmatic approach to truth is that it stray with relativism, since the notion of "truth" has such a long and long-standing history that it appears unlikely that it could be reduced to the common purposes that pragmatists give it. In addition, pragmatism seems to deny the existence of truth in its metaphysical form. This is reflected in the fact that pragmatists, such as Brandom (who owes an obligation to Peirce and James) are mostly in silence on metaphysical questions, while Dewey's extensive writings contain only one mention of the question of truth.
Purpose
Pragmatism is a philosophy that aims to provide an alternative to the continental and analytic tradition of philosophy. Its first generation was initiated by Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, alongside their Harvard colleague Josiah Royce (1855-1916). These classical pragmatists focused on theorizing inquiry and meaning, as well as the nature of truth. Their influence spread through a number of influential American thinkers like John Dewey (1859-1952), who applied these concepts to education as well as other aspects of social development, and Jane Addams (1860-1935) who created social work.
In recent years the new generation of philosophers has given pragmatism a larger platform to discuss. While they are different from classical pragmatists, many of these neo-pragmatists consider themselves to be part of the same tradition. Their most prominent figure is Robert Brandom, whose work is centered around semantics and the philosophy of language, but also draws upon the philosophy of Peirce and James.
Neopragmatists have a distinct perception of what is required for an idea to be real. The classical pragmatists focused on a concept called 'truth-functionality,' which states that an idea is genuinely true if it is useful in practice. Neo-pragmatists focus on the idea of 'ideal warranted assertibility, which states that an idea is genuinely true if the claim made about it is justified in a particular way to a specific group of people.
There are however some issues with this theory. One of the most common complaints is that it can be used to support any number of ridiculous and illogical theories. The gremlin hypothesis is a good example: It's a useful idea that is effective in practice but is probably unfounded and nonsense. This isn't a huge issue, but it does highlight one of the biggest problems with pragmatism. It can be used as a justification for almost anything.
Significance
Pragmatic refers to the practical aspect of a decision, which is related to the consideration of actual situations and conditions when making decisions. It is also used to describe a philosophical position that emphasizes the practical consequences in determining the meaning, truth or values. The term"pragmatism" was first used to describe this viewpoint about a century ago, when William James (1842-1910) pressed it into practice in a speech at the University of California (Berkeley). James confidently claimed that the term was invented by his friend and mentor Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), but the pragmatist outlook quickly earned a name of its own.
The pragmatists resisted the stark dichotomies in analytic philosophy such as value and fact, thought and experience mind and body analytic and synthetic and other such distinctions. They also rejected the notion of truth as something fixed or objective and instead treated it as a dynamic socially-determined idea.
Classical pragmatics primarily focused on the theory of inquiry, meaning and the nature of truth but James put these ideas to work by exploring the truth of religion. John Dewey (1859-1952) was a major influence on a second generation of pragmatists, who applied the method to politics, education and www.Pragmatickr.Com other aspects of social improvement.
The neo-pragmatists of recent years have made an effort to put pragmatism into an overall Western philosophical context, tracing the affinities of Peirce's theories with Kant and other idealists of the 19th century and the emerging science of evolutionary theory. They have also attempted to clarify the role of truth in an original epistemology that is a posteriori and to create a pragmatic metaphilosophy that includes a view of meaning, language, and the nature of knowledge.
However the pragmatism that it has developed continues to evolve and the a posteriori model that it developed remains a significant departure from traditional approaches. The pragmatic theory has been criticized for a long time, but in recent years it has attracted more attention. They include the notion that pragmatism collapses when applied to moral questions and its assertion that "what works" is nothing more than a form of relativism with an unpolished appearance.
Methods
The epistemological method of Peirce included a pragmatic explanation. He saw it as an attempt to debunk false metaphysical notions like the Catholic understanding of transubstantiation and Cartesian certainty searching strategies in epistemology.For many modern pragmatists, the Pragmatic Maxim is all that one can reasonably expect from an understanding of truth. As such, they tend to steer clear of deflationist theories of truth that require verification to be legitimate. They advocate a different approach they refer to as "pragmatic explanation". This is the process of explaining how the concept is used in real life and identifying the criteria that must be met to recognize it as true.
This method is often criticized as a form of relativism. It is not as extreme as deflationist options and can be a useful way to get past some relativist theories of reality's problems.
As a result of this, a number of liberatory philosophical ideas, such as those associated to feminism, eco-philosophy, Native American philosophy, and Latin American philosophy, look for inspiration in the pragmatist tradition. Quine, for example, is an analytic philosopher who has embraced the pragmatist tradition in a way Dewey could not.
It is crucial to realize that pragmatism, though rich in the past, has some serious shortcomings. In particular, the pragmatic approach does not provide a meaningful test of truth and is not applicable to moral issues.
A few of the most influential pragmaticists, like Quine and Wilfrid Sellars, also criticised the philosophy. Richard Rorty and Robert Brandom are among the philosophers who have revived the philosophy from its obscurity. These philosophers, despite not being classical pragmatists are influenced by the philosophy and work of Peirce James and Wittgenstein. Their writings are worth reading for those who are interested in this philosophy movement.
