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Pragmatic Genuine Philosophy

Pragmatism is a philosophy that emphasizes experience and context. It may not have a clear ethical framework or a set of fundamental principles. This can result in the absence of idealistic goals or transformative change.


Contrary to deflationary theories, pragmatic theories do not reject the idea that statements are connected to actual events. They simply elucidate the role that truth plays in everyday tasks.

Definition

The word pragmatic is used to describe things or people that are practical, rational and sensible. It is often contrasted with idealistic, which refers to a person or concept that is based on high principles or ideals. When making decisions, the pragmatic person considers the real world and the current circumstances. They are focused on what is achievable and realistically feasible rather than trying to achieve the ideal course of action.

????? ?? , a brand new philosophical movement, focuses on the importance that practical consequences have in determining what is true, meaning or value. It is a third alternative to the dominant continental and analytic philosophical traditions. It was founded by Charles Sanders Peirce and William James with Josiah Royce as its founding fathers, pragmatism evolved into two competing streams that tended towards relativism, the other towards realist thought.

One of the central issues in pragmatism concerns the nature of truth. Many pragmatists recognize that truth is a valuable concept, however, they disagree on the definition or how it functions in the real world. One approach that is that is influenced by Peirce and James, focuses on the ways in which people solve problems and make assertions and prioritizes the speech-act and justification tasks of language-users in determining if something is true. One method, which was influenced by Rorty's followers, is focused more on the mundane functions of truth, such as its ability to generalize, commend and be cautious and is less concerned with an elaborate theory of truth.

This neopragmatic view of the truth has two flaws. First, it flirts with relativism. Truth is a concept with so many layers of rich and long-standing history that it's unlikely that its meaning can be reduced to mundane uses as pragmatists do. Second, pragmatism appears to dismiss the existence of truth in its metaphysical form. This is reflected in the fact that pragmatists such as Brandom (who has a debt to Peirce and James) are largely absent from metaphysics-related questions and Dewey's lengthy writings have just one reference to the issue of truth.

Purpose

Pragmatism seeks to offer an alternative to the analytic and continental tradition of philosophy. Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and their Harvard colleague Josiah Royce (1860-1916) were the first to initiate its first generation. These classical pragmatists focused on theorizing inquiry as well as the nature of truth. Their influence spread through many influential American thinkers including John Dewey (1859-1952), who applied their theories to education and other dimensions of social improvement, and Jane Addams (1860-1935) who founded social work.

In recent years the new generation has given pragmatism an expanded platform for discussion. Although they differ from classic pragmatists these neo-pragmatists consider themselves to be part of the same tradition. Robert Brandom is their main persona. His work is centered on semantics and philosophy of language, but draws from the philosophy of Peirce, James, and others.

One of the major distinctions between the classical pragmatics and the neo-pragmatists lies in their understanding of what it takes for an idea to be true. The classical pragmatists focused on a concept called 'truth-functionality,' which states that an idea is genuinely true if it is useful in practice. The neo-pragmatists instead concentrate on the concept of 'ideal warranted assertibility which states that an idea is true if the claim made about it is justified in a specific manner to a specific group of people.

This idea has its challenges. The most frequent criticism is that it could be used to justify any number of ridiculous and absurd ideas. An example of this is the gremlin hypothesis: It is a genuinely useful concept that works in the real world, but it is utterly unfounded and probably absurd. This isn't a huge issue, but it does highlight one of the major weaknesses of pragmatism: it can be used as a reason for just about everything.

Significance

Pragmatic refers to the practical aspect of a decision, which is related to the consideration of real world conditions and situations when making decisions. It may be used to refer to a philosophical view that stresses practical implications in the determining of meaning, truth or value. William James (1842-1910) first employed the term pragmatism describe this viewpoint in a lecture at the University of California, Berkeley. James was adamant that the word was coined by his colleague and mentor Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) however the pragmatist perspective soon gained a reputation all its own.

The pragmatists resisted analytic philosophy's sharp dichotomies like mind and body, thought and experience, and analytic and synthesthetic. They also rejected the notion that truth was something fixed or objective, instead treating it like a constantly-evolving socially-determined notion.

James used these themes to investigate truth in religion. John Dewey (1859-1952) was an important influence on a second generation of pragmatists who applied this method to politics, education and other aspects of social improvement.

The neo-pragmatists from recent times have tried to place pragmatism in an overall Western philosophical context, and have traced the affinities of Peirce's theories with Kant and other idealists of the 19th century and the emergence of the science of evolutionary theory. They also sought to clarify truth's role in an original epistemology a priori and developed a Metaphilosophy of the practical that includes views of the meaning of language, as well as the nature and the origin of knowledge.

Nevertheless, pragmatism has continued to develop, and the epistemology of a posteriori that it developed is still regarded as an important distinction from traditional approaches. Its defenders have been forced to face a myriad of objections that are as old as the pragmatic theory itself, yet have been more prominently discussed in recent years. These include the idea that pragmatism collapses when applied to moral questions, and that its claim that "what works" is little more than relativism with an unpolished appearance.

Methods

For Peirce his pragmatic understanding of truth was a crucial part of his epistemological strategy. He believed it was an opportunity to discredit false metaphysical notions, such as the Catholic understanding of transubstantiation, and Cartesian certainty searching strategies in epistemology.

The Pragmatic Maxim, according to many modern pragmatists, is the best one can expect from a theoretical framework about truth. They tend to steer clear of deflationist theories of truth that need to be verified in order to be deemed valid. They advocate an alternative approach they refer to as "pragmatic explanation". This involves describing how the concept is used in real life and identifying the requirements that must be met to confirm it as true.

This method is often criticized as an example of form-relativism. However, it is more moderate than the deflationist alternatives, and therefore is a good way to get around some of the issues with relativist theories of truth.

This has led to various philosophical liberation projects like those that are associated with eco-feminism, feminism, Native American philosophy and Latin American philosophy - are currently looking at the pragmatist tradition for guidance. Quine, for example, is an analytical philosopher who has taken on the pragmatist tradition in a way Dewey could not.

Although pragmatism has a long legacy, it is important to note that there are also some important flaws in the philosophy. Particularly, pragmatic approach does not provide an accurate test of truth, and it is not applicable to moral issues.

Some of the most important pragmatists, including Quine and Wilfrid Sellars, also criticised the philosophy. Richard Rorty and Robert Brandom are among philosophers who have brought the philosophy from its obscurity. These philosophers, while not being classical pragmatists have a lot in common with the philosophy and work of Peirce James and Wittgenstein. The works of these philosophers are worth reading by anyone interested in this philosophy movement.

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