Pragmatic Genuine Philosophy
Pragmatism is a philosophy that emphasizes the experience and context. It might not have a clear ethical framework or a set of fundamental principles. This can lead to the loss of idealistic goals and transformative change.
Unlike deflationary theories of truth, pragmatic theories of truth do not deny the idea that statements relate to current events. They simply explain the role truth plays in practical endeavors.
Definition
Pragmatic is a word used to describe people or things who are practical, logical, and sensible. It is frequently used to differentiate between idealistic, which is an idea or a person that is founded on high principles or ideals. A pragmatic person looks at the actual world circumstances and conditions when making decisions, and is focused on what can be realistically accomplished, rather than trying to achieve the best theoretical course of action.
Pragmatism is an emerging philosophical movement that emphasizes the importance of practical implications in determining the value, truth, or value. It is a third option to the dominant analytic and continental traditions of philosophy. It was founded by Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and Josiah Royce, pragmatism developed into two distinct streams of thought, one that tended towards relativism, the other toward the idea of realism.
One of the central issues in pragmatism concerns the nature of truth. While many pragmatists agree truth is a key concept, they differ on what it means and how it is used in the real world. One method that is influenced by Peirce and James, focuses on the ways people tackle problems and make assertions and prioritizes the speech-act and justification processes of language-users in determining if something is true. Another approach that is inspired by Rorty and his followers, concentrates on the comparatively simple functions of truth--the way it serves to generalize, admonish and warn--and is not concerned with a complete 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 could be reduced to everyday uses as pragmatists do. Second, pragmatism appears to deny the existence of truth in its metaphysical sense. This is evident in the fact that pragmatists, such as Brandom (who is owed an obligation to Peirce and James) are mostly silent on questions of metaphysics in Dewey's vast writings, whereas his works have just one reference to the question of truth.
Purpose
Pragmatism seeks to offer an alternative to the continental and analytic tradition of philosophy. Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and their Harvard colleague Josiah Royce (1860-1916) were the first to start its first generation. The classical pragmatists were adamant about the importance of inquiry and meaning as well as the nature of truth. Their influence spread to numerous influential American thinkers, including John Dewey (1860-1952), who applied their ideas to education and social improvement in other dimensions. Jane Addams (1860-1935) was the social worker who founded the field also gained from this influence.
Recently the new generation of philosophers has given pragmatism more space to discuss. Although they differ from classic pragmatists these neo-pragmatists believe themselves to be part of the same tradition. Their most prominent figure is Robert Brandom, whose work focuses on semantics and the philosophy of language, but who also draws on the philosophy of Peirce and James.
One of the main differences between the classic pragmatists and the neo-pragmatists is their understanding of what it means 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. Neo-pragmatists focus instead on the idea "ideal justified assertionibility," which states that an idea is truly true if it can be justifiable to a certain audience in a certain manner.
There are however some issues with this theory. It is often criticized for being used to support unfounded and ridiculous concepts. The gremlin theory is a prime example: It's a useful idea that is effective in practice but is probably unfounded and untrue. This is not an insurmountable problem however, it does point out one of the main flaws of pragmatism that it can be used to justify nearly anything, and this includes many absurd ideas.
Significance
Pragmatic is a term that refers to practical, and relates to the consideration of actual world conditions and situations when making decisions. It is also used to refer to a philosophical perspective that focuses on the practical consequences in determining the meaning, truth or values. William James (1842-1910) first employed the term pragmatism describe this perspective in a lecture at the University of California, Berkeley. James claimed to have coined the term along with his mentor and friend Charles Sanders Peirce, but the pragmatist view soon earned its own fame.
The pragmatists opposed the sharp dichotomies of analytic philosophy, like truth and value, thought and experience, mind and body, synthetic and analytic and the list goes on. They also rejected the idea that truth was something fixed or objective, instead treating it like a constantly-evolving socially-determined concept.
James utilized these themes to study the truth of religion. A second generation turned the pragmatist view of politics, education and other facets of social improvement, under the great influence of John Dewey (1859-1952).
In recent decades, the Neopragmatists have tried to put pragmatism within a wider Western philosophical framework. They have analyzed the affinities between Peirce’s views and those of Kant, other 19th-century idealists and the new science of evolution theory. They also sought to understand the role of truth in an original epistemology a priori and to develop a metaphilosophy that is pragmatic 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 a posteriori epistemology it developed is still regarded as an important departure from more traditional approaches. The pragmatic theory has been criticised for a long time however, in recent years it has attracted more attention. Some of these include the idea that pragmatism fails when applied to moral issues and that its assertion of "what works" is nothing more than a realism with an unpolished appearance.
Methods
For Peirce his pragmatic understanding of truth was an essential part of his epistemological approach. He believed it was a way to undermine false metaphysical ideas, such as the Catholic understanding of transubstantiation, and Cartesian certainty seeking strategies in epistemology.
The Pragmatic Maxim, according to many modern pragmatists is the best one can expect from a theory about truth. As such, they tend to steer clear of deflationist theories of truth that need to be verified in order to be deemed valid. Instead they advocate a different method they refer to as "pragmatic explication". This involves describing how an idea is utilized in the real world and identifying requirements that must be met in order to confirm it as true.
프라그마틱 플레이 is often criticized as a form relativism. But it's more moderate than the deflationist alternatives and thus is a great way to get around some of the issues with relativism theories of truth.
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 instance, is an philosophical analyticist who has embraced the philosophy of pragmatism in a manner that Dewey could not.
While pragmatism has a rich tradition, it is crucial to recognize that there are also some important flaws in the philosophy. In particular, pragmatism is unable to provide any valid test of truth, and it is a failure when applied to moral questions.
Quine, Wilfrid Solars and other pragmatists have also criticized the philosophy. Nevertheless, it has been reclaimed from obscurity by a wide range of philosophers, including Richard Rorty, Cornel West and Robert Brandom. While these philosophers are not classical pragmatists but they do contribute significantly to the philosophy of pragmatism and draw upon the work of Peirce, James and Wittgenstein in their writings. Their works are worth reading for those who are interested in this philosophy movement.