Pragmatism
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| + | "[[Pragmatism]] enjoyed renewed attention after [[Willard Van Orman Quine]] and [[Wilfrid Sellars]] used a revised pragmatism to criticize [[logical positivism]] in the [[1960s]]. Inspired by the work of Quine and Sellars, a brand of pragmatism known sometimes as [[neopragmatism]] gained influence through [[Richard Rorty]], the most influential of the late twentieth century pragmatists along with [[Hilary Putnam]] and [[Robert Brandom]]. Contemporary pragmatism may be broadly divided into a strict [[Analytic philosophy|analytic tradition]] and a "neo-classical" pragmatism (such as [[Susan Haack]]) that adheres to the work of Peirce, James, and Dewey."--Sholem Stein | ||
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| - | '''Pragmatism''' is a philosophic school that originated in the late nineteenth century with [[Charles Sanders Peirce]], who first stated the [[pragmatic maxim]]. It came to fruition in the early twentieth-century philosophies of [[William James]] and [[John Dewey]]. Most of the thinkers who describe themselves as ''pragmatists'' consider practical consequences or real effects to be vital components of both meaning and [[truth]]. Other important aspects of pragmatism include [[embodied philosophy|anti-Cartesianism]], [[radical empiricism]], [[instrumentalism]], [[anti-realism]], [[verificationism]], [[conceptualism|conceptual relativity]], a denial of the [[fact-value distinction]], a high regard for science and [[evolution]], and [[fallibilism]]. | + | '''Pragmatism''' is a philosophical tradition that began in the |
| + | United States around 1870. Pragmatism is a rejection of the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. Instead, pragmatists develop their philosophy around the idea that the function of thought is as an instrument or tool for prediction, action, and problem solving. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics—such as the nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and science—are all best viewed in terms of their practical uses and successes rather than in terms of representative accuracy. | ||
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| + | A few of the various but interrelated positions often characteristic of philosophers working from a pragmatist approach include: | ||
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| + | *'''[[Epistemology]]''' ('''justification'''): a [[Coherentism|coherentist]] theory of justification that rejects the claim that all knowledge and justified belief rest ultimately on a foundation of noninferential knowledge or justified belief. Coherentists hold that justification is solely a function of some relationship between beliefs, none of which are privileged beliefs in the way maintained by [[foundationalism|foundationalist]] theories of justification. | ||
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| + | *'''[[Epistemology]]''' ('''truth'''): a [[Deflationary theory of truth|deflationary]] or [[Pragmatic theory of truth|pragmatist]] theory of truth; the former is the epistemological claim that assertions that predicate truth of a statement do not attribute a property called truth to such a statement while the latter is the epistemological claim that assertions that predicate truth of a statement attribute the property of useful-to-believe to such a statement. | ||
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| + | *'''[[Metaphysics]]''': a [[Pluralism (philosophy)|pluralist]] view that there is more than one sound way to conceptualize the world and its content. | ||
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| + | *'''[[Philosophy of science]]''': an [[Instrumentalism|instrumentalist]] and [[scientific anti-realism|scientific anti-realist]] view that a scientific concept or theory should be evaluated by how effectively it explains and predicts phenomena, as opposed to how accurately it describes objective reality. | ||
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| + | *'''[[Philosophy of language]]''': an anti-[[representationalist]] view that rejects analyzing the [[Meaning (linguistics)|semantic meaning]] of propositions, mental states, and statements in terms of a correspondence or representational relationship and instead analyzes semantic meaning in terms of notions like dispositions to action, inferential relationships, and/or functional roles (e.g. [[Behaviorism#Behaviorism_in_philosophy|behaviorism]] and [[inferentialism]]). Not to be confused with [[pragmatics]], a sub-field of [[linguistics]] with no relation to philosophical pragmatism. | ||
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| + | *Additionally, forms of [[empiricism]], [[fallibilism]], [[verificationism]], and a [[Naturalized epistemology|Quineian naturalist]] metaphilosophy are all commonly elements of pragmatist philosophies. Many pragmatists are [[Factual relativism|epistemological relativists]] and see this to be an important facet of their pragmatism (e.g. Richard Rorty), but this is controversial and other pragmatists argue such relativism to be seriously misguided (e.g. Hilary Putnam, Susan Haack). | ||
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| + | [[Charles Sanders Peirce]] (and his [[pragmatic maxim]]) deserves much | ||
| + | of the credit for pragmatism, along with later twentieth century contributors, [[William James]] and [[John Dewey]]. Pragmatism enjoyed renewed attention after | ||
| + | [[Willard Van Orman Quine|W. V. O. Quine]] and [[Wilfrid Sellars]] used a revised pragmatism to criticize [[logical positivism]] in the 1960s. Inspired by the work of Quine and Sellars, a brand of pragmatism known sometimes as [[neopragmatism]] gained influence through [[Richard Rorty]], the most influential of the late twentieth century pragmatists along with [[Hilary Putnam]] and [[Robert Brandom]]. Contemporary pragmatism may be broadly divided into a strict [[Analytic philosophy|analytic tradition]] and a "neo-classical" pragmatism (such as [[Susan Haack]]) that adheres to the work of Peirce, James, and Dewey. | ||
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| + | The word ''pragmatism'' derives from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] πρᾶγμα (''pragma''), "a thing, a fact", which comes from πράσσω (''prassō''), "to pass over, to practise, to | ||
| + | achieve". The word "Pragmatism" as a piece of technical terminology in philosophy refers to a specific set of associated philosophical views originating in the late twentieth-century. However, the phrase is often confused with [[Realpolitik|"pragmatism" in the context of politics]] (which refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on practical considerations, rather than ideological notions) and with a non- | ||
| + | technical use of "pragmatism" in ordinary contexts referring to dealing with matters in | ||
| + | one's life realistically and in a way that is based on practical rather than abstract considerations. | ||
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| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | * [[American philosophy]] | ||
| + | * [[Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography]] | ||
| + | * [[Pragmatic theory of truth]] | ||
| + | * [[Communication Theory as a Field#Russill, pragmatism as an eighth tradition|Pragmatism as an eighth tradition of Communication theory]] | ||
| + | * [[Scientific method#Pragmatic model]] | ||
| + | * [[Success]] | ||
| + | * [[New legal realism]] | ||
| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | *[[Life skills]] | ||
| + | *[[Pragmatism]] | ||
| + | *[[Praxis]] | ||
| + | *[[Quixotism]] | ||
| - | Pragmatism began enjoying renewed attention from the 1950s on, because of a new school of philosophers who put forth a revised pragmatism that criticized the [[logical positivism]] that had dominated philosophy in the United States and Britain since the 1930s, notably in the work of analytic philosophers like [[W.V.O. Quine]] and [[Wilfrid Sellars]]. Their [[naturalized epistemology]] was further developed and widely publicized by [[Richard Rorty]], whose later work grew closer to [[continental philosophy]] and is often considered [[relativism|relativistic]]. Contemporary pragmatism is still divided between those thinkers who work strictly within the analytic tradition, a more relativistic strand in the wake of Rorty and lastly neoclassical pragmatists like [[Susan Haack]] who stay closer to the work of Peirce, James and Dewey. | ||
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"Pragmatism enjoyed renewed attention after Willard Van Orman Quine and Wilfrid Sellars used a revised pragmatism to criticize logical positivism in the 1960s. Inspired by the work of Quine and Sellars, a brand of pragmatism known sometimes as neopragmatism gained influence through Richard Rorty, the most influential of the late twentieth century pragmatists along with Hilary Putnam and Robert Brandom. Contemporary pragmatism may be broadly divided into a strict analytic tradition and a "neo-classical" pragmatism (such as Susan Haack) that adheres to the work of Peirce, James, and Dewey."--Sholem Stein |
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Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the United States around 1870. Pragmatism is a rejection of the idea that the function of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. Instead, pragmatists develop their philosophy around the idea that the function of thought is as an instrument or tool for prediction, action, and problem solving. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics—such as the nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and science—are all best viewed in terms of their practical uses and successes rather than in terms of representative accuracy.
A few of the various but interrelated positions often characteristic of philosophers working from a pragmatist approach include:
- Epistemology (justification): a coherentist theory of justification that rejects the claim that all knowledge and justified belief rest ultimately on a foundation of noninferential knowledge or justified belief. Coherentists hold that justification is solely a function of some relationship between beliefs, none of which are privileged beliefs in the way maintained by foundationalist theories of justification.
- Epistemology (truth): a deflationary or pragmatist theory of truth; the former is the epistemological claim that assertions that predicate truth of a statement do not attribute a property called truth to such a statement while the latter is the epistemological claim that assertions that predicate truth of a statement attribute the property of useful-to-believe to such a statement.
- Metaphysics: a pluralist view that there is more than one sound way to conceptualize the world and its content.
- Philosophy of science: an instrumentalist and scientific anti-realist view that a scientific concept or theory should be evaluated by how effectively it explains and predicts phenomena, as opposed to how accurately it describes objective reality.
- Philosophy of language: an anti-representationalist view that rejects analyzing the semantic meaning of propositions, mental states, and statements in terms of a correspondence or representational relationship and instead analyzes semantic meaning in terms of notions like dispositions to action, inferential relationships, and/or functional roles (e.g. behaviorism and inferentialism). Not to be confused with pragmatics, a sub-field of linguistics with no relation to philosophical pragmatism.
- Additionally, forms of empiricism, fallibilism, verificationism, and a Quineian naturalist metaphilosophy are all commonly elements of pragmatist philosophies. Many pragmatists are epistemological relativists and see this to be an important facet of their pragmatism (e.g. Richard Rorty), but this is controversial and other pragmatists argue such relativism to be seriously misguided (e.g. Hilary Putnam, Susan Haack).
Charles Sanders Peirce (and his pragmatic maxim) deserves much of the credit for pragmatism, along with later twentieth century contributors, William James and John Dewey. Pragmatism enjoyed renewed attention after W. V. O. Quine and Wilfrid Sellars used a revised pragmatism to criticize logical positivism in the 1960s. Inspired by the work of Quine and Sellars, a brand of pragmatism known sometimes as neopragmatism gained influence through Richard Rorty, the most influential of the late twentieth century pragmatists along with Hilary Putnam and Robert Brandom. Contemporary pragmatism may be broadly divided into a strict analytic tradition and a "neo-classical" pragmatism (such as Susan Haack) that adheres to the work of Peirce, James, and Dewey.
The word pragmatism derives from Greek πρᾶγμα (pragma), "a thing, a fact", which comes from πράσσω (prassō), "to pass over, to practise, to achieve". The word "Pragmatism" as a piece of technical terminology in philosophy refers to a specific set of associated philosophical views originating in the late twentieth-century. However, the phrase is often confused with "pragmatism" in the context of politics (which refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on practical considerations, rather than ideological notions) and with a non- technical use of "pragmatism" in ordinary contexts referring to dealing with matters in one's life realistically and in a way that is based on practical rather than abstract considerations.
See also
- American philosophy
- Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography
- Pragmatic theory of truth
- Pragmatism as an eighth tradition of Communication theory
- Scientific method#Pragmatic model
- Success
- New legal realism
See also
- Life skills
- Pragmatism
- Praxis
- Quixotism
