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 result in the absence of idealistic goals or transformational changes.
In contrast to deflationary theories about truth, pragmatic theories of truth don't reject the idea that statements are related to the state of affairs. They only define the role that truth plays in the practical world.
Definition
Pragmatic is a term used to describe people or things who are practical, logical and sensible. It is frequently used to contrast with idealistic which is a person or an idea that is based upon ideals or principles of high quality. When making decisions, a sensible person takes into consideration the real world and the current circumstances. They are focused on what is achievable and realistically feasible instead of trying to find the ideal path of action.
Pragmatism is a new philosophical movement, emphasizes the importance that practical consequences are crucial in determining the what is true, meaning or value. It is an alternative to the dominant continental and analytical traditions. It was established by Charles Sanders Peirce and William James with Josiah Royce as its founders, pragmatism grew into two competing streams, one tending towards relativism and the second toward realism.
One of the major issues in pragmatism is the nature of truth. While many pragmatists agree truth is a key concept, they disagree about how to define it and how it is used in practice. One method that is that is influenced by Peirce and James, is focused on the ways in which people deal with issues and make assertions. It also prioritizes the speech-act and justification projects of language-users in determining whether something is true. Another method that is that is influenced by Rorty and his followers, focuses on the comparatively simple functions of truth--the way it serves to generalize, commend and warn--and is not concerned with a full-fledged theory of truth.
This neopragmatic view of the truth has two flaws. It is the first to flirt with relativism. Truth is a concept with so many layers of rich and long-standing tradition that it's unlikely its meaning can be reduced to mundane uses as pragmatists do. Second, pragmatism appears to deny the existence of truth in its metaphysical sense. This is reflected by the fact that pragmatists such as Brandom who owe a lot to Peirce & James and are mostly in silence about metaphysics, while Dewey has only made one reference to truth in his numerous writings.
Purpose
The aim of pragmatism is to offer an alternative to analytic and Continental traditions of philosophy. Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and their Harvard colleague Josiah Royce (1860-1916) were the first to introduce it's first generation. These classical pragmatists focused on the importance of inquiry and meaning and the nature of truth. Their influence spread to many influential American thinkers, including John Dewey (1860-1952), who applied their ideas to education as well as social improvement in different dimensions. Jane Addams (1860-1935) was the social work pioneer who created social work, also benefited from this influence.
In recent times an emerging generation has given pragmatism an expanded forum for discussion. Many of these neopragmatists are not classical pragmatists however they are part of the same tradition. Their most prominent figure is Robert Brandom, whose work is centered around semantics and the philosophy of language but who also draws on the philosophy of Peirce and James.
One of the primary distinctions between the classical pragmatists and the neo-pragmatists is their understanding of what it means for an idea to be true. 프라그마틱 사이트 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 says that an idea is genuinely true if a claim made about it can be justified in a particular way to a specific group of people.
This view is not without its challenges. It is often criticized as being used to support unfounded and ridiculous concepts. The gremlin hypothesis is an example: It's a useful idea that works in practice but is unsubstantiated and likely untrue. This is not a major issue, but it reveals one of the biggest weaknesses of pragmatism: it can be used as a rationalization for almost everything.
Significance
When making decisions, the term "practical" refers to taking into account the world as it is and its surroundings. It can also be used to describe a philosophical position that emphasizes the practical consequences in determining the meaning, truth or values. William James (1842-1910) first used the term "pragmatism" to describe this perspective in a speech he delivered at the University of California, Berkeley. James swore he coined the term along with his mentor and colleague Charles Sanders Peirce, but the pragmatist viewpoint soon gained its own reputation.
The pragmatists opposed the stark dichotomies in analytic philosophy, like value and fact, thought and experience mind and body, synthetic and analytic, and so on. They also rejected the idea that truth was something that was fixed or objective, instead treating it as a continuously evolving socially-determined notion.
Classical pragmatics primarily focused on theorizing inquiry, meaning and the nature of truth but James put these concepts to work exploring truth in religion. John Dewey (1859-1952) was an important influence on a second generation of pragmatists, who applied the approach to education, politics and other aspects of social improvement.
The neo-pragmatists of recent years have attempted to place pragmatism within an overall Western philosophical context, tracing the affinities of Peirce's ideas with Kant and other idealists from the 19th century, as well as with the emerging science of evolutionary theory. They also sought to define the role of truth in an original a priori epistemology and developed a Metaphilosophy of the practical that includes views on the meaning of language, as well as the nature and the origin of knowledge.
Yet, pragmatism continues to evolve and the a posteriori epistemology it developed is still considered an important distinction from traditional approaches. The pragmatic theory has been criticized for centuries but in recent times it has received more attention. This includes the notion that pragmatism simply implodes when applied to moral questions and its assertion that "what works" is little more than a form of relativism with a less-polished appearance.
Methods
For Peirce, pragmatic elucidation of truth was a crucial part of his epistemological strategy. He saw it as a way to undermine metaphysical concepts that were false such as the Catholic understanding of transubstantiation, Cartesian certainty-seeking strategies in epistemology and Kant's notion of a 'thing-in-itself' (Simson 2010).
The Pragmatic Maxim, according to many modern pragmatists is the most reliable thing one can hope for from a theory about truth. They tend to avoid the deflationist theories of truth that require verification in order to be valid. They advocate a different approach they refer to as "pragmatic explanation". This is the process of explaining how a concept is applied in practice and identifying conditions that must be met to recognize it as true.
This method is often criticized as an example of form-relativism. But it's less extreme than deflationist alternatives and therefore is a good way of getting around some of the issues associated with relativism theories of truth.
In the end, a variety of philosophical liberation projects such as those associated with feminism, ecology, Native American philosophy and Latin American philosophy - are now looking to the pragmatist tradition as guidance. Quine for instance, is an analytical philosopher who has taken on pragmatism in a way that Dewey could not.
It is important to recognize that pragmatism, though rich in historical context, has its flaws. Particularly, pragmatism fails to provide any real test of truth, and it is a failure when applied to moral issues.
Quine, Wilfrid Solars and other pragmatists have also criticized the philosophy. Richard Rorty and Robert Brandom are among philosophers who have brought the philosophy from the insignificance. Although these philosophers aren't traditional pragmatists, they owe a great deal to the pragmatism philosophy and draw inspiration from the work of Peirce, James and Wittgenstein in their writings. Their works are worth reading for those interested in this philosophical movement.