Pragmatics is the study of the practical aspects of human thought. It is a branch of linguistics and includes a variety of other subjects, such as syntax, semantics, and semiotics. Specifically, pragmatics is concerned with how people interact with one another. In other words, it is the study of how humans use language to communicate and understand one another.
Historically, pragmatism has been associated with politicians, but in modern times it has also been used to describe philosophers. William James developed the concept of pragmatism, which he believed would solve the philosophical clash that has long troubled philosophers. He wrote a series of lectures on the subject in 1907, and he hoped to prove that the “contemptible” philosophy of the past would be overcome by the new pragmatism.
The origin of pragmatism can be traced back to the Greek pragma, which means grounded. The word pragmatic is used to refer to a person who is grounded in reality, whose decision making is based on a realistic approach.
According to the dictionary, the term pragmatic refers to someone who is sensible, practical, and usually positive. But pragmatism is also a method of reasoning, or a way of interpreting the world. People who use pragmatism believe that there are many different ways of interpreting the world and that combining different approaches can give us a wider perspective on a given phenomenon.
Although it dates from antiquity, pragmatism emerged in the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, in part because of the scientific revolution around evolution. Charles Sanders Peirce initiated the first generation of pragmatists in America. However, he was concerned that analyzing definitions of concepts did not reveal anything that had not already been known. Therefore, he devised the Pragmatic Maxim, a supplement to the verbal definition that described a concept in practice.
Brandom, a prominent pragmatist philosopher, focuses on linguistic meaning and semantics. His work is heavily influenced by Richard Rorty and Wilfrid Sellars. However, he owes more to Kant and his historical readings than he does to the classical pragmatists.
Another major framework in pragmatics is relevance theory. This theory states that every utterance conveys enough relevant information to allow the listener to interpret the utterance. Moreover, the phrasing of each utterance is based on the social and physical context in which it is spoken.
Research in pragmatism has moved away from North America to other parts of the world, including China, Scandinavia, and central Europe. Currently, vibrant research networks are developing in these regions, as well as in China. These networks are driven by a desire to develop a more robust theoretical framework that can underpin dynamic research methods.
Today, a large multidisciplinary field of linguistics is active, including studies in the natural and social sciences. In a recent survey of the linguistic research community, a significant number of linguists agreed on a point of view that language is a form of human action. Ultimately, pragmatics revolves around the interaction between a speaker and a listener, where both sides work to interpret the other’s meaning.
