Pragmatic is a philosophy that takes into account the social, cultural, and situational context of our interactions and communication. The pragmatist view of language and meaning focuses on implied rather than explicit meanings. It also takes into account how different utterances can be interpreted in various ways by the speaker and the listener. This is different from semantics, which focuses on the literal meaning of words and sentences.
The earliest pragmatists were Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and Josiah Royce. They were influenced by the scientific revolution taking place in evolutionary theory, and they wanted to apply the new ideas of science to philosophy. The pragmatists were a third alternative to the dominant analytic and continental philosophers of their time.
One of the main flaws with pragmatism is that it does not adequately address issues of ethics and morality. This is because the pragmatic principle of “what works” can be very subjective when it comes to ethical and moral issues, such as the right way to treat a patient or whether it is okay to murder someone for their debt. This makes pragmatism seem like a form of relativism, which is another philosophical movement that rejects objective truths in favor of personal opinions.
Another issue with pragmatism is that it lacks an adequate definition of truth. This is because pragmatism does not have an ontological argument, which would allow it to distinguish between true and false beliefs. Without an ontological argument, pragmatism cannot show that its principle of what works is correct or not. Without this, pragmatism is just another relativism with a less-polished appearance.
Other issues with pragmatism involve its lack of clarity about the concept of truth and how it relates to experience. For example, some pragmatists have argued that the only truth is experience, but others have claimed that a belief can be true even if it is not based on an experience. This creates confusion over what it means for something to be true.
A final issue with pragmatism is that many people consider it to be amoral, but this is not necessarily the case. It is possible to be a morally or ethically sound person while still being a pragmatic person. For example, if you kill your creditor and get away with it, it may seem pragmatic from your perspective because you will never have to pay your debt again. However, it is not pragmatic from the perspective of those affected by your action, such as your family and your community.
Despite these issues, the pragmatists’ approach to philosophical questions remains very useful and influential. It has contributed to a wide range of disciplines, including social work, law, education, and medicine. Many liberatory philosophical projects, such as feminism, ecology, and Native American philosophy, also look to the pragmatist tradition for inspiration. Pragmatism is also a key part of the field of computer science, particularly its subfields of computational pragmatics and discourse ethics.
