Pragmatic is the study of language that focuses on speakers and their contexts rather than on issues of meaning or truth. It is a branch of philosophy that explores the ways in which people use language to convey information, achieve social actions and navigate interpersonal relationships.
It is important for people to understand the pragmatics of communication because misunderstandings can cause a lot of problems. For example, if someone says “Help!” to another person it can be interpreted as either a request for assistance or an order to stop something that is occurring. A deep understanding of the rules that govern pragmatic language can help individuals avoid misunderstandings and promote clear communication across cultures.
There are many areas of philosophical inquiry that have rich pragmatist traditions, both in the classical era of pragmatism and in contemporary philosophical thought. This article will give an overview of a few of these areas and some of the important contributions made by classical and modern pragmatist philosophers to these fields.
In the early twentieth century, a great number of philosophers were drawn to pragmatism, including Royce and James’ students George Herbert Mead and Mary Parker Follett, who critiqued prevailing individualist ontologies in their work on the relations between self and society (Mead 1934; Follett 1918). The scientific revolution taking place around evolutionary theory was an important motivating factor for these first generation pragmatists who emphasized the importance of closing the gap between theory and experience, and who were particularly interested in the role of the scientific method in advancing knowledge (Baldwin 2003: 88-89).
These themes found their most significant expression in Charles Peirce’s pragmatist philosophy of inquiry, which draws heavily on James and emphasizes a pragmatic approach to understanding reality, a philosophy that has been influential in science, education and the arts (Boncompagni 2016: 1). Other pragmatist themes, such as the naturalistic assumption that truth is a function of experience and not an objective property of objects or statements, and the idea that the nature of knowledge depends on the way in which it is used, also play an important role in the contemporary philosophy of pragmatism.
The field of pragmatics has expanded from its roots in linguistics, to include other aspects of human communication. The study of pragmatics explores a wide range of topics such as greetings, making requests, apologizing, giving advice, and closing conversations, among other things. It is an ideal area of study to incorporate into the classroom because it can be applied to a variety of subject areas and can teach valuable social skills.
The teaching of pragmatics can be integrated into a wide variety of subjects, from the sciences to history to literature. It can be incorporated into the curriculum in the form of an extra activity for a class or a unit in a textbook. It can be framed as an extension of the content in a textbook or used to complement other classroom lessons, such as a lesson on intercultural communication.
