Pragmatic is the study of how people communicate with one another, and how language works in a social context. It looks beyond the literal meaning of an utterance and focuses on the implied meanings that are generated by the speaker’s body language, tone of voice, and the way they interact with their listeners. Without the study of pragmatics, we would have a much harder time understanding what other people mean when they use language.
The word pragmatic is often used to describe someone who is realistic and grounded in the real world. The opposite of idealistic, pragmatic people tend to focus on the results and consequences of their actions, rather than on abstract notions. For example, a four-year-old who wants a unicorn for his or her birthday isn’t being very pragmatic. In the same vein, if you’re an idealist, it can be difficult to be pragmatic at times.
For many authors, ‘context’ is the defining concept of pragmatics. However, it’s important to note that there are several different types of context-based pragmatics. For example, there are linguistic pragmatics, intercultural pragmatics, social pragmatics, and historical pragmatics.
It’s also important to differentiate pragmatics from semantics, which is the study of signs and the objects they signify. Semantics is a subfield of linguistics that focuses on the meaning that’s encoded in words and sentences. Pragmatics, on the other hand, focuses on how those words are used and interpreted in social contexts.
A person’s pragmatic knowledge is what allows him or her to politely hedge a request, cleverly read between the lines, negotiate turn-taking norms in conversation, and navigate ambiguity in context. It’s also what helps us understand why people say what they do.
In philosophy, pragmatism is the philosophical approach that puts pragmatics at the heart of all decisions about what to believe, learn, and do. Responsive to idealism and evolutionary theory, pragmatists viewed ideas as instruments of behavior, and emphasized the functional character of truth. In other words, pragmatists thought that beliefs should be shaped according to their utility for adapting to reality and controlling it.
As a result, they rejected metaphysical theories that viewed concepts and hypotheses as images or copies of impressions or external objects. They also rejected theories that posited ideas as being inert and unchanging, in favor of ones that regarded them as being flexible, adaptive, and receptive to change.
The pragmatists’ concept of truth is sometimes described as being the “correspondence between a belief and an actual state of affairs.” In other words, it’s what works. This differs from classical pragmatism, which viewed beliefs as being warranted by the process of verification. Pragmatism is also a school of thought in philosophy that places the highest value on practicality and effectiveness. It’s why, for example, a person’s pragmatic knowledge is more valuable than his or her theorizing, even though the theoretical knowledge may be more accurate.