The pragmatic approach to life focuses on what works rather than what should be. A person who is pragmatic is concerned with results and consequences, which can be seen in their decision making and behavior. Pragmatic people often compromise with their ideals to get the job done.
The term pragmatism is used to describe a philosophy or a way of life that is practical, logical, and sensible. It is usually contrasted with idealistic, which describes someone who wants to live by their principles no matter what the outcome. People are often advised to be more pragmatic, as it can help them achieve their goals more easily.
In linguistics, the study of pragmatics looks at what a speaker or writer really means when they say something. It also examines how the meaning of an utterance can change depending on the context and situation. It is a more broad and expansive study than semantics, syntax, and semiotics, which look at the literal linguistic meanings of expressions and how they are used in physical or social contexts.
Philosophical pragmatism was first developed in the United States around 1870 as an alternative to the dominant analytic and continental philosophical traditions. Its earliest self-conscious proponents were Charles Sanders Peirce and his Harvard colleague William James. Although both were influenced by a number of continental thinkers, including Hegel and Husserl, Peirce and James were primarily pragmatic in their approach to knowledge and action.
Later, John Dewey (1863-1931) and his associate G. H. Mead (1860-1931) further developed the pragmatic tradition of pragmatism. They emphasized human experience as the foundation of understanding the world around us, and believed that interpreting knowledge and beliefs through acting and reflecting could uncover social realities in clearer fashion than philosophical approaches that assumed human behaviour and actions existed independently of understanding them.
There has been a recent resurgence of interest in pragmatism, with several high-profile philosophers exploring and selectively appropriating the themes and ideas embedded in the rich tradition of Peirce, James, and Dewey. These neo-pragmatists are often referred to as ‘New Pragmatists’ or “neo-pragmatists.” Generally, neo-pragmatists view pragmatism as a flexible, adaptive philosophy that is applicable to any area of study. They use empirical research methods, such as abduction, that allow them to collect pertinent observations and develop propositions in the middle ground between deduction from abstractions and induction from observable data.
The Journal of Pragmatics accepts submissions of papers that are original and of general interest to the international community of researchers in the field. Manuscripts must be written in English and not exceed 8,000 words. Non-book review manuscripts should not be submitted while a decision on an already-submitted manuscript is pending. The journal will publish both full-length articles and short, free-form discussion notes. Authors may submit no more than one paper at a time. All papers will be subject to rigorous peer review. The editor reserves the right to reject any article that does not meet the required standards for this journal.