Pragmatic is an approach to language, thought, and knowledge that focuses on context, rather than meaning, reference, or grammar. It is most closely related to ordinary language philosophy, which studies the way that people use language in their everyday lives. It also has a strong affinity with behavioral and functionalist approaches to language, such as those found in psychology and sociology.
While pragmatism originated as a criterion for meaning, it has grown into a full-fledged epistemology that is open to many different ideas about truth and knowledge. While it is not as rigorous as a theory of truth such as the coherence theory, it is still an important and widely used framework for philosophical discussion.
The main idea is that an utterance’s meaning is determined by the context in which it was made and the process of interpreting it. For example, if someone says “I have two sons,” then it is likely that they only have two sons. However, if someone asks “How many children do you have?” then the implication is that they may have one or more daughters in addition to their two sons.
Thus, a pragmatist would say that the statement is true only in the sense that it works for the speaker. It is not a definitive statement about the nature of the world or reality; it is simply a way that someone achieves a particular goal.
This means that a pragmatist will be more interested in partial truths than absolute or concrete truths. It is also possible for a pragmatist to accept an untrue statement, if it serves a useful purpose. For example, a pragmatist may tell a lie to avoid getting caught by the police.
Another key element of pragmatism is that knowledge should be a tool to help people adapt and control their environment. This is a view that some pragmatists have taken to almost metaphysical heights, as it suggests that the universe is constantly changing and that the only way to keep up with it is to be flexible in our beliefs and actions.
It is not surprising that pragmatism has ties to other philosophical areas of study, such as existentialism, epistemology, and philosophy of science. In fact, it is quite common for philosophers in these fields to embrace a pragmatic worldview. Some pragmatists, such as William James and John Dewey, even argued that all knowledge is essentially practical in that it helps us deal with the ever-changing nature of life. This philosophic outlook is sometimes referred to as radical empiricism. Other pragmatists, such as C. S. Peirce and Richard Rorty, have criticized the tendency to assume that scientific reductionism automatically makes everything meaningful or valuable into merely physical phenomena.