A pragmatic person is concerned with real world results and tends to prioritize solutions that work in practice over those that are theoretically ideal but difficult to implement. Pragmatic people are often able to disambiguate meaning so that they can make more informed decisions in a given situation. For example, a pragmatic person might have extra keys made (which they leave with family or friends) just in case something goes wrong. They might also always have a backup plan for their kids if they get separated from their parent at an amusement park.
Pragmatic is a word that comes from the greek root pragma. It literally means “to be practical” or “to be sensible.” Traditionally, the term has also been used to refer to an approach that will have measurable, concrete, and physical outcomes compared to one that is blinded by ideologies, wishes, or desires.
The Metaphysical Club, an informal group of Harvard-educated men who met for philosophical discussions in the early 1870s, included two philosophers who were later credited with being the first self-conscious pragmatists: Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914), a logician and mathematician; and William James (1842-1910), a psychologist and moralist armed with a medical degree. Amongst other contributions, Peirce developed a theory of truth and an original a posteriori epistemology, while James promoted the concept of pragmatism in philosophy, literature, science, religion, and social action.
As the Deweyan era passed, and American philosophy moved into the 20th century, pragmatism began to lose its momentum as an influential school of thought. This was partly because of the arrival of a new type of philosophy called analytic philosophy, which replaced metaphysical philosophy as the dominant methodological orientation in most Anglo-American philosophy departments.
A number of pragmatists continued to be active in the academy, however, including sociologist George Herbert Mead (1863-1931), who worked to develop pragmatist perspectives upon the relationships between self and society, and the African-American philosopher W. E. B Du Bois (1868-1963).
More recently, a number of authors have sought to revive the pragmatism of James, Peirce, and Mead in fields such as law, ethics, and business management. In addition, the pragmatic philosophy of language and linguistic pragmatics have emerged as important areas of study for both philosophers and non-philosophers. This is because languages are inherently ambiguous, and knowledge of pragmatics can help us disambiguate meaning to facilitate communication in a complex and ambiguous world. Pragmatics is also useful in teaching speaking classes because of its emphasis on the context and background information that can influence the interpretation of a message. In the Forum article “Pragmatic Activities for the Speaking Classroom,” Joseph Siegel suggests using a request scenario to teach pragmatics by having students decide how they would respond to different requests. This gives students the opportunity to use their pragmatic knowledge of how a sentence could be interpreted differently depending on context, audience, and previous relationship. They then discuss why certain responses are appropriate or not. Click here to see the full article.