Pragmatic is a way of thinking that takes the practical realities into account. A person who is pragmatic thinks through a situation logically, realistically and emotionally. After weighing all these factors, they make a decision and then go with it. A person who is pragmatic is often seen as sensible, smart, and resourceful.
Pragmatics is the branch of philosophy that focuses on language and how it is used in context. It is sometimes compared to Semantics and Syntax, as it is one of the three main branches of the field of Linguistics. Pragmatics is concerned with the ways that we use words to convey meaning in a particular context and the effect that those meanings have on people’s actions. It is also the study of how a person’s intentions and goals are conveyed through their speech.
Unlike syntax (which studies the relationships among sentences) and semantics (which studies what things mean), pragmatics focuses on speakers’ communicative intentions and the uses of language that require them. It also examines the strategies that speakers employ to determine what their own intentions are when they use language, and how listeners can understand them.
The term pragmatics was coined in the 1930s by Paul Grice, a philosopher of linguistics. He believed that the most important thing in language is not what something actually means, but how it is used. He formulated four general pragmatic rules known as the Gricean Maxims: Be concise. Say only what is necessary. Be honest. Don’t lie, even to your friends. And be relevant. Say only what is true and pertinent to the discussion at hand.
Today, the study of pragmatics spans a wide range of disciplines, including psychology, anthropology, history, and philosophy. Some people with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, may have trouble developing pragmatic speech skills.
Contemporary philosophical approaches to pragmatics can be divided into two models: ‘Literalists’ and ‘hidden-indexicalists’. Literalists do not accept any pragmatically determined content in an utterance that is not triggered by the grammar whereas hidden-indexicalists argue that even if the grammar does not trigger it, the implication is still present.
There is also a category of pragmatics that is concerned with the way that a person’s emotions and intentions influence the way they speak. This is called sociopragmatics and can be contrasted with the more ‘academic’ forms of pragmatics.
There is a growing recognition that the study of pragmatics needs to be integrated into the more traditional areas of philosophy and linguistics. A number of different pragmatic schools have been developed that focus on specific aspects of pragmatics, such as interlinguistic and intercultural pragmatics; psychological and historical pragmatics; and the history of pragmatics. ‘Critical pragmatics,’ which was initiated by Korta and Perry, attempts to combine the classical philosophical approach of far-side pragmatics with near-side semantics and the theory of illocutionary force, which is a central part of lexicological pragmatics. However, it has been criticized for not fully unifying the two roots of pragmatics and introducing unnecessary complexities into the system.