Pragmatic is a word that means someone who can keep calm under pressure and make practical decisions. A pragmatic person can see the big picture while still tackling a situation one step at a time. Unlike someone who is dogmatic, a pragmatic person is not bound by rules or morals but instead sticks to matters of fact. Taking into account practical realities, a pragmatic person is willing to compromise with others and work out a solution that suits everyone involved.
The term pragmatic is also used to describe a philosophical approach that takes into account real-world circumstances and values. It is sometimes seen as a middle ground between analytic philosophy and continental philosophy. It is sometimes criticized for neglecting ethical considerations, which can lead to unintended negative consequences over the long-term. Pragmatic approaches should be integrated with societal values to ensure responsible practices and ethically sound outcomes.
In pragmatism, it is assumed that reality changes through action, and it is up to people to change the world. This idea is similar to Heraclitus’s notion that the world is in a state of flux.
A pragmatic approach to philosophy is based on experience, and it is important for researchers to consider the potential implications of their methodology before they implement it in an actual research project. This allows them to address any issues that may arise and ensure their research is useful to the broader community.
As a philosophical approach, pragmatism was developed in the United States around 1870. It presented a growing third alternative to analytic and continental philosophical traditions worldwide. It was founded by Charles Sanders Peirce, William James, and Josiah Royce and was later influenced by the work of John Dewey. It is also known as American pragmatism because many of its founders were Americans.
Today, pragmatism is still popular in the United States, with new pragmatists working to place its ideas in a broader Western philosophical context (Apel 1974, Gava 2014). Pragmatists have reworked classical pragmatism’s progressive social ideals, and Cornel West has contributed an essay on black pragmatism that draws on Peirce, Dewey, and Du Bois (Collins 2017).
A key challenge for pragmatic philosophers is how to balance the need for immediate practicality and the demands of ethical concerns. Critics of pragmatism argue that it is too focused on practicality, and that this neglects ethical complexities. This can result in solutions that are effective in the short-term but have unintended negative consequences over the long-term. To counter this, pragmatists have worked to incorporate ethical considerations into practical decision-making, which can help guarantee that pragmatic solutions align with societal values and are not detrimental to the long-term health of society. This is particularly true in the context of health care and medicine, where incorporating ethics into pragmatic decision-making can promote better quality of care and lower costs. The resulting solutions can be more successful in improving patient outcomes, and they are more likely to remain effective over the long-term.