Pragmatic is the word we use to describe a person or thing that approaches situations, problems, and decision-making in a practical, realistic, and sensible manner. Being pragmatic means that someone values real-world results and practicality over theoretical principles or ideals. Some synonyms for pragmatic include businesslike, down-to-earth, efficient, hardheaded, and sober. The term pragmatic first appeared in print in 1898 when the American philosopher William James used it to refer to a philosophy that weighs the results and probable public good of any idea or action before deciding whether to pursue it. Other philosophical movements with pragmatic roots include Peirce, Dewey, and Hegel.
While semantics examines what a word or phrase means in a literal sense, pragmatics looks at how words and phrases are used in particular circumstances and the social and cultural contexts that surround them. Taking all of these factors into account helps us disambiguate meaning and better understand what people mean when they speak.
The field of pragmatics is often distinguished from other branches of philosophy, such as logic and metaphysics. While these branches are concerned with theoretical notions like truth and validity, pragmatics is more oriented towards concrete examples and how they might influence the real world. This makes pragmatics a more practical, applied philosophy.
Some scholars have divided pragmatics into two subfields: near-side and far-side pragmatics. Near-side pragmatics focuses on the nature of certain facts that contribute to the interpretation of a speaker’s utterance, while far-side pragmatics is more concerned with what happens beyond saying something: what speech acts are performed, what implications are generated by the utterance, or how a speaker’s intentions change over time.
In addition to its practical applications, pragmatics is also a central part of the study of language. It is often compared to semantics, which examines how words and phrases work in the literal sense, and syntax (or syntactics), which explains how different structures of sentences combine to produce their meaning.
A pragmatic approach to saving wildlife has been more effective than a dogmatic one that relies solely on strict rules and regulations. Similarly, in law judicial decisions that depend on weighing practical consequences and likely general welfare rather than on precedent have been described as pragmatic.
The late philosopher of language Paul Grice wrote what have become known as the Gricean Maxims, which are four basic pragmatic principles that seem to apply to most languages and most situations. These maxims are: be cooperative, be communicative, be clear, and be relevant. Being a pragmatic speaker means following these guidelines to make your communication as effective as possible. This is a key component of good communication in any workplace environment, and it’s why knowledge of pragmatics is so valuable! So the next time you’re tempted to use an obscure, overly complicated, or ambiguous word, remember that your knowledge of pragmatics can help disambiguate its meaning and make it easier for others to understand what you mean. Happy communicating!