A pragmatic person is one who makes decisions based on what is practical or reasonable. People who are pragmatic are often contrasted with idealistic people who want to follow their own principles no matter what the consequences.
The word pragmatic comes from the Greek pragma, meaning “to do” and Latin praegere, “to be ready.” The word has many different usages in the English language. Pragmatic can refer to a person’s character, the way they do things, or the decisions they make. It can also refer to a philosophy that emphasizes practicality.
A philosopher who is pragmatic is a person who views the world from a practical point of view, and who is willing to take into account the realities of the situation. The pragmatist accepts that there are limits on what can be accomplished and does not try to push through goals that would be impossible to achieve. In philosophy, a pragmatic approach is usually compared to the more theoretical approaches of rationalism and naturalism.
The philosophy of pragmatism is most closely related to the pragmatics of language and linguistics. It is an approach to philosophy that stresses the relevance of context, and focuses on speakers’ communicative intentions and the ways in which those intentions are realized in speech acts. Pragmatics studies the underlying rules and principles that are used in interpreting language and communicating, and it is often combined with social and psychological theories of communication.
Philosophers who are pragmatists tend to believe that everything is relative to the circumstances, and that the only way to determine true values and truth is to test things out in real life. They are critical of formal logic, which they see as a set of tools to be used, rather than the ultimate arbiter of what is and is not logical.
Applied fields such as public administration, business management, organizational behavior, leadership studies, political science, and international relations often incorporate a pragmatic approach to problem solving. The tenets of pragmatism are especially well-suited to the problems encountered in the developing world and in areas where there is limited infrastructure, such as in war zones.
Feminist philosophers have often linked their work to the pragmatism of Jane Addams, John Dewey, and George Herbert Mead. They have argued that their ideas are consistent with feminist tenets, and that the pragmatism of Addams and Mead is particularly relevant to women’s rights issues. The philosophy of pragmatism has also been used to interpret concepts in the sciences such as behaviorism and functionalism.