Pragmatic is a word used to describe choices or actions that are considered practical and reasonable. It is often used in a positive way to praise people or things that are logical, sensible, and well-considered. Pragmatism is also sometimes used in a negative way to criticize people or ideas that are too focused on obtaining short-term gains rather than long-term goals.
Pragmatism is a philosophical approach that emphasizes the practical considerations involved in making decisions and conducting research. It is an alternative to positivist and interpretivist approaches to the study of reality, and it promotes a flexible, open-minded, and adaptive approach that considers the best ways to achieve a goal or solve a problem.
A pragmatist would argue that the true nature of reality is inseparable from our experiences, beliefs, and assumptions. This view reflects the idea that the world around us is inherently ambiguous and that language, despite its apparent clarity, is often not able to convey meaning accurately.
In the field of pragmatics, a theory of communication, the term pragmatic is defined as “the notion that communicative intention (called ‘M(aning)-intention’ by Grice) is satisfied only when its fulfillment is recognized by an addressee.” In other words, the goal is to convey meaning through utterances that are appropriate for their intended context and audience.
Applied pragmatics are the rules that help people understand each other and interact appropriately in different situations. The rules are based on what we know about how languages work, and they include principles like being clear, using concise language, and being truthful. A popular example is the “Cooperative Principle”: Try to be helpful, but don’t go overboard or say more than needed.
Many businesses have integrated a pragmatic philosophy into their processes and operations. For instance, a national hospital implemented analytics and AI to optimize the scheduling of operating rooms—every minute an operating room isn’t in use is lost revenue for a business. This pragmatic solution enabled the hospital to schedule surgery times five times more efficiently than before.
A pragmatic philosophy is often associated with American philosophers such as Dewey and Mead, who favored the idea that knowledge should be learned in a meaningful, experiential, and socially relevant manner. It has also been influenced by Charles S. Peirce, whose ideas on pragmatism are important to the philosophy’s development.
A pragmatic philosophy is sometimes called a middle way between the idealism of classical liberalism and the skepticism of rationalism. This pragmatic approach to liberalism and ethics is an attempt to reconcile anti-skepticism and fallibilism with a pragmatic acceptance of the limitations of human knowledge.