Pragmatic is a word used to describe people, things, or ideas that are practical and sensible. The word is often contrasted with idealistic. For example, a four-year old who wants a unicorn for her birthday is probably not being pragmatic.
The philosophical movement known as pragmatism is a method of understanding the world that was developed by philosophers William James and John Dewey. The philosophy centers on action and its consequences. Its main belief is that truth only matters insofar as it is useful. Therefore, a theory is true only if it helps people make purposeful differences in practice. This pragmatic philosophy is a major reason why it is difficult to argue if capitalism or socialism is better. Ultimately, what is important is that people who live under both types of systems have a better life, whatever measures are taken to quantify that concept.
A person who is considered pragmatic tends to be results-oriented and is focused on achieving concrete goals. This is a valuable trait in many situations, especially in clinical settings where quick decisions can significantly impact the effectiveness of a treatment. The pragmatic personality is also known for being highly adaptable. This flexibility is critical in clinical hypnosis, where patients’ needs can change quickly.
As an epistemological approach, pragmatics is concerned with the relationships between context, meaning, and action. This is in contrast to semantics, which focuses on the literal meaning of words, and syntax, which examines the relationship between signs or symbols. According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, pragmatics is a theory that aims to understand the use of language in its context rather than its formal properties or meaning.
Pragmatism is not the same as pragmatist theory, which is an approach to research that emphasizes collaboration and participation at every stage of a project (Goldkuhl 2012). This is a philosophy of practice that seeks to promote democratic engagement in the research process by encouraging participants to contribute ideas, challenge assumptions, and create knowledge.
Although pragmatism is generally associated with the scientific method, pragmatists have also proposed alternative methods to traditional research. These include the community-based participatory research model and the grounded theory methodology.
A person who is pragmatic is likely to take the time to consider the effects of their actions before acting. They are also likely to be willing to experiment with different ways of doing something until they find the solution that works best for them.
Pragmatics is a great topic to teach in the classroom because it allows students to look beyond the literal meaning of language. They will learn how to politely hedge a request, cleverly read between the lines of a conversation, and navigate ambiguity in a sentence. Teachers can incorporate pragmatics into existing lesson plans by asking their students to come up with ways to respond to a variety of request scenarios. Then, the teacher can have students discuss why certain responses work better than others in each scenario.