Pragmatic is the framework of communication that allows us to understand not just words, but also meaning and intentions. It encompasses more than just spoken language- gestures, facial expressions, and tone must be considered to convey a message fully. Pragmatics is a theory that helps people to communicate more effectively across cultures, and to avoid miscommunication or misunderstanding. For example, a gesture that is interpreted as impolite in one culture might be perfectly acceptable in another. Understanding pragmatic rules across cultures is essential for international business, and fostering cultural understanding.
Often, the word pragmatic is contrasted with idealistic to mean that something is practical and reasonable rather than theoretical or unrealistic. In fact, most people navigate life with a healthy balance of idealism and pragmatism.
For example, when it comes to saving wildlife, a pragmatic approach is more effective than an idealistic one. The pragmatic approach has been proven to be successful in bringing endangered species back from the brink of extinction. This is because pragmatic approaches take into account realistic environmental factors, and are more likely to be sustainable in the long run.
Another aspect of pragmatism is that it emphasizes the connection between thought and action. This is why many applied fields like public administration, leadership studies, conflict resolution, and research methodology have incorporated pragmatism into their work.
Moreover, pragmatism is an epistemology that rejects the idea that any belief can be reduced to a physical description. In his 1929 book Mind and the World Order: Outline of a Theory of Knowledge, John Dewey wrote that human knowledge must be experiential to be real. This view is also a form of radical empiricism.
A key point in pragmatism is that a belief only has validity when it helps you to survive and thrive. William James went further by saying that nothing is ever a true fact in the sense that it represents reality–it’s only valid insofar as it works. This is a metaphysical position that is called pragmatic metaphysics, but it does not imply an antipathy to religion or faith.
The experimental literature on pragmatics is huge, and the findings are sometimes very different. This is because of the fact that people have to deal with the specific task demands of each experimental situation. There are also within-individual differences that affect their performances in each experiment. For this reason, it’s important for researchers to look at averages when analyzing experimental results.
It may be impossible to create theories of pragmatics that supervene on all experimental tasks, but that doesn’t stop scholars from trying. One important goal is to be able to explain why the outcomes of one experiment differ from those of another, so that we can better understand the process of how pragmatics influences our interpretations and productions of communicative meaning. This is part of what neopragmatists are working toward. A more ambitious goal, however, is to integrate pragmatism into the analytic tradition.