Pragmatic is a word that refers to a person’s ability to think about and deal with real-life problems in ways that are reasonable, practical and feasible. In the political realm, pragmatic people are said to have middle of the road positions on issues because they take arguments from both sides into account. The word pragmatic also describes someone who is able to see solutions and compromises when necessary.
The term pragmatic was first used in 1580 and comes from the Latin pragma, meaning “to do” and praxis, which means action. The philosophical movement known as pragmatism is often associated with the American philosopher John Dewey (1861–1935), but it originated in Germany with Friedrich Wilhelm Gottlob Frege (1848–1904) and is closely related to German idealism.
Several philosophical movements have borrowed from pragmatism. For example, Dewey’s notion of democracy has been incorporated into leadership studies and the field of public administration. The philosophies of existentialism and utilitarianism are also grounded in pragmatism. A number of analytic philosophers, including Richard Rorty (1929–2014), have developed a complex analytic version of pragmatism that draws on classical American pragmatism and James’s metaphysical philosophy. Contemporary philosophy of language, cognitive science, ethics, and the philosophy of religion incorporate pragmatism as well.
A central feature of pragmatism is the notion that all knowledge is partial and fallible, which is a kind of skepticism called a posteriori epistemology. In a nutshell, this epistemology says that humans can only know things to the extent that they have experience of them. For instance, if you experience that milk becomes sour, you’ll know to throw it away and replace it with fresh milk.
Pragmatism’s emphasis on the connection between thought and action has led many applied fields to embrace its tenets, including public administration,[49] political science,[50] leadership studies,[51] international relations,[52] conflict resolution,[53] research methodology,[54] and so on. For example, a leader who is pragmatic will balance vision with pragmatism when making decisions about what projects to invest in and how to manage staff.
Social pragmatics is the aspect of pragmatism that deals with the social and cultural context of communication. It includes such concepts as knowing when to politely hedge a request, reading between the lines, navigating turn-taking norms in conversation, and dealing with ambiguity. In other words, pragmatics is what allows you to understand when someone is joking or serious, and it’s why one approach to dealing with a problem may work for one person but not another. This is why a pragmatic person never puts all of their eggs in one basket and always prepares for the worst. For example, a pragmatic person knows that it can rain in Seattle, so they bring an umbrella when traveling there. They don’t trust the weather report to be accurate, but they do trust their own experiences. In this way, they are able to be more prepared and make good choices for themselves. The same goes for making financial decisions. A pragmatic person knows that they should diversify their investments and never put all of their money into one business.