Pragmatics is the study of language in context. In contrast to semantics (which studies the literal meaning of words and sentences), pragmatics is concerned with how language functions in actual social situations. For example, pragmatic knowledge allows us to politely hedge a request or cleverly read between the lines of someone else’s statement. It also allows us to navigate ambiguity in conversation or negotiate turn-taking norms. Pragmatics is a broad and multi-faceted field, encompassing a range of topics including conversational skills, intercultural communication, and social and ethical reasoning.
The philosophical roots of pragmatism go back to Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, who defined the approach as “the willing suspension of any belief not warranted by experience” and “a view of truth as that which works.” (James described this philosophy as “the pragmatist attitude”—it is an active, positive and constructive stance toward life.) The pragmatist outlook has since spread worldwide, presenting a third alternative to analytic and continental (“Continental”) traditions of thought.
Today, pragmatism is a powerful and growing force in academic and public intellectual circles across the world. Many liberatory philosophical projects, such as feminism, ecology, Native American philosophy, and Latin American philosophy, look to pragmatism for inspiration. Pragmatism’s intellectual centre of gravity is shifting out of North America, with vibrant research networks appearing in South America, Scandinavia, and more recently central Europe and China.
One of the most important contributions of pragmatism has been its emphasis on the interconnectedness of all human endeavours, and of language to this end. As such, pragmatism has developed into an important theory of cognition and learning, and is the basis for much of our understanding of the relationship between the mind and body, between language and action, and between different cultural perspectives on life.
Pragmatist philosophers have made important contributions to many of the key topics in contemporary philosophy, such as metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of language and logic. It has also been embraced by a wide variety of scholars in the social sciences, such as those working on cross-cultural communication, anthropology, sociology, and linguistics.
In addition, pragmatic philosophy is often a crucial component of education and social work. For example, a teacher’s ability to help students develop pragmatic communication skills can have an impact on the student’s overall achievement in school. Similarly, working with individuals who have developmental disabilities may require pragmatic training to allow them to interact with their peers in a more natural and meaningful way. To achieve this, goals are set for the student to practice specific pragmatic behaviors such as navigating ambiguity and turning-taking in conversation, or making appropriate social gestures and responses. Then, they are provided with opportunities to practice those skills in real-life social situations, under the supervision of a trained professional. In this way, the goal of acquiring pragmatic skills is achieved.