Pragmatic Genuine Philosophy Pragmatism is a philosophy that is based on the experience and context It might not have a clear ethical framework or fundamental principles This can lead to a loss of idealistic aspirations and transformative change In contrast to deflationary theories pragmatic theories do not renounce the notion that statements are correlated to actual events They simply clarify the role that truth plays in the practical world Definition The word pragmatic is used to describe people or things that are practical, rational and sensible It is often contrasted with idealistic, which refers to an individual or concept that is based on ideals or high principles When making decisions, a pragmatic person is aware of the world and the current circumstances They concentrate on what is realistically achievable instead of trying to find the ideal path of action Pragmatism is an emerging philosophical movement that focuses on the importance of practical consequences in determining the value, truth, or value It is a third alternative philosophy in contrast to the dominant analytical and continental traditions It was established by Charles Sanders Peirce and William James with Josiah Royce as its founding fathers, pragmatism developed into two streams of thought one of which is akin to relativism and the second toward realism One of the most important issues in pragmatism is the nature of truth While many pragmatists agree that truth is a key concept, they disagree about what it means and how it operates in the real world One method, that is influenced by Peirce and James, is focused on the ways people tackle issues and make assertions It also prioritizes the speech-act and justification tasks of language-users in determining whether something is true Another method, that is influenced by Rorty and his followers, focuses on the comparatively simple functions of truth, namely its ability to generalize, commend and warn--and is not concerned with a full-fledged theory of truth This neopragmatic interpretation of truth has two flaws It is the first to flirt with relativism Truth is a concept that has an extensive and long tradition that it's unlikely that its meaning can be reduced to mundane use as pragmatists would do The second problem is that pragmatism appears to be an approach that does not believe in the existence of truth, at least in its metaphysical sense This is evident in the fact that pragmatists such as Brandom who has a debt to Peirce and James are mostly silent on questions of metaphysics in Dewey's vast writings, whereas his works have just one reference to the question of truth Purpose Pragmatism is a philosophy that aims to provide an alternative to the continental and analytic tradition of philosophy Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and their Harvard colleague Josiah Royce 1860-1916 were the first to introduce it's first generation These classical pragmatists focused on the importance of inquiry and meaning as well as the nature of truth Their influence grew to numerous influential American thinkers, such as John Dewey 1860-1952, who applied their theories to education and social improvement in other dimensions Jane Addams 1860-1935 was the social work pioneer who created social work also gained from this influence In recent times the new generation has given pragmatism a new forum for discussion Although they differ from the traditional pragmatists, a lot of these neo-pragmatists believe themselves to be part of the same tradition Their principal model is Robert Brandom, whose work is focused on semantics and the philosophy of language however, he also draws inspiration from the philosophy of Peirce and James One of the main distinctions between the classic pragmatists and the neo-pragmatists is their understanding of what it means for an idea to be true The classical pragmatists focused on a concept called 'truth-functionality,' which states that an idea is genuinely true if it is useful in practice Neo-pragmatists focus instead on the concept of "ideal justified assertibility," which declares that an idea is truly true if it can be justifiable to a certain audience in a certain way There are however some problems with this view It is often accused of being used to support illogical and absurd ideas One example is the gremlin idea it is a useful concept that works in the real world, but it is totally unsubstantiated and most likely absurd This isn't a major issue, but it reveals one of the biggest weaknesses of pragmatism it can be used as a reason for almost anything Significance Pragmatic refers to the practical aspect of a decision, which is related to the consideration of actual world conditions and circumstances when making decisions It is also used to refer to a philosophy that emphasizes the practical consequences when determining the meaning, truth or values William James 1842-1910 first employed the term pragmatism describe this view in a lecture at the University of California, Berkeley James confidently claimed that the term was coined by his colleague and mentor Charles Sanders Peirce 1839-1914, but the pragmatist outlook soon gained a reputation all its own The pragmatists opposed the sharp dichotomies in analytic philosophy like mind and body, thoughts and experience, as well as analytic and synthesthetic They also rebuffed the idea of truth as something fixed or objective and instead treated it as a constantly evolving socially-determined idea James used these themes to investigate the truth of religion A second generation shifted the pragmatist view of politics, education and other aspects of social improvement, under the great influence of John Dewey 1859-1952 The neo-pragmatists of recent decades have attempted to place pragmatism within the larger Western philosophical context, by tracing the affinities of Peirce's ideas with Kant and other 19th century idealists and the emergence of the science of evolutionary theory They also sought to clarify truth's role in an original a priori epistemology and developed a Metaphilosophy of the practical that includes views of language, meaning, and the nature and origin of knowledge Yet, pragmatism continues to evolve and the a posteriori epistemology that it developed is still regarded as an important distinction from traditional approaches The pragmatic theory has been criticized for centuries, but in recent years it has attracted more attention They include the notion that pragmatism is a flop when applied to moral issues, and that its claim that "what is effective" is nothing more than a form of relativism with a less-polished appearance Methods The epistemological method of Peirce included a pragmatic explanation He viewed it as a way to undermine metaphysical concepts that were false such as the Catholic conception of transubstantiation Cartesian certainty-seeking strategies in epistemology and Kant's concept of a 'thing-in-itself' Simson 2010 The Pragmatic Maxim, according to many modern pragmatists is the most reliable thing one can expect from a theory about truth They are generally opposed to the deflationist theories of truth that require verification in order to be valid They advocate for a different method they call "pragmatic explanation" This is about explaining the way in which a concept is utilized in real life and identifying criteria that must be met to recognize that concept as authentic It should be noted that this approach may still be viewed as a form of relativism, and indeed is often criticised for it It is less extreme than deflationist alternatives, and is a useful way to get around some of the relativist theories of reality's issues In https//pragmatickrcom/ of this, a lot of liberatory philosophical projects, such as those associated to eco-philosophy and feminism, Native American philosophy, and Latin American philosophy, look for guidance from the pragmatist traditions Additionally, many analytic philosophers such as Quine have adopted pragmatism with a level of enthusiasm that Dewey himself could not manage Although pragmatism has a long history, it is important to note that there are significant flaws in the philosophy Particularly, the pragmatism does not provide an objective test of truth and it fails when applied to moral questions Quine, Wilfrid Solars and other pragmatists have also critiqued the philosophy Richard Rorty and Robert Brandom are among the philosophers who have revived the philosophy from the insignificance Although these philosophers aren't classical pragmatists but they do owe a great deal to the philosophy of pragmatism, and draw on the work of Peirce, James and Wittgenstein in their writings Their writings are worth reading for anyone interested in this philosophy movement