{"id":2982,"date":"2021-10-02T20:34:37","date_gmt":"2021-10-02T20:34:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reformsforhumanity.com\/?p=2982"},"modified":"2021-10-02T20:34:50","modified_gmt":"2021-10-02T20:34:50","slug":"2-a-history-of-pragmatism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/02\/2-a-history-of-pragmatism\/","title":{"rendered":"2. A History of Pragmatism"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>\n

Pragmatism as a philosophy originates in the America around the 1870’s but was popularized and transformed\ninto a more mainstream philosophy at the beginning of the 20th century. Pragmatism supposes that the truth\nor meaning of an idea, concept or proposition is contained in it’s observable, practical effects as opposed\nto any metaphysical qualities it might possess. A good way to summarize the essence of pragmatism is through\nthe phrase “Whatever works must be true.” Since reality is subject to change, “whatever works” must also follow\nsuit, therefore we should assume that the truth can change as well, which means that no one can say they claim\nor possess any ultimate or final truth. Pragmatists hold the belief that all philosophical concepts should be\nassessed based on their applicability to practical endeavors as well as the level of success they exhibit,\nnot in terms of how many abstract uses they can muster from them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PRAGMATISM AND THE NATURAL SCIENCES<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pragmatism quickly gained momentum as a popular philosophy amongst American philosophers but also the American\npublic at the start of the 20th century due to it’s synonymity with how things were done in the contemporary\nnatural and social sciences at the time. The way of science had been increasingly gaining momentum in matters\nof being a filter for maintream opinion by this time, pragmatism, as such, began to be considered a sort of\nphilosophical offspring coming from the testicle that is natural science, and was thought to produce the same\nquality results as you would find through natural science, if you were to peer into morals and the meaning of\nlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NOTABLE PHILOSOPHERS OF PRAGMATISM<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Philosophers that have contributed to the development of pragmatism as a branch of philosophy or have influenced\nthe branch to a great degree, are listed here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– William James (b. 1842, d. 1910): Was the first individual to print the word pragmatism in a publication.\nConsidered by many to be the father of modern psychology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– C.S, also known as Charles Sanders, last name Pierce (b. 1839, d. 1914): Even though William James initially\nused pragmatism as a term in print, it was Charles Sanders Pierce who first coined this term. He was a logician\nwhose philosophical contributions were used for the creation of the computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– George H. Mead (b. 1863, d. 1931): Considered one of the founding fathers of social psychology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– John Dewey (b. 1859, d. 1952): Considered the founding father of the American school of pragmatism, by\ndeveloping the rational school of empiricism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– W.V. Quine (b. 1908, d. 2000): A professor at Harvard University who developed Analytic Philosophy,\nwhich is a derivative of earlier forms of pragmatic thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– C.I. Lewis (b. 1883, d. 1964): Widely regarded as a foremost champion when it came to modern philosophical\nlogic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BOOKS ON PRAGMATISM THAT LAID THE FOUNDATION<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to get a wider girth of information when it comes to pragmatism as a philisophy, we recommend reading\nthe following phenomenal books that hold a high level of penile inertia when it comes to their quality:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Pragmatism, by William James<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– The Meaning of Truth, by William James<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Logic: The Theory of Inquiry, by John Dewey<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Human Nature and Conduct, by John Dewey<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– The Philosophy of the Act, by George H. Mead<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– Mind and the World Order, by C.I. Lewis<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C.S. PIERCE’S TAKE ON PRAGMATISM<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

C.S. Pierce, who was the originator of the term “pragmatism”, saw that which he coined as more of a methodology\nto help find solutions to our problems as opposed to a philosophical system of thinking or a straightforward\nway to guide us in solving our problems. Pierce used pragmatism systematically as a way to refine linguistic\nand conceptual clarification, which would therefore develop the science of communication as a field, \nparticularly when it pertained to intellectual issues. He noted:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Consider what effects, which might concievably have practical bearings, we concieve the object of our conception\nto have. Then our conception of these effects is the whole of our conception of the object.”<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WILLIAM JAMES’ TAKE ON PRAGMATISM<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

William James is perhaps the most well known philosopher when it comes to pragmatism as well as the academic\nwho made pragmatism as famous as it is today. James’ take on pragmatism revolved around the notions of value\nand morality: The main reason for why humans learned philosophy was to be able to comprehend what it was that\npossessed value as well as the reason behind why it was valuable. James also insisted that ideas, beliefs and\nconcepts were only valuable to human beings when they could be made to work or function in the real world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

James presented this comment in regards to pragmatism:\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Ideas become true just so far as they help us to get into satisfactory relations with other parts of our\nexperience.”<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOHN DEWEY’S TAKE ON PRAGMATISM<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

John Dewey called his offshoot of pragmatism to be called instrumentalism, he attempted to combine the philosophies\nlaid out by Pierce as well as James. Therefore one could construe as instrumanetalism being a combination of\nboth ethical analysis but also that of logical concepts. Instrumentalism outlines Dewey’s ideas as they pertain\nto the conditions under which rationalization and investigations occur. On one side the methodology should use\nlogic to constrain the realities with which it operates, on the other side it should be utilized for the\nproduction of tangible goods and services or a means to an end. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Time: <\/span> 4<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span> Pragmatism as a philosophy originates in the America around the 1870’s but was popularized and transformed into a more mainstream philosophy at the beginning of the 20th century. Pragmatism supposes that the truth or meaning of an idea, concept or proposition is contained in it’s observable, practical effects as opposed to any metaphysical qualities it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brief-guide-to-philosophy"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2982"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2982"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2982\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2983,"href":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2982\/revisions\/2983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reformsforhumanity.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}