School
Pragmatism
Pragmatism is the philosophy that the meaning and truth of ideas lie in their practical consequences and their success in inquiry and action.
It began in the United States in the 1870s with C. S. Peirce and William James, who made the name widely known, and John Dewey extended it to education, democracy and inquiry; C. I. Lewis joined it to logic and the theory of knowledge. They disagreed about truth: Peirce tied it to what inquiry would finally settle, James to what works in experience. Later thinkers such as Richard Rorty and Hilary Putnam revived it. On this site it answers questions on truth, justification, rationality, formal epistemology and consciousness.
Thinkers of this school
Guide: Schools of Philosophy: The Main -isms and the Questions They Answer
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Can a tidy ledger be beautiful? What is “everyday aesthetics” about?
There is a moment near the end of every tax return I prepare, when the columns reconcile and the ledger is clean and everything is where it should be, that gives me a feeling I can only call aesthetic. My husband laughs…
Started by Harpreet Kaur Grewal4 replies -
Knowledge as a building or a raft? Neurath’s boat, seen from a community organiser’s chair
I'm a community organiser in Chicago and used to teach in public schools. I've always loved pragmatism because it treats knowledge as something you do with other people. Lately I've been reading about the structure of justification and want to test the…
Started by Dana Whitfield5 replies -
Why did Peirce abandon the word ‘pragmatism’ for something uglier?
I'm a community organizer in Chicago and I've been reading William James for a while, mostly because he writes like someone who has actually talked to people. In an introduction I read that Charles Sanders Peirce, who invented pragmatism, later renamed his…
Started by Dana Whitfield4 replies -
Is “aesthetic experience” one kind of experience, or a label for several unlike things?
Twice last month I lost track of time completely. Once was a late-night proof that came together with a kind of click, everything suddenly fitting. The other was a recording of the Goldberg Variations on a long drive. Both felt, from the…
Started by Derek Hollis4 replies