Sunday Terminology: Pragmatism


Pragmatism: is a philosophical movement that was developed in the America in the late nineteenth century as a revolt against a sterile philosophical tradition in the US colleges and then flourishing ineffectual metaphysical tradition in Europe. “It is, first of all, a method for solving or evaluating intellectual problems, and a theory about the kinds of knowledge we are capable of acquiring.”[1] Pragmatism claims that any ideology or theory is true only if it works satisfactory. In other words, any proposition is true and acceptable if the consequence is practical. Truth, then, is not unalterable and static but it grows and evolves over/with time.


[1] Richard H. Popkin and Avrum Stroll Philosophy Made Simple: A complete Guide to the World’s Most Important Thinkers and Theories. ed. 7th (New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1993), p. 275.

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