Pragmatism

Pragmatism, in the technical rather than everyday sense of the word, refers to a philosophical movement that emerged in the United States in the second half of the 19th century and continued to have an influence throughout the 20th century. The core idea of pragmatism is that the meaning of any concept is determined by its practical implications; and that the truth of any judgment is determined in and through practical activity, whether in the context of science or in life more generally.

These central ideas are usually connected with a few others. One is rejection of the assumption, shared by many rationalists and empiricists, that we can find some indubitable foundation on which knowledge can be built. Thus, for Charles S. Peirce, generally recognized to be the founder of pragmatism, inquiry always starts from a problem that emerges out of previous experience, and always involves taking much of that experience for granted: Only what is open to reasonable doubt is questioned, not all that is open to possible doubt. Similarly, the knowledge produced by inquiry is always fallible; it cannot be known to be valid with absolute certainty. However, in the long run, inquiry is self-corrective: It is geared toward the discovery and rectification of errors.

Another central pragmatist idea is that all cognition must be viewed as part of the ongoing transaction [Page 848]between individual organisms and their environments. This is at odds with the influential ancient Greek view that true knowledge is produced by spectators detached from everyday human life. Thus, for William James, another influential pragmatist philosopher, the function of cognition is not to copy reality but to satisfy the individual organism's needs and interests, enabling it to achieve a flourishing relationship with its environment. For him, truth consists of what it proves generally expedient to believe. Indeed, for pragmatists, even philosophy and the sciences have a pragmatic origin and function. Thus, John Dewey viewed the procedures of scientific inquiry as central to the democratic ideal and as the proper basis for societal development.

There is diversity as well as commonality within the pragmatist tradition. Where some have taken science as the model for rational thinking, others have adopted a more catholic approach. Where some have assumed a form of realism, others have insisted that we only ever have access to how things appear in experience, not to some reality beyond it.

During the 20th century, pragmatist ideas were developed by a number of influential philosophers, notably C. I. Lewis, W. van O. Quine, H. Putnam, R. Rorty, and S. Haack. Rorty's work, in particular, has generated much controversy, not least about whether it represents a genuine form of pragmatism or a break with the older tradition.

Pragmatism has had considerable influence on thinking about social research methodology, notably but not exclusively through the Chicago school of sociology. A valuable, early text that draws heavily on pragmatism is Kaplan's (1964) The Conduct of Inquiry.