Section 12 Report by Victoria Cowan
William James on Pragmatism
What is pragmatism?
Pragmatism is the philosophical theory that emerged in the late 19th century and early 20th century which measures the effect of an action by its practical outcome. It is heavily focused on the idea that the truth of an idea or theology is determined by experimentation and examination. It is about what you do and how you do something and why you do something. The pragmatism movement was created in 1870 by Charles Sanders Pierce, who later inspired the later contributors, William James and John Dewey.
Pragmatism takes into account things like education and religion in an attempt to create a better present and future. According to pragmatism, education is important because it deals with human life and the future of the human species. Education is meant to help children become adults that completely fulfill their social and biological abilities. Pragmatism makes the argument that anything someone does in their life is meant to enable them to create values and goals in their life. Pragmatism states that teachers and mentors hold a lot of responsibility for the children. They are to have the end goal to educate the child in a way that they are efficient in a social environment and have the skills to be productive citizens. In this ideology, doing is seen as more important than knowing.
This movement considers experience alone as the main source of gaining knowledge and that humans can receive that knowledge through activities and ideas that make them brush shoulders with others and their environment. Pragmatism follows science in the idea that experimentation and the methods that follow are the best way to test and assess an action and its positive effect on an individual.
According to the original pragmatic theory, pragmatic people are willing to compromise and give up on things they may want as long as they get the desired outcome. They operate on the idea that they act on the basis of expected consequences instead of acting on the principle of ideals. These people would be completely practical, and goal-oriented instead of any type of dreamer. According to a pragmatic person, it’s important to understand that it can be necessary to give a little up in order to get a little in return.
Fundamental Principles of Pragmatism:
- Faith in Democracy
- Emphasis on Manpower
- Human Development according to Environment
- Importance of Experimentation
- Belief in Practical Philosophy
- Value of the Greater Good
William James on Pragmatism:
William James was a very influential American psychologist and philosopher. He was the first teacher of a psychology course in the United States and is referred to as the Father of Psychology. He is also famous for establishing the idea of functionalism in psychology and for advancing the movement of pragmatism in philosophy. According to James, truth and its value should be evaluated on its overall impact on human behavior. He worked extensively to connect religion and pragmatism through this experimental idea. He concluded that religious faith could be justified if it makes a positive effect and difference in a person’s life. He developed analyses and essays on the effect of religious conversion and mysticism. James defined pragmatism as a new name for old ways of thinking in his collection of essays that he published during his work with religion. He thought that pragmatism was the cornerstone of sound decision making and therefore had always been around even if it wasn’t under the same name.
Recommended Video information on Pragmatism:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45jla5u9Dkw
Quiz Questions:
1.) Who was the Father of Pragmatism?
2.) What was one of the principles of pragmatism?
3.) How does James determine analyze actions?
Discussion Questions:
1.) Is pragmatism practical to follow?
2.) Would you follow the principles of pragmatism? Why or why not?
3.) Is James' assessment of religion accurate to you?
Sources:
Other blogs I posted on:
1.) Eternal Recurrence
By: Erin Liddle - Section 13
1.Charles Sanders Pierce
ReplyDelete2. Value of the greater good
Is pragmatism practical to follow?
ReplyDeleteI think pragmatism is probably the most practical philosophy to follow. At least from a more scientific perspective. It seems to me that pragmatism is similar in many ways to the scientific method, and applies the method to philosophy. It might be the theory that requires the most amount of time to fully investigate it is in my opinion the theory that will represent the most "correct" outcome.
I think we're all pragmatists much of the time, whether we're aware of it or not, insofar as our response to any idea is, effectively, "So what?" -meaning the standard pragmatic test: "What practical difference will it make to you & me if I accept and act on that idea?"
ReplyDeletePragmatism is indeed scientific in its reflexive experimentalism, but unlike science it does not especially value impersonal knowledge for its own sake. Pragmatists always want to know the practical value of an idea, when there are ideas to choose from and no way to resolve the choice conclusively and exclusively. So, pragmatists admit more than one "right" answer to the perennial philosophical questions about god, freedom, mortality, morality...