Pragmatism
Clarify and assess ideas through the differences they make in practice.
What it claims
Pragmatism is a tradition that clarifies and assesses ideas through their practical consequences. It challenges the demand for indubitable foundations before inquiry can begin, and many versions criticize pictures of truth as an inaccessible correspondence relation. Peirce's pragmatic maxim asks us to consider the conceivable practical effects of a concept's object in clarifying its meaning.
Nearby positions
Opposed to
Key thinkers
Charles S. Peirce · William James · John Dewey · Richard Rorty · Hilary Putnam