Questions tagged [pragmatism]
71 questions
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What is a straight-forward method for distinguishing pragmatic from utilitarian action or thought?
In common parlance, pragmatic and utilitarian are very similar ways of doing things. In philosophical traditions, Utilitarians and Pragmatists are very different. In terms of understanding an action deemed "utilitarian" or "pragmatic", what defining…
mfg
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What are the key differences between pragmatism and conventionalism?
What are the key differences between (classical) pragmatism and conventionalism? I'm reasonably familiar with the first, and have just become aware of the second via a reference to Henri Poincaré's La Science et l'Hypothèse. From my current…
Drux
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What are the main differences between Peirce, James, & Dewey?
Peirce, James, & Dewey are generally regarded as the three originators of American pragmatism. Personally, I have noticed each of them for different reasons. James is interesting because of his radical empiricism, Dewey because of his understanding…
histelheim
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Meaning in use and naturalisation of intentionality
What is the relation between pragmatism and intentionality?
Two different enterprises in philosophy seem to be well established and yet contradicting:
Inferential Pragmatism: from Wittgenstein and Sellars to Rorty, Brandom and Mcdowell, There's an…
Amit Hagin
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What are the consequences of pragmatism for empirical research?
Positivism tells us that only what is verifiable exists. Therefore scientists should study only what they can observe and measure, through which they can explain natural or social phenomena. Interpretivists focus on the experience that people are…
histelheim
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What are some real-life applications of metaphysics?
Metaphysics seems to be a field that is almost purely abstract. However, I am also interested in knowing how metaphysics has impacted the real world, if at all.
Sydney Maples
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Has pragmatism really been motivated to move away from necessity? Has it succeeded?
According to pragmatists, in ages of yesteryear the philosophical project aimed at determining the ultimate foundation of knowledge. Interspersed throughout history have been reactions to this foundationalism. Kant, under most pragmatic…
user28843
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Do Wittgenstein and Quine give the same criticisms of semantics?
What is the connection between the criticisms offered by Wittgenstein and Quine of meaning and language? Are both philosophers generally criticizing the same semantic theories with similar arguments, and if not, are there any cases of genuine…
Esse
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Should modern empiricists embrace string theory?
Conventional wisdom says "no", lack of new predictions being the main criticism. Johansson and Matsubara review string theory from various empiricist perspectives, and the best they can say (for string theory) is that it is not the right time to…
Conifold
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What are the most significant philosophical consequences of instrumentalism?
Are there any significant philosophical consequences to the instrumentalist view of the universe?
Does it quickly become a distinction without a difference (perhaps simply inline with pragmatism?), or as a premise does it lead down any unique paths…
DuckMaestro
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Why do we need a reason for believing that inductive method is necessarily true?
I've been a bit perplexed about the "problem" of induction.
Hume challenges other philosophers to come up with a deductive reason
for the inductive connection. If the justification of induction cannot
be deductive, then it would beg the…
Annotations
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Does Brandom remain faithful to a Kantian autonomous intellect when he invokes Hegel?
There is a paradox about self-legislating norms that if the norms are self-legislated, they are not binding. In order to avoid this paradox, Brandom turns to Hegel's point that "normative statuses such as authority and responsibility are at base…
Goob
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Is the overlap between Yoneda's lemma and Peirce's pragmatic maxim known?
In philosophy, particularly in ethics, the pragmatic maxim (WP) states that an object may be considered solely in terms of its effects on the surrounding context. In the special case of ethics, the maxim states that the ethical ramifications of an…
Corbin
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Did any philosopher promote a “pure” pragmatic conception of truth?
William James often associated truth with usefulness (utility), but overall his conception of truth was not pure in this regard. It shares some elements of the correspondence and coherence theory. For Dewey and Pierce this is even more the case.
So…
viuser
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Is Peirce's pragmatic maxim self-evident?
Peirce's pragmatic maxim seems to have an appeal, at least as a "tiebreaker":
Consider what effects, that might conceivably have practical bearings, we conceive the object of our conception to have. Then, our conception of these effects is the…
user3457798
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