Pragmatics and Semantics
Many contemporary philosophical approaches to pragmatics focus on semantics. Brandom for instance is a focus on the significance of words (albeit from a pragmatic viewpoint).
Others choose an approach that is more holistic to pragmatics, like relevance theory, that aims to determine how an utterance is understood by the hearer. This view tends to ignore other elements of pragmatics, for instance, epistemic discussions about truth.
What exactly is pragmatism?
Pragmatism provides a different perspective to continental philosophy and analytic philosophy. It was conceived by Charles Sanders Peirce, and expanded by his colleague and friend William James, and later developed by Josiah Royce. It had a profound effect on the fields of inquiry from theology and philosophy to philosophy of science but also on ethics as well as philosophy of politics and language. The pragmatist tradition continues develop.
The pragmatic principle is at the heart of classical pragmatics. It is a principle that clarifies the meaning of hypotheses via their 'practical implications' or their implications for the experiences of particular situations. This is the basis for a distinct epistemological perspective that is a form 'inquiry epistemology' based on inquiry, and an anti Cartesian explanation of the norms that govern inquiry. Early pragmatists were divided over whether pragmatism was a science-based philosophy that was based on the view that truth is a monism (following Peirce) or a broad alethic pluralitism (James & Dewey).
A major concern for philosophers who are pragmatists is understanding knowledge. Certain pragmatists like Rorty are likely to be skeptical of any notion of knowledge based on'instantaneous' experiences. Others, like Peirce or James are skeptical of the theory of correspondence, which holds that true beliefs are those that accurately represent reality.
Pragmatism also examines the connection between reality, beliefs, and human rationality. It examines the importance of values and virtues, and the purpose and meaning of our lives. Pragmatists have also developed a wide variety of ideas and methods in fields like semiotics philosophy of language, the philosophy of religion, ethics, philosophy of science, and theology. Some, such as Peirce and Royce are epistemological relativists, whereas others believe that such relativism is seriously misguided. A renewed the classical pragmatism movement in the latter part of the 20th century resulted in a myriad of new developments, including a 'near-side' pragmatism that is concerned with the resolution of ambiguity and vagueness and the use of proper names, indexicals and demonstratives and anaphors and a 'far side pragmatics that examines the semantics of discourses.
What is the relation between what is said and what is done?
Semantics and Pragmatics are often thought of as being on opposite ends of the continuum with semantics on the near side and pragmatics on the other side. Carston for instance asserts that there are at least three general types of modern pragmatics that are: those who see it as a philosophy along the lines of Grice and others; those who concentrate on its interaction with grammar; and those who are concerned with utterance interpretation. Near-side pragmatics includes questions like the resolution of unclearness and the use of proper names indexicals, demonstratives anaphoras and presupposition. It is also believed to encompass questions that require precise descriptions.
What is the connection between semantics and pragmatism?
Pragmatics is the study of meaning in language placed within context. It is a part of linguistics that studies the ways people use language to convey different meanings. It is often compared with semantics, which examines the literal meaning of words within a sentence or chunk of speech.
The relationship between semantics and pragmatism is not simple. The most important distinction is that pragmatics considers other factors than the literal meaning of words, like the intended meaning and the context in which the word was made. This lets a more naive understanding to be formed of the meaning of a sentence. Semantics also considers the relationship between words, whereas pragmatics concentrates more on the connections between interlocutors as well as their context.
In recent years the neopragmatism movement been heavily focusing on metaphilosophy and philosophy of language. It has abandoned the metaphysics and value theories of classical pragmatism. However, a few neopragmatists are developing a metaethics based on the ideas of pragmatics from classical pragmatism and experience.
Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and others were among the first to create classical pragmatism. Both were influential thinkers who authored a number of books. Their work is still highly regarded to this day.
While pragmatism is a viable alternative to the continental and analytic philosophical mainstream, it's not without criticism. For example some philosophers have claimed that pragmatism is just an expression of deconstructionism, and is not truly an entirely new philosophical concept.
In addition to these critics pragmatism was challenged by technological and scientific developments. For example, pragmatists have struggled to reconcile their opinions on science with the evolution of evolutionary theory, which was developed by a non-pragmatist, Richard Dawkins.
Despite these difficulties, pragmatism continues to grow in its popularity throughout the world. It is an important third option in comparison to the continental and analytic philosophical traditions, and has a variety of practical applications. It is a growing area of inquiry that has numerous schools of thought developing and incorporating aspects of pragmatism into their own philosophical framework. There are Related Home Page to help you learn more about pragmatism and how you can incorporate it into your everyday life.