can someone explain pragmatism to me? im quite young and i dont really know what it means, also english is not my first language
In: 9
At its simplest: It bases the accepted truth and facts on how it works ***practically*** rather than in ***theory***.
Let’s take a simple example: The sky’s color in daylight.
In theory, the sky is colorless. There is no colored gas in the atmosphere, except the clouds of water, which are the only thing to have a color.
The pragmatic approach to the color of the sky, is to walk out, look up, and notice it’s blue most of the time, except in the morning and at sunset.
So, what color is the sky? Pragmatism says blue, science says “no color”.
So pragmatism is about taking what is practical and observable, as what truth is.
You can contrast Pragmatism against Idealism to make sense.
An idealist looks at a problem and says there are only two answers – solved, or unsolved. If you want to stop human hunger you either give everyone unlimited food, or you don’t. There is no in-between, solved or not solved.
A pragmatist would look for the middle areas. Ok, I can give some people unlimited food, I can give a bunch more people cheap food, and then that leaves a bunch of people who are still hungry. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start and we can improve as we go.
A pragmatist can accept that non-perfect is still better than nothing at all. An idealist will only accept perfection.
Being less concerned with finding an ideal or perfect solution and more about finding a solution that generally works.
Unlike idealism, pragmatism is a concept that deals with a practical approach towards life. It might not work in theory but is excellent when applied to real life situations.
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