Pragmatics and Semantics
Many contemporary philosophical approaches focus on semantics. For example, Brandom focuses on linguistic meaning (albeit from a pragmatic viewpoint).
슬롯 take a more holistic approach to pragmatics, such as relevance theory, that aims to understand how an expression is understood by the hearer. However, this method tends to neglect other elements of pragmatism like epistemic debates over truth.
What exactly is pragmatism?
Pragmatism provides a different perspective to continental philosophy and analytic philosophy. It was initiated by Charles Sanders Peirce, and expanded by his friend and colleague William James, and later developed by Josiah Royce. It had a profound influence on the areas of inquiry ranging from philosophy of theology to philosophy of science, but also ethics as well as philosophy of politics and language. The pragmatist tradition continues to grow.
The underlying principle of classical pragmatism is the pragmatic maxim, which is a guideline to clarify the meaning of hypotheses through exploring their 'practical implications' - their implications for specific situations. This leads to an epistemological perspective that is a kind of 'inquiry-based epistemology' and an anti-Cartesian interpretation of the norms that govern inquiry. Early pragmatists were divided over whether pragmatism was a science-based philosophy that was based on an ethos of truth (following Peirce) or a broad alethic pluralitism (James & Dewey).
How to comprehend knowledge is a central question for the pragmatists. Rorty is one pragmatist who is skeptical of notions of knowledge based on 'immediate experiences'. Others, like Peirce and James are skeptical of the correspondence theory of truth that holds that the most authentic beliefs are those that reflect reality in a 'correct' way.
Other issues in pragmatism include the relationship between reality and beliefs, the nature of human rationality, the significance of values and virtues, and the significance of life. Pragmatists have also developed a range of ideas and methods, including those in semiotics and the philosophy of language. They also study areas such as philosophy of religion, philosophy and ethics, science and theology. Some, such as Peirce and Royce, are epistemological relativists, while others contend that this kind of relativism is completely wrong. The late 20th century saw an increase in interest in classical pragmatics. This led to a number new developments. These include the concept of a "near-side" pragmatics which is concerned with the resolution of ambiguity, indexicals, demonstratives and anaphors. There is also a "far-side" pragmatics that looks at the semantics in discourses.
What is the connection between what is said and what happens?
Semantics and Pragmatics can be seen as being on opposite sides of the continuum. On the close side, semantics is viewed and pragmatics is located on the far side. Carston, for instance, asserts that modern pragmatics has at least three major lines: those who view it as an approach to philosophy that is reminiscent of Grice as well as those who are focused on its interaction with grammar, and those who are concerned with the meaning of utterances. Near-side pragmatics is believed include issues like resolution of ambiguity and vagueness, reference to proper names, indexicals and demonstratives, anaphors, as well as presupposition. It is also believed to encompass some issues involving explicit descriptions.
What is the connection between semantics and pragmatics?
Pragmatics is the study of meaning within the context of language. It is a component of linguistics that studies the way that people utilize language to convey various meanings. It is often compared with semantics, which studies the literal meaning of words within a sentence or broader chunk of speech.
The relationship between semantics and pragmatism is complex. The main difference is that pragmatics considers different factors other than the literal meanings of words, such as the intended meaning and context that a statement was made. This lets a more naive understanding of the meaning of a phrase. Semantics also focuses on the relationship between words, whereas pragmatics is more concerned with the interlocutors' relationships (people who are engaged in conversations) and their contextual characteristics.
In recent years, the neopragmatism movement has been heavily focusing on metaphilosophy as well as the philosophy of language. As such, it has mostly departed from the metaphysics of classical pragmatism and value theory. Some neopragmatists, however, are working on developing a metaethics based on the principles of classical pragmatism on practicality and experience.
Classical pragmatism was initially created by Charles Sanders Peirce and William James. Both were influential thinkers who wrote a number books. Their works are widely considered in the present.
Although pragmatism offers an alternative to the continental and analytic philosophical mainstream, it isn't without its critics. For example some philosophers have claimed that pragmatism is simply an extension of deconstructionism and is not truly an entirely new philosophical concept.
In addition to these criticisms, pragmatism itself has been challenged by technological and scientific advances. For instance, pragmatists have had a difficult time reconciling their beliefs on science and the development of evolution theory, which was developed Richard Dawkins, a non-pragmatist.
Despite these challenges, pragmatism continues to grow in popularity across the globe. It is a third alternative to Continental and analytic philosophical traditions, and has a wide range of practical applications. It is a growing field of inquiry and has many schools of thought developing and incorporating aspects of pragmatism into their own philosophy. If you're looking to learn more about pragmatism or using it in your day-to-day life, there are plenty of sources available.