Non-Classical Philosophy in The West

Problematic Domains of Leading Contemporary Philosophical Trends

Pragmatism

This philosophical movement emerged in the 1870s in the United States and stands as the most original contribution of Americans to philosophical thought. Following World War II, interest in pragmatism somewhat diminished; however, in the last two decades, a number of prominent American scholars have revisited its ideas. Thus, we shall present some information about this philosophical direction.

The very word “pragmatism” is derived from the Greek term πράγμα (deed, action, circumstance). The central question raised by pragmatism is: what is knowledge, and how should it be evaluated? Traditionally, philosophy viewed knowledge as a copy or reflection of reality, and thus knowledge was assessed based on its correspondence to that reality. Pragmatism, however, proposed to regard knowledge as a human instrument for action, aimed at achieving specific goals. Therefore, adherents of this approach evaluate knowledge solely in terms of its utility for reaching objectives. Thinking and knowing are viewed not as mere reflections of reality as it exists independently of human beings, but rather as tools for solving the life challenges that confront individuals.

The founder of pragmatism was Charles Peirce (1839-1914). Peirce began by equating knowledge with belief, which he understood as the readiness or habit to act in a certain way. He viewed the process of knowledge acquisition not as a transition from ignorance to knowledge, but as a shift from doubt and hesitation to assured thought, leading to stable belief that can guide action. Life often places individuals in various difficult situations and uncertain scenarios where they initially do not know how to behave or what actions to take. Such states are the source of doubt—a kind of anxious condition from which a person wishes to escape as quickly as possible, for it frustrates and hinders action. It is precisely from the desire to overcome doubt that we begin to think and know. According to Peirce, the commencement of any inquiry or reflection is doubt, and its conclusion is the acquisition of belief, which is to say, the habit of acting in a particular manner.

Peirce defines truth as a stable belief to which an unrestricted community of competent researchers would eventually arrive concerning any studied question, if the process of investigation were to continue indefinitely. Thus, truth as an ideal is projected into the infinitely distant future. Each inquiry aspires toward this ideal; absolute truth serves as a regulative idea, yet in finite investigations, it remains unattainable. Any scientific knowledge always harbors the potential for error. What is regarded as true at a given moment is that which the scientific community does not possess significant doubts about. Approaching truth is possible only through continual correction of errors and the formulation of more refined hypotheses.

Since Peirce reinterpreted the nature of knowledge, he also proposed a new understanding of the meaning of the concepts that our thinking operates with during the process of knowing. The meaning of a concept is what it expresses, and traditionally, concepts are defined through their relation to objects. Peirce, however, defines the meaning of a concept through its relation to the subject, as he is interested in what a concept signifies for the subject. He famously formulates his principle as follows: our conception of an object is a conception of all practical consequences that arise from actions concerning that object. These practical consequences consist of two components:

1. The sensations that a certain object’s action evokes in us.
2. How we act, how we behave based on these sensations.

The understanding of these two types of consequences constitutes our complete understanding of the object. Peirce believed that his principle helps eliminate unnecessary disputes founded on misunderstandings arising from vague ideas and concepts when we neglect the possible consequences of their use. At the same time, he asserted that absolute truth is unattainable: complete comprehension of an object must encompass knowledge of all practical consequences arising from actions concerning that object, and the multitude of such actions is incalculable.

1. Peirce laid the foundations of pragmatism, which was further developed into a distinct philosophical doctrine by William James (1842-1910). It was he who clearly articulated the central idea of pragmatism: thoughts are true if they prove useful, that is, if they help us achieve our goals. This understanding of truth is based on a specific conception of reality and consciousness. For a person, primary reality is an unordered, chaotic aggregate of sensations. From this disorder, consciousness distinguishes what is needed by the individual, what corresponds to their needs and goals, enabling adaptation to the environment. From the primal chaos, each person creates their own individual world; it is as if we are given a block of marble, from which we ourselves carve a statue. We can say that the external world exists; however, we cannot assert that it is something certain; we impart that certainty to it.

From this understanding of reality and consciousness emerges the pragmatic conception of truth. The term "truth" denotes ideas that have become useful. The term "useful," as understood by James, is quite broad: usefulness can be both material and intellectual; for example, an intellectually useful idea provides order and clarity to our thinking. Usefulness can also be emotional (when an idea calms us and helps overcome uncertainty and fear) or moral (when it encourages us to live in peace and harmony with others). James believed that philosophy is important insofar as it can offer individuals practical guidance regarding viewpoints worth adhering to. He viewed pragmatism as a method for resolving philosophical disputes and as a means of assessing philosophical worldviews based on their practical implications for human life.

John Dewey (1859-1952) further developed the ideas of pragmatism, referring to his doctrine as "instrumentalism." In his view, thinking is a means, an instrument for solving problems. Ideas are projects for intervening in existing conditions; they can be useful or non-useful, yet they cannot be classified as true or false. Dewey became particularly renowned as a reformer of the educational system in the United States in the spirit of pragmatism. Education, in his opinion, should focus on teaching methods for solving specific problems that arise for specialists, rather than instructing in general, abstract principles.