Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophical approach that emphasizes the role of personal experience in shaping understanding and truth. It encourages individuals to engage with processes and actions that yield practical results in achieving their goals. The term was coined by Charles Peirce in the 1870s, and its roots can be traced back to the classical period, where earlier thinkers challenged the notion of absolute truth. Pragmatism prioritizes experiential learning over abstract ideas, suggesting that knowledge is continually evolving based on social and environmental interactions. Notable figures in pragmatism include John Dewey, who linked educational growth to democratic ideals, advocating for a progressive educational framework that fosters lifelong learning. In practical settings, this philosophy encourages active participation in problem-solving, viewing education as a dynamic process rather than a static transfer of knowledge. Critics of pragmatism argue that its relative nature can undermine established values and may lead to a lack of depth in learning. Ultimately, pragmatism calls for a flexible approach to knowledge, where ideas are deemed true based on their utility and effectiveness in a given context.

Published in: 2021

By: Smith, Tricia

Subject Terms

Pragmatism

Pragmatism is a philosophy of personal experience that encourages people "to seek out the processes and do the things that work best to help us achieve desirable ends" (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 119). The roots of pragmatism are traced as far back as the classical period, where the Academic Sceptics rejected the idea that there was an absolute truth that could be achieved (Rescher, 2000). The name pragmatism (the Greek word for work) was coined by Charles Peirce in the 1870's. In education, pragmatism has evolved into "a multi-faceted movement aimed at changing school practice" (Englund, 2000, p. 306). To pragmatists, the direction of formal education is to develop a progressive pattern of growth and learning. Pragmatism is basically about the experiential, as opposed to gaining truth through ideas. Instead of relating to the abstract, people relate to the concrete; an empiricism that has a physical character (Moore, 1961). Famous pragmatists include Francis Bacon, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Charles Darwin, Charles Peirce, William James, and John Dewey.

Keywords: Complete Act of Thought; Dewey, John; Empiricism; Growth; Pragmatism; Progressivism; Problem-solving; Social Intelligence

Overview

Truth, Reality & the Self

Pragmatism is a philosophy that encourages people "to seek out the processes and do the things that work best to help them achieve desirable ends" (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 119). The roots of pragmatism are traced as far back as the classical period, where the Academic Sceptics rejected the idea that there was an absolute truth that could be achieved (Rescher, 2000). The name pragmatism (the Greek word for work) was coined by Charles Peirce in the 1870's. To Peirce, "truth simply is," as "all understanding must itself be the product of doing; whatever we know is the product of inquiry, an activity of ours" (Rescher, 2000, p. 13). William James continued the evolution of pragmatic thought (1842-1910). To James, "truth pivots on the successful guidance of experience" (p. 18). Both saw truth to be grounded in experience.

John Dewey systemized and grounded his pragmatism in the social. Truth is not static, but it is "what gets endorsed and accepted in the community" (Rescher, 2000, p. 24). Truth is validated through social acceptance and custom; when truths "no longer satisfy social needs, other…truths are found to replace them" (p. 25). Inherent in the framework of pragmatism is that ideas are true insofar as they are useful in a specific situation, "what works today in one case may not work tomorrow in another case" (Younkins, 2009, p. 1). There is no reality that is constant or absolute; reality occurs when people interact with their environment, shaping it to their wills. People are "free to choose their own way of thinking and to create whatever reality they want to embrace" (Younkins, 2009, p. 1). In other words, ideas evolve from experience in relation to a particular problem, rather than "as a mere mental construct" (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 122).

Pragmatism is a philosophy of personal experience. Shusterman (1997) explains that the self is "an individual, …a changing creation" (p. 19). To Dewey, every self produces actions but is also the product of its acts and choices; no person is "a fixed, ready-made, finished self" (p. 75). One's aim is to continually grow, with growth as "the highest moral ideal" (p. 76). Life is growth itself and that "growth is not something done to the young, but instead is something they do" (Thayer, 1968, p. 176). Children experience social and intellectual growth; growth cannot be imposed upon them.

Growth expands one's thinking. The main goal of thought is to reconstruct a situation in order to solve a problem. Younkins (2009) states that truth cannot be known in advance of action. One must first act and then think; only then can reality be determined. To Thayer (1968), pragmatists define the process of thinking (the activity of inquiry) as "a process having certain phases occurring within certain limits." Thinking "starts as a perplexed, troubled or confused situation at the beginning, and becomes cleared up, unified, resolved situation at the end" (p. 191). This scientific thinking is orderly and coherent and when applied "to the problems of life [is] designed to bring about a better life for all" (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 210).

Pragmatism in Democracy & Education

One of democracy's most compatible philosophies is pragmatism (Minnich,1999). The democratic ideal is considered to infiltrate every aspect of life (Younkins, 2009). When speaking in terms of educating for democracy, the role of education is not to transfer one image of American identity, but "to foster mutual respect among the diverse cultures and peoples that make up the American people" (Ryan, 1996, p. 1050). People experience personal development to achieve and this benefits democracy. Only "enlightened individuals can operate a thinking democracy." People become enlightened through education, as education is "a key requisite for a workable democracy" (Rescher, 2000, p. 27). To pragmatists, a progressive education equals a progressive society equals democracy (Marcell, 1974).

In education, the pragmatist philosophy has evolved into "a multi-faceted movement aimed at changing school practice" (Englund, 2000, p. 306). Until the 20th century, education had largely been considered a preparatory process for life in which the students learned what teachers wanted them to learn in order to become educated (Marcell, 1974). For pragmatists, the direction of formal education is to develop a progressive pattern of growth and learning. Growth becomes an ongoing self-corrective educative process in which the students are provided the dynamics to expand their capacity to grow and learn. They acquire "the habit of learning; they learn to learn" (Marcell, 1974, p. 238). The process of learning itself becomes its own end. Hence, people become life-long learners of their own lives: "As long as life continues, education continues" (Thayer, 1968, p. 181-182).

Applications

Pragmatism in Schools

Progressive schools who base their education on the philosophy of pragmatism teach their students "how to know and how continually to grow in their capacity of knowing" (Marcell, 1974, p. 240). These schools produce students who constantly strive "to acquire new knowledge and who progressively seek newer and deeper meaning to that knowledge" (p. 240). Through education, the culture is transmitted (Ozmon & Craver, 2008). Progressivists foster a social consciousness that develops thinking, as children "serve and adapt to others" (Younkins, 2009, p. 2). Through exposure to a social environment, children can examine natural human processes and develop their own thinking processes. Education is that process which "renews people so they can face problems encountered through their interaction with the environment" (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 136).

To pragmatists, teaching "abstract, general principles and eternal …truth is beyond a child's understanding and a barrier to the authentic growth and development of the child" (Younkins, 2009, p. 3). Moore (1961) explains that the most valuable and effective learning takes place when children follow the development of a process "from its initial problematic condition to its final resolution, through actively participating in the situation through personal inquiry and investigation" (p. 250). Students go from passive to active participants in their learning process when their "native curiosity and intelligence…are exercised through [experiential] activities" (p. 250).

While character education is not proposed by pragmatists, a sense of duty is a prevalent theme within this philosophy. Self-realization is one's duty; one has a fundamental obligation to make the most of opportunity by realizing oneself as fully as possible. One has what Rescher (2000) calls "a generic duty" to use one's reason "to capitalize its potential for the good" for the world at large as well as for oneself. When opportunity to realize one's own potential is wasted, one is "being less than he/she can be and thus fails in that most fundamental of all duties, the ontological obligation to make the most of one's opportunities for the good" (p. 213). There are many ways in which people can flourish:

Thriving in the pursuit of happiness;
Using one's intelligence as a guide;
Enjoying the good things of life;
Developing [some of] one's productive talents and abilities;
Making some constructive contribution to the world's work;
Fostering the good potential of others;
Achieving and diffusing happiness; and,
Taking heed for the interest of others (Rescher, 2000, p. 214).

Other Key Concepts of Pragmatism

Growth: To pragmatists, the major aim of education is growth. To assure growth, education should do the following:

Be experimental in nature;
Assist in social renewal;
Promote a humane spirit in people;
Desire to find new answers to current economic, political and social problems; and,
Promote individual and social institutions. (Ozmon and Craver, 2008, p. 139)

Curriculum: Pragmatists "reject separating knowledge from experience or fragmenting or compartmentalizing knowledge" (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 142). They include cross-disciplinary approaches to the curriculum.

Problem-solving: Dewey promoted a process of genuine thought which he called his Complete Act of Thought. In a problem situation, each problem is viewed as "unique and can be dealt with experimentally by investigating the probable consequences of acting in particular ways" (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 127). To Dewey, the thinking process is of utmost importance. In his work, How We Think, he outlines five stages to the problem-solving method, whereby the problem-solver identifies:

A felt difficulty that occurs because of a conflict in one's experiences or a hitch or block to ongoing experience;
Its location and definition, establishing the limits or characteristics of the problem in precise terms;
Suggestions of possible solutions, formulating a wide range of hypotheses;
Development of reasoning of the bearings of the suggestions, such as reflecting on the possible outcomes of acting on these suggestions — in short, mulling things over.
Further observation and experiment, leading to its acceptance or rejection, as well as testing hypotheses to see whether they yielded the desired results (1997 [1910], p. 130).

The role of the teacher: The pragmatist teacher encourages active participation in a classroom that discourages routine. In theory, students have an inherent desire to learn, and it is up to the teacher to capture this motivation to enhance learning. The teacher must establish a proper learning community "in order to stimulate the desired intellectual and emotional growth" (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 144). The teacher must also know the subject matter, and must be

… an exceptionally-competent person who possesses a depth and breadth of knowledge, understands current conditions that affect the lives of students, knows how to organize and invest student investigation, understands psychological development and learning theory, provides supportive environment in which students can learn, and possesses refined understanding of school and community resources (p. 145).

Teaching methodologies: There are many approaches that teachers use to promote the tenets of pragmatism. Methods should be "experiential, flexible, open-ended, and oriented toward growth of the individual's capacity to think and to participate intelligently in social life" (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 141). To pragmatists, all knowledge is related in some way. They encourage problem-solving that takes place in the practical setting of the classroom. Pragmatist teachers serve as resources, or guides, to the learning process. Their role is to arouse student interests and to help launch new projects that are process-based.

Viewpoints

Some Criticism of Pragmatism

Opponents of pragmatism state that pragmatism is too indefinite; that there are many competing pragmatic philosophies that lack unity. Each pragmatic thinker brings an altered approach to pragmatism (Rescher, 2000). While pragmatists see varied approaches as a positive philosophical perspective, opponents see the approach as being too relative and as a situational rejection of values that have been tried and true over time (Ozmon & Craver, 2008).

Pragmatism proposes that people's innate characters drive them to learn and that by ignoring their characters they are not reaching their full potential. To opponents of pragmatism, this perspective conceals "the class nature" of this philosophy; that those who don't learn for learning's sake must subsequently become laborers (Wells, 1971, p. 79).

In a pragmatist approach to teaching, the teacher's role is to get in touch with their students' natural impulses and instincts and then utilize this understanding about their students to organize activities that promote habits of learning. For teachers, the start of activity must come from the child. However, opponents state that "the sole function of the teacher should be to supply stimuli and materials which allow for expression" (Wells, 1971, p. 84). Hence, the teacher must play a more active role in the classroom as the teacher realizes students' abilities through the activity process. To pragmatists, the end interest of the children is that starting point of activities and this must be discovered prior to the activity.

Additionally, pragmatist opponents state that pragmatist philosophy develops children who are not particularly knowledgeable. While they may be exposed to certain rich experiences, they lack the background or knowledge that frames experiences. With what opponents see as a watered-down curriculum, students are exposed to a curriculum that provides little depth and exposure to basic knowledge (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 145).

Terms & Concepts

Complete Act of Thought: The Complete Act of Thought is John Dewey's concept of thinking that is based on the scientific methodological process that follows certain logical steps. These steps include realizing that one is in a problematic situation; defining it as such; researching the problem; developing a hypothesis to solve it; and choosing and acting on that particular hypothesis (Gutek, 2009).

Empiricism: Empiricism is the theory that there is no source of knowledge outside of experience itself (Moore, 1961).

Growth: In pragmatism, growth is what Dewey sees as his sole end of education. Growth means "to have more experience, more problems, more resolutions to problems, and a greater network of social relationships that makes life more effective, meaningful, and satisfying" (Gutek, 2009, p. 96).

Social Intelligence: Social intelligence is defined as "the process by which individuals create meaning through their association and participation in a community based on sharing experiences" (Gutek, 2009, p. 97).

Bibliography

Bruce, B. C., & Bloch, N. (2013). Pragmatism and community inquiry: A case study of community-based learning. Education & Culture, 29, 27-45. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=90657842&site=ehost-live

Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. New York: Macmillan.

Dewey, J. (1997 [1910]). How we think. Mineola, NH: Dover.

Englund, T. (2000, March). Rethinking democracy and education: Towards an education of deliberative citizens. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 32, 305-313. Retrieved June 12, 2009, from EBSCO online database, Education Research Complete: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=3958657&site=ehost-live

Gutek, G. (2009). New perspectives on philosophy and education. Columbus, OH: Pearson.

Hammond, M. (2013). The contribution of pragmatism to understanding educational action research: Value and consequences. Educational Action Research, 21, 603-618. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=92526037&site=ehost-live

Marcell, D. Progress and pragmatism: James, Dewey, Beard, and the American idea of Progress. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

Minnich, E. (1999). Experiential education. Liberal Education, 85, 6-14. Retrieved June 15, 2009, from EBSCO online database, Education Research Complete: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=2244927&site=ehost-live

Moore, E. (1961). American pragmatism: Peirce, James and Dewey. New York: NY: Columbia P.

Ozmon, H., & Craver, S. (2008). Philosophical foundations of education. Columbus, OH: Pearson.

Pugh, K.J. (2011). Transformative experience: An integrative construct in the spirit of Deweyan pragmatism. Educational Psychologist, 46, 107-121. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=60106727&site=ehost-live

Rescher, N. (2000). Realistic pragmatism: An introduction to pragmatic philosophy. Albany, NY: State of U Press.

Rosiek, J. (2013). Pragmatism and post-qualitative futures. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (QSE), 26, 692-705. Retrieved December 15, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database Education Research Complete. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=88212067&site=ehost-live

Ryan, A. (1996). Pragmatism, social identity, patriotism, and self-criticism. Social Research, 63 , 1041-1064. Retrieved June 17, 2009, from EBSCO online database, Academic Search Complete: http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=17256243&site=ehost-live

Shusterman, R. (1997). Practicing philosophy: Pragmatism and the philosophical life. New York, NY: Routledge.

Thayer, H. (1968). Meaning and action: A critical history of pragmatism. New York, NY: Bobbs-Merrill.

Wells, H. (1971). Pragmatism: Philosophy of imperialism. Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries P.

Younkins, E. (n.d.). Dewey's pragmatism and the decline of education. Retrieved from Rebirth of Reason website: http://rebirthofreason.com/Articles/Younkins/Deweys%5fPragmatism%5f and‗the‗Decline‗of‗Education.shtml

Pragmatism

On this Page

Subject Terms

Pragmatism

Overview

Truth, Reality & the Self

Pragmatism in Democracy & Education

Applications

Pragmatism in Schools

Other Key Concepts of Pragmatism

Viewpoints

Some Criticism of Pragmatism

Terms & Concepts

Bibliography

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