Pragmatics and Semantics
Many contemporary philosophical approaches are based on semantics. Brandom for instance is focused on the significance of words (albeit from a pragmatic perspective).
Others take a more comprehensive approach to pragmatics, such as relevance theory, which aims to explore the understanding processes involved in an utterance made by a listener. However, this approach tends to ignore other aspects of pragmatism like epistemic debates over truth.
What exactly is pragmatism?
Pragmatism is a philosophical outlook that provides a different perspective to continental and analytic philosophy. It was developed by Charles Sanders Peirce and expanded by his colleague and friend William James, and pragmatickr later developed by Josiah Royce. It had a profound impact on areas of inquiry from philosophy of theology to philosophy of science but also on ethics as well as philosophy of politics and language. The pragmatist tradition continues to grow.
The fundamental premise of classical pragmatism is the pragmatic maxim, a principle for clarifying the meaning of hypotheses by investigating their 'practical consequences that they have for specific circumstances. This leads to a distinct epistemological perspective that is a type of 'inquiry based epistemology,' and an anti Cartesian explanation of the norms governing inquiry. The early pragmatists generally disagreed on the issue of whether pragmatism ought to think of itself as a scientific philosophy that focuses on a monism of truth (following Peirce), or a broad-based alethic pluralism (James and Dewey).
How to understand knowledge is a major concern for the pragmatists. Some pragmatists, such as Rorty are likely to be skeptical of any notion of knowledge based on a foundation of 'immediate' experiences. Others, such as Peirce and James are skeptical of the correspondence theory of truth, according to which true beliefs are those that reflect reality in a 'correct' way.
Pragmatism also focuses on the relationship between beliefs, reality and human rationality. It also examines the role of values and virtues, and the meaning and purpose of existence. Pragmatists also developed a variety of theories and methods that include semiotics and philosophy of language. They have also explored areas like philosophy of religion, philosophy, science, ethics and theology. Some, like Peirce and Royce are epistemological relativists, whereas others contend that this kind of relativism is completely wrong. The latter half of the 20th century saw the resurgence of interest in classical pragmatics. This led to a myriad of new developments. They include the concept of a "near-side" pragmatics which is concerned with the resolution of ambiguity indexicals, demonstratives and anaphors. There is also the "far-side" pragmatics which analyzes the semantics in discourses.
What is the relation between what you say and what you do?
Semantics and Pragmatics can be viewed as being on opposite sides of the continuum. On the close side, semantics is viewed and pragmatics is situated on the other side. Carston, for example, argues that there are at a minimum three general lines of contemporary pragmatics people who view it as a philosophical concept along the lines of Grice or others who focus on its interaction with grammar and those who are concerned with utterance interpretation. Near-side pragmatics is thought to include such issues as resolution of ambiguity and ambiguity as well as references to proper names, indexicals, demonstratives, anaphors, and presupposition. It is also thought to cover some issues involving specific descriptions.
What is the relationship between pragmatics and semantics?
Pragmatics is the study of meaning within the context of language. It is a component of linguistics that examines the way people utilize language to convey various meanings. It is often compared with semantics, which studies the literal meaning of words in a sentence or larger chunk of discourse.
The relationship between pragmatism and semantics is complex. The most important distinction is that pragmatics takes into account other aspects that are not related to the literal meaning of words, such as the intended meaning as well as the context in which the utterance was spoken. This gives a more nuanced understanding to be formed of the meaning of a phrase. Semantics also focuses on the relationship between words while pragmatics concentrates more on the relationships between the interlocutors and their context features.
In recent decades, neopragmatism has focused heavily on the philosophy of metaphilosophy and language. It has largely abandoned the value theories and metaphysics of classical pragmatism. Some neopragmatists, however, are working on the development of an ethics of metaphysics based on ideas of classical pragmatism about practicality and experiences.
Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and others were among the first to develop classical pragmatism. Both were influential thinkers who published a number of books. Their writings are still widely read today.
Although pragmatism can be considered an alternative to the mainstream analytic and continental philosophical traditions, it is not without its critics. For instance some philosophers have claimed that pragmatism is simply an expression of deconstructionism, and is not really an entirely new philosophical concept.
In addition to these criticisms, pragmatism itself has been challenged by scientific and technological developments. Pragmatists, for example, have struggled with reconciling their beliefs on science and the the theory of evolution which was conceived by Richard Dawkins, a non-pragmatist.
Despite these difficulties, pragmatic method continues to gain popularity around the world. It is a significant third option to the continental and analytic philosophical traditions and has many practical applications. It is a growing field of study. Numerous schools of thought have evolved and incorporated elements of pragmatism within their own philosophy. There are numerous resources available to help you learn more about pragmatism and how you can apply it to your daily life.