Pragmatics and Semantics
A lot of contemporary philosophical theories are based on semantics. Brandom, for example, focuses on the meaning of words (albeit from a pragmatic perspective).
Others take a more holistic approach to pragmatics, like relevance theory, which seeks to study the underlying processes involved in an utterance made by a listener. This view tends to ignore other elements of pragmatics, such as epistemic discussions about truth.
What is pragmatism, exactly?
Pragmatism provides a different perspective to continental philosophy and analytic philosophy. It was developed by Charles Sanders Peirce and extended by his colleague and friend 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 and politics, as well as the philosophy of language. The pragmatist tradition continues to grow.
The pragmatic maxim is at the center of classical pragmatism. It is a principle that clarifies the meaning of hypotheses via their 'practical implications' or their implications for the experiences of specific situations. This leads to an epistemological view that is a form of 'inquiry epistemology' based on inquiry, and an anti Cartesian explanation of the norms governing inquiry. Early pragmatists, however, were largely divided on the issue of whether pragmatism ought to think of itself as a scientific philosophy that is based on a monism regarding truth (following Peirce), or a broad-based alethic pluralism (James and Dewey).
A central issue for pragmatist philosophers is how to understand knowledge. Rorty is one of the pragmatists who is skeptical of notions of knowledge that are based on 'immediate experiences'. Others, such as Peirce and James, are sceptical of the theory of correspondence that claims to be true, according to which true beliefs are those that reflect reality in a 'correct' way.
Pragmatism also addresses the relationship between beliefs, reality, and human rationality. It also examines the role of values and virtues and the meaning and purpose of our lives. Pragmatists also developed a variety of theories and methods including those in semiotics and pragmatickr philosophy of language. They also have explored topics like philosophy of religion, philosophy, ethics, science and theology. Some, like Peirce or Royce are epistemological relativism. However, others claim that this relativism is a mistake. The latter half of the 20th century saw the resurgence of interest in classical pragmatics. This resulted in a variety of new developments. These include the concept of a "near-side" pragmatics that is concerned with the resolution of ambiguity, indexicals, demonstratives and anaphors as well as the "far-side" pragmatics that examines the semantics of discourses.
What is the connection between what you say and what you do?
Semantics and Pragmatics can be seen as being on opposite ends of the continuum. On the near side, semantics is seen as a concept, whereas pragmatics is located on the far side. Carston for instance, claims that modern pragmatics follows 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 utterance interpretation. Near-side pragmatics encompasses questions like the resolution of unclearness as well as the use of proper names, indexicals, demonstratives, presupposition, and anaphoras. It is also believed to encompass issues that involve definite descriptions.
What is the relationship between pragmatism and semantics?
The study of pragmatics is the study and application of meanings in a language context. It is an aspect of linguistics that examines the way that people use words to convey different meanings. It is often compared to semantics, which studies the literal meaning of words within a sentence or chunk of conversation.
The relationship between semantics and pragmatism is not simple. The major distinction is that pragmatics takes into account other factors than literal meanings of words, such as the intended meaning and context the statement was made. This gives a more nuanced understanding of the meaning of a sentence. Semantics is also restricted to the relationship between words, whereas pragmatics is more concerned with the interactions between interlocutors (people engaged in an exchange) and their contextual characteristics.
In recent decades the neopragmatism movement been heavily focusing on metaphilosophy as well as the philosophy of language. In this way, it has largely abandoned the metaphysics of classical pragmatism as well as value theory. However, some neopragmatists are trying to create a metaethics based on classical pragmatism's ideas of pragmatics and experience.
Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and others were the first to introduce classical pragmatism. Both were influential thinkers and wrote a variety of books. Their works are still widely thought of today.
Although pragmatism can be considered an alternative to the dominant analytic and continental philosophical traditions however, it does not come without its critics. For example some philosophers have claimed that pragmatism is simply a form of deconstructionism and is not truly an entirely new philosophical concept.
In addition to these criticisms, pragmatism has been questioned by technological and scientific advancements. For instance, pragmatists have struggled with reconciling their beliefs on science and the development of evolution theory that was created by Richard Dawkins, a non-pragmatist.
Despite these difficulties the pragmatism movement continues to grow in popularity across the globe. It is an important third option to the continental and analytic philosophical traditions and has many practical applications. It is a growing field of study and has many schools of thought forming and incorporating aspects of pragmatism into their own philosophy. If you are looking to learn more about pragmatism or incorporating it in your daily life, there are many resources available.