Pragmatics and Semantics

Many contemporary philosophical approaches are based on semantics. For example, Brandom focuses on linguistic meaning (albeit from a pragmatic viewpoint).

Others take a more holistic perspective on pragmatics, like relevance theory, which seeks to understand the processes involved in an utterance made by a hearer. This view tends to ignore other aspects of pragmatics, like epistemic discussions on truth.

What is the definition of pragmatism?

Pragmatism provides a different perspective to continental philosophy and pragmatickr analytic philosophy. It was conceived by Charles Sanders Peirce. It was extended by his colleague and friend William James, and later developed by Josiah Royce. It was influential in areas of inquiry ranging from philosophy of science to theology however, it also found a place within the philosophy of ethics as well as philosophy of language, aesthetics, and social theory. The pragmatist tradition continues to develop.

The underlying principle of classical pragmatism is the pragmatic maxim, a rule for defining the significance of hypotheses by exploring their ‘practical implications and their implications for the experience of specific circumstances. This gives rise to an epistemological perspective that is a type of ‘inquiry-based epistemology’, and an anti-Cartesian interpretation of the norms that govern inquiry. The early pragmatists had a split on whether pragmatism was a science-based philosophy that embraced the view that truth is a monism (following Peirce) or a broad alethic pluralitism (James &amp