Pragmatics and Semantics
Many modern philosophical perspectives are based on semantics. For example, Brandom focuses on linguistic meaning (albeit from a pragmatic perspective).
Others take a more holistic approach to pragmatics, like relevance theory, which seeks to explore how an utterance is understood by the hearer. But this approach tends to neglect other elements of pragmatism like epistemic debates about truth.
What exactly is pragmatism?
Pragmatism offers an alternative to continental philosophy and analytic philosophy. It was developed by Charles Sanders Peirce. It was extended by his colleague and friend William James, and later developed by Josiah Royce. It had a profound effect on areas of inquiry from philosophy of theology to philosophy of science as well as ethics, politics and philosophy of language. The pragmatist tradition continues to grow.
The pragmatic maxim is at the center of classical pragmatics. It is a principle that clarifies the meaning of hypotheses via their 'practical implications', or their implications for the experiences of particular situations. This is the basis for an epistemological view that is a form 'inquiry epistemology based on inquiry' and an anti Cartesian explanation of the norms that govern inquiry. Early pragmatists, however, largely split over the question of whether pragmatism should conceive of itself as a philosophical system that adopts a monism about truth (following Peirce), or a broad-based alethic pluralism (James and Dewey).
How to comprehend knowledge is the main concern for pragmatics. Rorty is one pragmatist who is skeptical of theories of knowledge that are founded on 'immediate experience'. Others, like Peirce or James, are skeptical of the theory of correspondence, which asserts that the most authentic beliefs are those that accurately reflect reality.
Other issues in pragmatism include the relationship between beliefs and reality, the nature of human rationality, the significance of values and virtues, and the nature of life. Pragmatists have also developed a broad range of theories and methods in fields such as semiotics, philosophy of language, philosophy of religion as well as philosophy of science, ethics and theology. Some, such as Peirce or Royce are epistemological relativism, whereas others claim that this relativism is a mistake. A resurgence of the classical pragmatism movement in the late 20th century has resulted in a myriad of new developments, including a 'near-side' pragmatism that is concerned with the resolution of confusion and ambiguity, the reference of proper names, indexicals, demonstratives and anaphors and a 'far side' pragmatics that looks at the semantics of discourses.
What is the relationship between what is said and what happens?
Semantics and Pragmatics can be viewed as being on opposite ends of the continuum. On the close side, semantics is considered and pragmatics is on the far side. Carston, for instance, asserts that modern pragmatics has at least three principal lines: those who view it as an approach to philosophy that is reminiscent of Grice and those who concentrate on its interaction with grammar, and those who are concerned about utterance interpretation. Near-side pragmatics is believed include such issues as clarification of ambiguity or vagueness as well as references to proper names, indexicals, demonstratives, anaphors and presupposition. It is also believed to address some issues that involve definite descriptions.
What is the connection between pragmatics and semantics?
The study of pragmatics is the study and application of meanings in a language context. It is a subset of linguistics and examines the way that people use words to convey different meanings. It is often compared with semantics, which studies the literal meaning of words within a sentence or larger chunk of speech.
The relationship between pragmatism, semantics and their interrelationships is complicated. The primary difference is that pragmatics considers other factors that go beyond the literal meaning of words, like the intended meaning and the context in which an utterance was said. This gives a more naive understanding of the meaning of an utterance. Semantics also focuses on the relationship between words, while pragmatics is more concerned with the interactions between interlocutors (people who are in conversations) and their contextual aspects.
In recent years the neopragmatism movement been heavily focusing on metaphilosophy and the philosophy of language. It has largely abandoned the value theories and metaphysics of classical pragmatism. However, some neopragmatists are developing an ethics that draws from the pragmatics of classical pragmatism and experience.
Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and others were the first to create classical pragmatics. Both were influential thinkers who wrote numerous books. Their works are still popular in the present.
Although pragmatism can be considered an alternative to the dominant philosophical traditions of continental and analytic however, it does not come without its critics. Some philosophers, like, have claimed that deconstructionism isn't an entirely new philosophy and that pragmatism merely represents an expression.
In addition to these criticisms, pragmatism itself has been challenged by technological and Pragmatickr scientific advances. For instance, pragmatists struggled to reconcile their views regarding science with the advancement of evolutionary theory, which was created by a non-pragmatist, Richard Dawkins.
Despite these challenges, pragmatism is still growing in popularity across the globe. It is a third alternative to analytic and Continental philosophical traditions, and it has a variety of practical applications. It is a growing field of study. Numerous schools of thought have developed and incorporated pragmatism elements in their own philosophy. If you are interested in learning more about pragmatism, or applying it in your day-to-day life, there are many sources available.