Pragmatics and Semantics

A lot of contemporary philosophical theories focus on semantics. For instance, Brandom focuses on linguistic meaning (albeit from a pragmatist perspective).

Others adopt an approach that is more holistic to pragmatics, such as relevance theory, which seeks to determine how an utterance is understood by the hearer. However, this method tends to neglect other elements of pragmatism, such as epistemic debates over truth.

What is pragmatism, exactly?

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

The core of classical pragmatism is the pragmatic maxim, which is a guideline to clarify the meaning of hypotheses through investigating their ‘practical consequences’ - their implications for the experience of specific situations. This leads to an epistemological view that is a type of ‘inquiry-based epistemology’ as well as an anti-Cartesian explication of the norms that govern inquiry. Early pragmatists, however, largely split over the question of whether pragmatism should conceive 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).

How to understand knowledge is a central question for pragmatics. Rorty is one pragmatist who is skeptical of any 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 that holds that the most authentic beliefs are those that represent reality ‘correctly’.

Pragmatism also focuses on the relationship between reality, beliefs, and human rationality. It also examines the role of virtues and values, and the purpose and meaning of life. Pragmatists have also developed a range of ideas and methods that include semiotics and philosophy of language. They also study areas like philosophy of religion, philosophy, theology, ethics, and science. Some, such as Peirce and Royce, are epistemological relativists. However, 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 number new developments. This includes the concept of a “near-side” pragmatics that is focused on the resolution of ambiguity, indexicals, demonstratives, and anaphors, as well as a “far-side” pragmatics which analyzes the semantics in discourses.

What is the connection between what you say and what you do?

Semantics and Pragmatics are regarded as being at opposite ends of the continuum. On the close side, semantics is considered and pragmatics is located on the far side. Carston for instance argues that contemporary pragmatics has at least three principal lines: those who see 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 the interpretation of utterances. Near-side pragmatics is believed to include issues like clarification of ambiguity or vagueness in reference to proper names, indexicals, pragmatickr demonstratives, anaphors, and presupposition. It is also believed to cover some questions that require precise descriptions.

What is the relation between pragmatism and semantics?

Pragmatics is the study of meaning within language placed within context. It is a subset of linguistics and examines how people use words to convey different meanings. It is often compared with semantics, which studies the literal meaning of words within a sentence or chunk of conversation.

The relationship between pragmatism, semantics and their interrelationships is a complex one. The primary difference is that pragmatics considers other factors than 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 naive understanding of the meaning behind an utterance. Semantics also focuses on the relationship between words, whereas pragmatics is more concerned with the interactions between interlocutors (people who are in an exchange) and their contextual characteristics.

In recent years, neopragmatism has focused heavily on the philosophy of metaphilosophy and language. This has mostly departed from the metaphysics of classical pragmatism as well as value theory. However, some neopragmatists are currently working on an ethics of metaphysics based on concepts of classical pragmatism regarding practicality and experiences.

Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and others were among the first to introduce classical pragmatism. Both were influential thinkers who wrote a number books. Their works are still well-read in the present.

Although pragmatism can be a good alternative to the continental and analytic philosophical mainstream, it’s not without its critics. Some philosophers, like, have said that deconstructionism isn’t an original philosophical concept and that pragmatism is simply an expression.

In addition to these critics pragmatism was challenged by scientific and technical developments. For instance, pragmatists have 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 the pragmatism movement continues to grow in popularity across the globe. It is a third alternative to Continental and analytic philosophical traditions, and has many practical applications. It is a rapidly growing field of study and has many schools of thought developing and incorporating aspects of pragmatism into their own philosophy. If you’re looking to learn more about pragmatism or using it in your day-to-day life, there are plenty of sources available.