Pragmatics and Semantics

Many of the current pragmatics theories based on philosophy focus on semantics. Brandom, for example, focuses on the significance of words (albeit from a pragmatic viewpoint).

Others adopt a more holistic approach to pragmatics, such as relevance theory, which attempts to study the underlying processes involved in an utterance made by a listener. But this approach tends to ignore other aspects of pragmatism, such as epistemic debates on truth.

What 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 friend and colleague William James, and later developed by Josiah Royce. It had a significant impact on areas of inquiry ranging from theology to philosophy of science however, it also found its place in the philosophy of ethics, 프라그마틱 슬롯 politics, aesthetics, philosophy of language, and social theory. The pragmatist traditions continues to develop.

The fundamental premise of classical pragmatism is the pragmatic maxim, which is a guideline to clarify the meaning of hypotheses through tracing their ‘practical consequences’ - their implications for specific situations. This creates an epistemological perspective that is a kind of ‘inquiry-based epistemology’ as well as an anti-Cartesian explanation of the norms that govern inquiry. Early pragmatists, however, largely split over the question of whether pragmatism ought to think of itself as a philosophical system that focuses on a monism of truth (following Peirce), or a broad-based alethic pluralism (James and Dewey).

A central issue for philosophers who are pragmatists is understanding what knowledge actually is. Rorty is one pragmatist who is skeptical of notions of knowledge that are based on ‘immediate experiences’. Others, like Peirce or James are skeptical of the theory of correspondence, which asserts that the most authentic beliefs are those which accurately reflect reality.

Other pragmatism-related issues include the relationship between belief and reality, the nature of human rationality, the significance of virtues and values and the significance of life. Pragmatists have also developed a broad range of methods and ideas in fields like semiotics and philosophy of language, the philosophy of religion and philosophy of science, ethics and theology. Some, like Peirce and Royce, are epistemological relativists, whereas others contend that this kind of relativity is a serious misguided idea. The late 20th century saw an increase in 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. There is also the “far-side” pragmatics that looks at the semantics in discourses.

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

Semantics and Pragmatics are often thought of as being on opposite sides of the continuum with semantics on the close side and pragmatics on the far side. Carston for instance asserts that there are at a minimum three main kinds of pragmatics in the present people who view it as a philosophy along the lines of Grice and others