5 Pragmatism

AGENDA CHAPTER 5 Defining Pragmatism Situating Pragmatism Why Study Pragmatism? Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Education Metaphysics Epistemology Axiology Logic Pragmatism’s Educational Implications

Defining Pragmatism It emphasizes the practical application of ideas by testing them in human experience. Questions such as: Does it work? Does it produce the consequences we desired when we acted? (c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

Situating Pragmatism Pragmatism, a philosophy that originated in the United States in the early twentieth century in the work of Charles S. Pierce (1839 -1914), William James (1842-1910), and John Dewey (1859 -1952). (c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

Why Study Pragmatism? The case for studying Pragmatism is among the most direct in that it fits so well with the American outlook and temperament, especially the tendency to action, practicality, and experimentation. (c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Education Pragmatists believe that genuine philosophy needs to be concerned with real, flesh and blood issues that make a concrete difference in human life. Pragmatists discount the idea of the unchanging. For them, the universe is in constant flux and change. (c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Education Epistemology – For Pragmatists such as Dewey, the essential concerns are epistemological questions: How do we know? What is the most accurate way of knowing? Remember, in answering these questions, we cannot turn to a power or a source that is higher than human experience (c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Education Axiology – According to Dewey’s world view, we live in an open-ended universe where everything is changing, relative to particular situations. Pragmatists argue that our values arise as we find satisfactory ways to live that enrich our experience. (c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Education Logic – The logical criteria used by Pragmatists relies on empirical verification, validating ideas that arise in human experience to a scientific and public test. This test requires that our ideas can be stated in terms of their observable and measurable consequences. (c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

Pragmatism’s Educational Implications Genuine educational goals come from within the person, not from some innate spiritual essence as the Idealists claimed, but rather from the person’s own activity in the environment. (c) 2008 Prentice-Hall, All rights reserved.

SUMMARY CHAPTER 5 Defining Pragmatism Situating Pragmatism Why Study Pragmatism? Pragmatism as a Philosophy of Education Metaphysics Epistemology Axiology Logic Pragmatism’s Educational Implications