Pragmatism

Pragmatism is an approach that assesses ideas and policies by their practical consequences and willingness to be revised in light of experience.

Pragmatic maxim: A rule for clarifying a concept by identifying the practical effects its object would have under conceivable circumstances. It gives pragmatism a method for making the meaning of an idea answerable to experience.
Charles Sanders Peirce: An American philosopher and logician who formulated the pragmatic maxim and helped found pragmatism. Peirce made practical effects a disciplined tool for clarifying concepts.
Abduction: Inference that proposes a plausible explanation for surprising observations. Peirce treated abduction as the opening move in inquiry when experience presents a problem.
Correspondence theory of truth: The theory that a statement is true when it corresponds to reality or the facts. It makes truth depend on representation, a standard pragmatists reinterpret or resist.
Progressive education: An educational approach emphasizing active learning, experience, problem-solving, and student participation. Dewey's pragmatism informed teaching that treats learning as inquiry rather than passive reception.
Fallibilism: The view that beliefs can be mistaken and that certainty is rarely or never absolute. It explains why pragmatic conclusions remain open to correction.
William James: An American philosopher and psychologist who developed pragmatism as a theory of truth and a method for resolving disputes. James brought pragmatism to questions about belief, religion, and lived experience.
Deduction: Inference in which a conclusion follows necessarily from stated premises. In Peirce's account, deduction works out what an explanatory hypothesis would predict.
Coherence theory of truth: The theory that a statement is true insofar as it coheres with a consistent system of beliefs. Its emphasis on systematic consistency differs from pragmatism's focus on inquiry and consequences.
Deliberative democracy: A model of democracy in which public decisions gain legitimacy through inclusive reasoning and discussion. Dewey's account of democracy connects collective problem-solving with revisable public judgment.

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