topic contemporary ★ seed

Pragmatism

America's original philosophy (1870s onward). Truth is what works — ideas are tools for navigating experience. Peirce, James, Dewey. Anti-foundationalist, pluralist, meliorist. Later revived by Rorty, Putnam, and Brandom.

#pragmatism #truth-as-utility #american #anti-foundationalism

Sub-topics

William James concept

William James (1842-1910). Pragmatism, radical empiricism, The Varieties of Religious Experience. Truth is what 'works' in practice. Stream of consciousness. Father of American psychology and pragmatist philosophy.

John Dewey concept

John Dewey (1859-1952). Democracy and Education. Instrumentalism — inquiry is problem-solving, not mirror-of-nature. Experience is interaction with environment. Progressive education, public philosophy, democratic experimentalism.