pragmatism
prag·ma·tism
noun \ˈprag-mə-ˌti-zəm\Definition of PRAGMATISM
1
: a practical approach to problems and affairs <tried to strike a balance between principles and pragmatism>
2
: an American movement in philosophy founded by C. S. Peirce and William James and marked by the doctrines that the meaning of conceptions is to be sought in their practical bearings, that the function of thought is to guide action, and that truth is preeminently to be tested by the practical consequences of belief
— prag·ma·tist \-mə-tist\ adjective or noun
— prag·ma·tis·tic \ˌprag-mə-ˈtis-tik\ adjective
Examples of PRAGMATISM
- The right person for the job will balance vision with pragmatism.
- To put it rather more crudely, he is trying to sell his integrationist and reformist agenda using traditionalist legal wrappings. It is, of course, this pragmatism, which sometimes comes across as slippery casuistry, that so annoys his critics. —Malise Ruthven, New York Review of Books, 16 Aug. 2007
- These are books without slogans, manuals that favor subtlety over simplicity, moderation over bombast, pragmatism over ideology. —Jonathan Tepperman, New York Times Book Review, 16 Oct 2005
- … compromise (or better yet, its spirit) symbolizes the necessary pragmatism expected of politics in a pluralist society. —Jack N. Rakove, Original Meanings …, 1996
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Origin of PRAGMATISM
(see pragmatic)
First Known Use: circa 1864
Rhymes with PRAGMATISM
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