PHILO-120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Tabula Rasa, John Dewey
28 Oct 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Philo 120
Introduction to Philosophy
Class Notes
TOPIC: THE PHILOSOPHY OF PRAGMATISM.
● It comes from the Greek word pragma which means work.
● It is a philosophy that judges all things in-terms of their practical consequences.
● It holds the view that for anything to be called knowledge it should produce physical
observable/tangible change in things.
● True knowledge of anything depends upon verification of ideas in actual experience.
● Only those things that are experienced/observed are real.
● Pragmatism encourages processes that allow individuals to do those things that lead to
desirable ends/outcomes.
● It is a 20th century philosophy that examines traditional ways of thinking and doing things,
and then reconstructs them to fit modern life.
● It is founded on science and technology and is mainly interested in the material benefits of
practical usefulness of an activity that is undertaken.
● It is a philosophy that is pre-occupied with the consequences/ the utility of ideas.
PRAGMATIST VIEWS ON METAPHYISCS.
● Pragmatists agree with the realists that the physical world exists in its own right not as
merely a projection of the mind.
● Unlike realists they neither believe that this world is permanent nor that it exists
independent of the human mind.
● They believe that reality is not permanent; everything is in a constant state of flux (change).
● The world we experience is a growing, changing and developing thing.
● The universe is dynamic and evolving.
● Pragmatist say reality is the totality of individual experience.
● Man to them is an experiencing organism that can-not exist without his environment.
● Man depends on other organisms for survival as he is the highest form of organism in the
environment.
● Man depends on experience to understand the environment.
● Man has the high intelligence to use/manipulate the environment.
PRAGMATIST VIEWS ON EPISTEMOLOGY.
● The mind discovers values in the same way it discovers knowledge i.e. through experience.
● There is no absolute and unchanging truth but rather truth is what works for us.
● Truth is relative and subject to change.
● This is so because human intelligence proposes hypothesis in order to explain/solve
problems.
● This maybe done through collection of data to support these hypotheses.
● Hypothesis that solve problems are then regarded as true but resolutions to problems may
change as new methods emerge.
● This therefore means that there is no absolute truth i.e. truth is relative.
● What this means is that values change as situations change.
● They also say that values are relative, man and his needs determine what is valuable.
● Values express man’s desires and needs.
MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS IN PRAGAMATISM.
Document Summary
It comes from the greek word pragma which means work. It is a philosophy that judges all things in-terms of their practical consequences. It holds the view that for anything to be called knowledge it should produce physical observable/tangible change in things. True knowledge of anything depends upon verification of ideas in actual experience. Only those things that are experienced/observed are real. Pragmatism encourages processes that allow individuals to do those things that lead to desirable ends/outcomes. It is a 20th century philosophy that examines traditional ways of thinking and doing things, and then reconstructs them to fit modern life. It is founded on science and technology and is mainly interested in the material benefits of practical usefulness of an activity that is undertaken. It is a philosophy that is pre-occupied with the consequences/ the utility of ideas. Pragmatists agree with the realists that the physical world exists in its own right not as merely a projection of the mind.
