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The Interpretations of Cs Peirce, William James And JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS ISSN-2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 03, 2020 PRAGMATISM: THE INTERPRETATIONS OF C.S. PEIRCE, WILLIAM JAMES AND JOHN DEWEY Dipankar Das1, Kangkana Nath2, Violeena Barman3, Barsha Hazarika4 1Ex-Student, Dept. of Philosophy, Gauhati University, 2PhD Research Scholar, Dept. of Philosophy, Gauhati University, 3PGT, Dept. of Philosophy, Swadeshi Academy, 4Contractual Faculty, Biswanath College, Assam. India. ABSTRACT: Pragmatism is like the bridge between materialism and idealism. Many people from Europe migrate to America. Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the United States around 1870.Being troubled by social revolution and economic tolerance. Old ideas and traditions are imperfect for people. So, at that time some thinkers give birth to new ideas. These ideas were the doctrine of pragmatism. These ideas have not changed the base of human life. But influence their life and philosophy.Pragmatism gives no importance to impracticable things. Purpose should be fulfilled.These ideas attracted the attention of the society. Even in education attention to be given to practical and usefulness. This philosophy induces useful and practical work. Education basis on this philosophy make child skilled, worthy and independent citizen of the society. Education contains practical and useful activities to make child self-development and useful member of the society. KEYWORDS: pragmatism, philosophical tradition, human life, education, practical. I.INTRODUCTION: The word ‘pragmatism' 'comes’ from Greek word 'pragma' which means ‘action' or ‘activity’. According to pragmatism, it is necessary to create atmosphere according to present situation and it is necessary to divert towards useful channels. Human minds are capable of fulfilling their minds on the basis of this truth. Again, we can understand it as- Idea/matter | Utility/use (practical use) | Right/valuable. According to Idealism, god is the Ultimate Reality; according to materialism, matter is the ultimate reality. Pragmatism is the bridge of both. Is believing in god is utilised and useful then God exist and if it is not then god does not exist. We can take any things which have practical value. The criterion of pragmatism is of practical use. The base of pragmatism is realism. Pragmatism and realism have some both similarities and dissimilarities. The dissimilarities between pragmatism and realism are given below- (i) Pragmatism is about what you do and why you do it. Acting on the basis of expected consequences is being pragmatic; acting on the basis of Ideas is not pragmatic. On the other hand, realism is about the beliefs you hold. And realistic beliefs can be excessively optimistic or excessively pessimistic. (ii) Pragmatism gives importance on practical use of a thing. On the other hand, reality gives importance on reality of a thing. (iii) Pragmatism focuses on utility. Butrealism see things as it is. 1684 JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS ISSN-2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 03, 2020 Though they have some dissimilarities realism without pragmatism and pragmatism without realism is incomplete. Reality and practicality both are connected. About the universe- the universe according to pragmatism is how? Is it ideal or material? According to pragmatism what is useful for us or what have the practical value is true. The world is changing. In the world everything is uncertain. The things which are useful for us have pragmatic value. Pragmatic philosophers- Pragmatism is an American Movement in Philosophy founded by C.S.Peirce and William James and marked by the doctrine that the meaning of conception is to sought practical bearings, that the function of thought is to guide action and the truth is permanently to be tested by the practical consequences of belief. A pragmatist easily accepts theory as mostly true if it appears to be useful in explaining pre-predicting the world. Pragmatism is a philosophical school founded in the 19th century by philosophers and scientist who oppose the modern metaphysics (Hegel)and the dichotomy of practice/theory (Aristotle, Kant).The founding fathers are Peirce, William James, John Dewey, Herbert Mead(1850-1950) and new pragmatist are Richard Rotary, Putnam,Quine,Goodman(1950-2000). Principles of pragmatism- (i)Believes in change. (ii) Pragmatism gives importance to action. (iii) Pragmatism gives importance to experience. (iv) Pragmatism gives importance on experimentation. (v) It believes on present. (vi) Truth is formed by its result. Aim of education according to pragmatism- (i)It gives importance to activity base learning. (ii)Development of activity and experience base learning. (iii)Child is focus (according to idealism teacher is focus). (iv)It supports social adjustment. (v)It talks about creation of good and new values. Method of teaching– (i)Project method. (ii)Correlation method. (iii)Play way method (iv)Experimentation method (v)Activity method. (According to pragmatism teachers should be observer, friend, guide and philosopher. It gives lot of freedom to students. It talks about self-discipline.) Curriculum- (i) Principle of child centeredness. (ii) Curriculum should be activity based. (iii) Learning should be based on child experience. (iv) Principle of utility. Main forms of pragmatism – 1) Humanistic pragmatism 2) Experimental pragmatism 3) Biological pragmatism. The explanation of these are given below- 1) Humanistic pragmatism- This Pragmatism found in social science. Satisfaction of human nature is the criteria of utility. Satisfaction of men's Desire and ones is the essence of this Philosophy 2) Experimental pragmatism - Modern science is based on experimental method. No truth is final. On the basis of experiment truth is acceptable and useful. The benchmark of in every field of life. Problems can be solved through experiment. 3) Biological pragmatism- It is a harmony of man with his environment. John Dewey’s experimental pragmatism is based on biological pragmatism. It develops social skills. Finding solution on problems by creating proper environment is the main gist of this philosophy. Metaphysics of pragmatism According to William James “pragmatism is a temple of mind, an attitude, it is also a theory of the nature of ideas and truth and finally it is theory about reality”. Believe in knowledge quotes field through sense of organs. No faith is ultimate reality. Questions related to nature of man, universe cannot be answered. It says- A) No faith in ultimate reality B) Truth is not a stagnant property. 1685 JOURNAL OF CRITICAL REVIEWS ISSN-2394-5125 VOL 7, ISSUE 03, 2020 C) Reality is still in making. D) Truth is human made. E) Not believe in spiritual values. Epistemology of pragmatism – A) Knowledge based on experience is true. B) Recreation of experience is knowledge. C) Sense of organs is based on knowledge D)Main element of knowledge is experience E)Experience is knowledge. Axiology of pragmatism – (i)Values is not stagnate. (ii)Values change according to time and space (iii)No faith in beliefs (iv)It believe in confidence in flexibility (v)It believes that values of life is changeable. Some basic principles of pragmatism– (i) Practicability and usefulness. (ii)Truth is changeable. (iii)Aims and ideals of life is changeable. (iv)Blind following is not found. (v) Acceptance of the method of science. (vi)Favour of giving education for social life. (vii)Positive science (physics, chemistry, biology). (viii)Man is an active being. (ix)No absolute values of life. (x)Emphasis on change. (xii)Emphasis on social aspects. (xiii)They can make their own value. II. LITERATURE REVIEW: Hausman, C. (1993). Charles S. Pierce's Evolutionary Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (This book emphasizes the theory of pragmatism of Charles S. Pierce. It specially gives importance on his metaphysical writings.) Haack, S. (2006). Pragmatism, Old and New. Prometheus Books. (This book is a survey of the origin and evolution of the pragmatist tradition in Philosophy from beginnings in the late nineteenth century through twentieth.) Moore, E. C. (1961). American Pragmatism: Pierce, James, and Dewey. New York: Columbia University Press. (This book is an advanced introductory work to Pierce, James and Dewey. The book can be used as a commentary or introduction or text describing pragmatism and instrumentalism.) Gallie, W. (1966). Pierce and Pragmatism. Dover Publications. (This book emphasises upon the pragmatist doctrine of Pierce. Throughout the book we find that Pierce rejected William James theory of truth.) Stroh,G.W.(1968). American philosophy from Edwards to Deweyan Introduction. Princeton, N.J. (This book gives overall view of Pragmatism of the pragmatist philosophers.) III. METHODOLOGY: Methodology in this paper is mainly analytic and descriptive. While preparing this paper both primary and secondary data is used. Necessary information has also been taken from available books, articles and journals. The primary books mainly based on the Pragmatic philosophy of the Philosophers namely John Dewey, William James and C. S. Pierce. The secondary sources gave us a glimpse of the different perspectives from which pragmatism can be defined. It also depicts the critical interpretation of various pragmatic philosophers, each criticising another’s philosophy and establishing their own ground of pragmatic Philosophy. IV.DISCUSSION: C.S. Peirce: Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) was an American Philosopher and also known as the founder of Pragmatism and for his influence upon later pragmatists such as William James
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