Pragmatics and Semantics
Many contemporary philosophical approaches focus on semantics. For instance, Brandom focuses on linguistic meaning (albeit from a pragmatist perspective).
Others choose an approach that is more holistic to pragmatics, like relevance theory, which aims to understand how an expression is perceived by the person listening. This approach tends to ignore other elements of pragmatics, like epistemic discussions on truth.
What is pragmatism, exactly?
Pragmatism is a viable alternative to continental philosophy and analytic philosophy. Charles Sanders Peirce initiated the concept, and William James extended it. Later, Josiah Royce developed the philosophy. It had a significant impact on areas of inquiry that span from philosophy of science to theology however, it also found a place within the philosophy of ethics, politics, philosophy of language, aesthetics and social theory. The pragmatist traditions continues to develop.
The fundamental premise of classical pragmatism is the pragmatic maxim, which is a guideline to clarify the meaning of hypotheses by exploring their 'practical implications that they have for experience in specific situations. This creates a distinctive epistemological outlook that is a type of 'inquiry-based epistemology' as well as an anti-Cartesian interpretation of the rules that govern inquiry. The early pragmatists had a split on whether pragmatism was a scientific philosophy that embraced a monism regarding truth (following Peirce) or a broad alethic pluralitism (James and Dewey).
A central issue for philosophers of the pragmatist tradition is understanding knowledge. Rorty is one of the pragmatists who is skeptical of notions of knowledge built on "immediate experiences". Others, like Peirce or James, are skeptical of the correspondence theory, which asserts that the most authentic beliefs are those which accurately represent reality.
Other pragmatism-related issues include the relationship between reality and beliefs as well as the nature of human rationality, the importance of virtues and values and the meaning of life. Pragmatists have also come up with a wide variety of ideas and methods in areas such as semiotics philosophy of language, the philosophy of religion and ethics, philosophy of science and theology. Some, like Peirce or Royce are epistemological relativism, while others contend that this kind of relativism is misguided. The latter half of the 20th century saw the resurgence of interest in classical pragmatics. This led to a myriad of new developments. These include a "near-side" pragmatics which is focused on the resolution of ambiguity indexicals, demonstratives, and anaphors, as well as the "far-side" pragmatics that looks at the semantics in discourses.
What is the connection between what you say and what you do?
Semantics and Pragmatics are often viewed as being on opposite ends of a continuum, with semantics on the close side and pragmatics on the other side. Carston for instance, argues that contemporary pragmatics has at least three principal lines: those who see it as an approach to philosophy that is reminiscent of Grice as well as those who are focused on its interaction with grammar and those who are concerned with the meaning of utterances. Near-side pragmatics is believed to include such issues as clarification of ambiguity or vagueness, reference to proper names, indexicals, demonstratives, anaphors, and presupposition. It is also thought to cover some issues involving specific descriptions.
What is the connection between semantics and pragmatism?
Pragmatics is the study of meaning in language placed within context. It is a part of linguistics which studies the ways people utilize language to convey various meanings. It is often contrasted to semantics, which focuses on the literal meaning of words within a sentence or chunk of discourse.
The relationship between pragmatics, semantics, and their interrelationship is a complex one. The main distinction is that pragmatics takes into account other factors than the literal meaning of words, such as the intended meaning as well as the context in which the utterance was made. This lets a more naive understanding of the meaning of a sentence. Semantics is also restricted to the relationship between words, whereas pragmatics is more concerned with the interlocutors' relationships (people engaged in a conversation) and their contextual characteristics.
In recent decades, pragmatickr neopragmatism has focused heavily on the philosophy of language and metaphilosophy. It has abandoned the value theories and metaphysics of classical pragmatism. However, some neopragmatists have been working to develop a metaethics that draws on the pragmatics of classical pragmatism and experiences.
Charles Sanders Peirce, William James and others were the first to create classical pragmatics. Both were influential thinkers who wrote numerous books. Their writings are widely read today.
While pragmatism is an alternative to the dominant analytic and continental philosophical traditions but it's not without its critics. Certain philosophers, for instance, have said that deconstructionism isn't an original philosophical concept and that pragmatism simply represents an expression.
In addition to these critics, the pragmatism movement was shattered by scientific and technical developments. Pragmatists, for example, have struggled to reconcile their views on science and the development of the theory of evolution which was conceived by Richard Dawkins, a non-pragmatist.
Despite these difficulties, pragmatic approach continues to grow in global popularity. It is a significant third alternative to the analytic and continental philosophical traditions and has many practical applications. It is a rapidly growing area of inquiry, with numerous schools of thought developing and incorporating pragmatism's principles into their own philosophy. If you're looking to learn more about pragmatism, or applying it in your daily life, there are plenty of sources available.