Philosophy & ThoughtGreek → English
Pragmatism
/ˈpræɡmətɪzəm/noun
The philosophical view that the meaning and truth of ideas lie in their practical consequences, or simply a preference for what works.
The Greek roots
πρᾶγμα
prâgma
deed, thing done
Literally: “doctrine of the deed”
Follow a root:πρᾶγμα3 words
The story of the word
πρᾶγμα is a thing done, from πράσσειν, to act, the same verb behind practice and praxis. Charles Sanders Peirce put the philosophical term into circulation and William James made it public in 1898, crediting Peirce. Peirce disliked what James did with it enough to rename his own version pragmaticism, a word he judged ugly enough to be safe from kidnappers.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → German → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
practicalpraxispragmaticpractice
In a sentence
The coalition held together on pragmatism, not on any shared principle.