Pragmatism in philosophy arises in the 70s of the XIX century, the main ideas of the current were expressed by Charles Pierce. The pragmatists believed that they had completely reformed philosophy, abandoning its basic principles and deciding to use their own approach to considering human life. The fundamental idea of the flow is a practical attitude towards the life of each individual. Pragmatism in philosophy, in short, offers not to waste time on solving theoretical problems that have nothing to do with reality, but to be interested only in human, urgent problems and consider everything from the point of view of one's own benefit.
As mentioned above, the founder of the movement was Charles Pierce. It is important to note that his philosophical teaching is not limited to pragmatism and its justification. Peirce says that thinking is necessary solely for the development of a stable belief, that is, a conscious willingness to act in one way or another in each specific case. Knowledge in his philosophy is not a transition from ignorance to knowledge, but a movement from doubt to firm belief. Peirce believes that a belief is true if the actionbased on it leads to the corresponding practical result. The so-called "Pearce principle" determines all pragmatism in philosophy, the whole essence of human ideas is exhausted by the real (practical) results that can be drawn from them. Also from the teachings of Pierce, three main ideas of direction follow:
- thinking is the achievement of subjective psychological satisfaction;
- truth is what manifests itself in the form of a practical result;
- things are a collection of practical consequences.
William James, a follower of Pierce's ideas, says that each person has his own philosophy. Reality is multifaceted, and each individual has his own way of perceiving it, and the combination of all these ways leads to the creation of a pluralistic picture of the world. Truth is that which, more than anything else, fits a particular life situation and is most consistent with the experience of each individual person. Pragmatism in the philosophy of James also takes as a basis the perception of truth as something that has a practical implementation. His famous quote: "Truth is a banknote that is valid only under certain conditions."
Modern Western philosophy regards John Dewey's pragmatism as the teaching of the entire trend that had the greatest influence on the United States. Dewey claimed to be creating the philosophy of a democratic society. He developed the theory of scientific research, but at the same timescience in his teaching is only a method by which people take the most optimal actions. Objective knowledge of the world is impossible. Cognition is an active intervention of the subject in the research process, an experiment on an object. Thinking is used to solve problem situations. Reality is created in the process of scientific research. Various products of the activity of society (laws, ideas) do not reflect reality, but serve to obtain practical benefits in a particular situation.
