MEANING
1. Someone who approaches problems by considering actual conditions and workable results rather than relying only on fixed principles.
2. A supporter of a philosophical tradition that tests ideas through their practical meaning and consequences.
Use it for
describing attention to practical feasibility; distinguishing a workable response from rigid adherence to a rule; comparing practical and ideal-driven decision-makingSeparates practical problem-solving from adherence to the philosophical tradition of pragmatism. Academic functions: Theory / Conceptual Language.
Words that belong together
- a political pragmatist
- a committed pragmatist
- a pragmatist approach
On the page
The pragmatist asks which reform can operate under the existing constraints.
A pragmatist can retain ethical commitments while revising the means used to pursue them.
The chapter examines the pragmatist’s account of inquiry rather than merely praising a practical attitude.
A philosophical pragmatist treats consequences as relevant to understanding and testing ideas, not as permission to believe whatever is convenient.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- pragmatist
Usage notes
Countable noun: pragmatist, pragmatists. Also an adjective for a pragmatic or philosophical pragmatist approach. No routine comparative or superlative. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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