Someone asked a really good question in section yesterday and I thought I would take the time to address it here…
Pragmatism (according to Prof. Huang): Philosophical movement which holds that both the meaning and truth of any idea is a function of its practical outcome. The example given in class was about a man adrift in a hot air balloon. He then sees a man below him and the man in the balloon asks him “where am I?” The ground-based man responded with “well you seem to be in the air.” This is an example of what the pragmatists would call a “true but useless proposition.” The ideal pragmatist is someone that gives you the answer that is the most practical at any given moment. For example, the ground-based man should have said “you are in Holland,” and thus given the balloon-man a practical response based on his location, not based on the obvious.
If you guys have any other ways of defining this rather difficult philosophical concept, please feel free to post them!
The Modernist Circle 