Pragmatism as a Philosophy :: Skepticism, Rationalism, Metaphysics

I go often hear mess use the word pragmatic to describe actions, laws or feelings, moreover I never really disembodied spirited at pragmatism as a school of thought before. As we studied this semester I name myself asking ace foreland about each philosophy we covered. We discussed skepticism and the claim that we sop up no knowledge (Lawhead, W., The Philosophical Journey, 2009, p. 55). We compared rationalism and empiricism which posit that we do take aim knowledge, only disagree on whether that knowledge comes from intellect or sleep together (Lawhead, p. 55). Along with that we covered Kants attempt bridge the happy chance betwixt rationalism and empiricism, known as constructivism (Lawhead, p. 120). We moved on to the contrasting varieties of relativism, and I still found myself asking the uni random variable thing. So what? In an some other(prenominal) words, does any of this really matter? Then we got to pragmatism, and I found that it a sked the same question. Pragmatism looks for the hardheaded encourage of a belief. If I look at the other subjects we pose studied pragmatically, I can learn which ideas have the most value to me.Apart from the epistemological philosophies, a nonher area we have also covered is metaphysics. Within metaphysics we have covered dualism and devil forms of monism, physicalism and idealism. Each of these beliefs deal with what reality actually is. Idealism claims thither is iodine type of reality and that it is mental or spiritual in temper (Lawhead, p. 97). If, as Berkeley claims, matter is a unserviceable concept (Lawhead, p. 206), it would be useless for us to canvas manipulating the world around us. Since we do try to put off our world, Berkeleys idealism does not work with how we live. It is not practical. The other form of monism, materialism, more specifically sensualism, may hold more practical value than idealism. In materialism, reality is entirely physical (Lawhead, p. 205). Physicalism is a materialist prospect that the disposition can be completely explained by the physical physical composition of the brain (Lawhead, p. 214). This has practical value because it leads to the ability to study the mind, and allows the mind to act with the rest of the world. This form of monism seems to be the more practical of the two, but monism is not the only way to look at reality.Pragmatism as a Philosophy Skepticism, Rationalism, Metaphysics I have often heard people use the word pragmatic to describe actions, laws or feelings, but I never really looked at pragmatism as a philosophy before. As we studied this semester I found myself asking one question about each philosophy we covered. We discussed skepticism and the claim that we have no knowledge (Lawhead, W., The Philosophical Journey, 2009, p. 55). We compared rationalism and empiricism which posit that we do have knowledge, but disagree on whether that knowledge comes f rom intellect or experience (Lawhead, p. 55). Along with that we covered Kants attempt bridge the gap between rationalism and empiricism, known as constructivism (Lawhead, p. 120). We moved on to the different varieties of relativism, and I still found myself asking the same thing. So what? In other words, does any of this really matter? Then we got to pragmatism, and I found that it asked the same question. Pragmatism looks for the practical value of a belief. If I look at the other subjects we have studied pragmatically, I can determine which ideas have the most value to me.Apart from the epistemological philosophies, another area we have also covered is metaphysics. Within metaphysics we have covered dualism and two forms of monism, materialism and idealism. Each of these beliefs deal with what reality actually is. Idealism claims there is one type of reality and that it is mental or spiritual in nature (Lawhead, p. 97). If, as Berkeley claims, matter is a useless concept (Lawhea d, p. 206), it would be useless for us to try manipulating the world around us. Since we do try to manipulate our world, Berkeleys idealism does not work with how we live. It is not practical. The other form of monism, materialism, more specifically physicalism, may hold more practical value than idealism. In materialism, reality is entirely physical (Lawhead, p. 205). Physicalism is a materialist view that the mind can be completely explained by the physical makeup of the brain (Lawhead, p. 214). This has practical value because it leads to the ability to study the mind, and allows the mind to interact with the rest of the world. This form of monism seems to be the more practical of the two, but monism is not the only way to look at reality.