Tuesday, November 25, 2008
On Pragmatism
I've given a little thought to the idea of pragmatism. If we say someone is "pragmatic," we mean that they support "what works." Well, one would hope that everyone is a pragmatist, then. But is that what a pragmatist really is? It seems to me that those we call pragmatists in politics are only interested in finding out "what works" to get them elected. Any politician who was actually interested in what works would be a supporter of the market system and would oppose almost all government involvement and interference in that system. I also doubt there would be much support for the current laws, the way we deal with criminals, regulations, prohibitions, social policies, the welfare state, etc. from a true pragmatist. A true pragmatist supports what works because a true pragmatist believes in reality. Political pragmatists are not true pragmatists, but are rather mere politicians, looking to find what works to get them elected and reelected.
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2 comments:
Pragmatism is a philosophy with branches, like Neopragmatism. In politics what passes for "pragmatism" is often just expediency. Cicero has said that nothing that is expedient is beneficial (in his "On Duties").
Robert
My point exactly. The only thing worse than pragmatists are ideologues. For example, the free market is a naturally-occurring, evolving, self-organizing system -- every other economic system is based on someone's ideology. And of all the economic systems, it is the naturally-occurring one which works best, by far. And gives people freedom.
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