Pragmatism and analytic philosophy are considered to be the two famous traditions in American philosophy. Analytic philosophy started its development in the XX century and spread over numerous English-speaking countries in several years. American pragmatism is one of the tendencies, which considerably influenced the rise of analytic philosophy in the whole world.
American philosophy attracts the attention of many people and is respected by the other cultures and philosophies. Together, analytic philosophy and pragmatism become one of the most unique American movements, which differ in many ways from European philosophy at one and the same period of time and deserve recognition and respect.
Charles Peirce was a father of pragmatism and presented the pragmatic maxim at the end of the 19 century. “Pragmatism, especially in the hands of Peirce, has strong affinities with analytic philosophy and thereby prepared the ground for the latter’s favourable reception from the 1930s onwards.” (Glock 2008)
It is necessary to admit that pragmatism was also contrasted with analytic philosophy and even connected to continental one. According to Peirce, pragmatism was a movement that rejected all ideas of subjectivism and underlined the importance of real effects and truth.
Taking into consideration that analytic philosophy grounds on the ideas that all arguments are crucially important for people, it is quite possible to unite pragmatism and analytic philosophy and prove their power, sense, and uniqueness. The representatives of American analytic philosophy believe that they can achieve the desirable goals and comprehend the essence of this life be means of analysis of language and respect to all natural science.
American people are considered to be rather practical; they prefer to use clear and strong evidences in order to prove their points of view. In such cases, their words will be hardly called in questions, and the vast majority of people will easily accept their ideas. With the help of the ideas taken from natural sciences, their thorough analysis, and concentration of truth, American philosophers can easily present the necessary arguments and amaze the people all over the world.
Lots of European philosophers consider pragmatism as the way of how Americans deal with truth, their knowledge, and evidences. They also find out a deep connection between analytic philosophy and pragmatism as they have the same goals, standpoints, and a certain connection to science.
Such intentions to grasp the truth and follow only reliable ways during life raise American philosophy considerably. Nowadays, American philosophy is associated with American pragmatism that may easily criticize all traditional philosophical ideas with the help of scientific and even social developments.
Lots of people still believe that “pragmatism is the only unique contribution American philosophy has made to the tradition known as Western philosophy.” (Hammer 2003) However, it is necessary to admit that without proper contribution of analytic philosophy, pragmatism will hardly achieve the success that American philosophy has nowadays. People need to believe in something, and they need to have certain concepts to rely on.
This is why the traditions, offered by the representatives of pragmatism and analytic philosophy such as Charles Peirce, William James, and John Dewey, significance of arguments, and truth turn out to be rather unique and important for Americans, distinguish American philosophy from the other countries, nations, and their traditions, and make a lot of European philosopher respect the chosen approaches.
Reference List
Glock, H. J. (2008). What Is Analytic Philosophy? Cambridge University Press.
Hammer, M. G. (2003). American Pragmatism: A Religious Genealogy. Oxford University Press US.
Outline
- Introduction
- Main Body:
- Pragmatism
- Analytic Philosophy
- European Attitude to American Philosophy
- Conclusion