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Pragmatic theory
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William James Theories of Pragmatic Misconceptions and His Automatic Sweetheart Proposal
William James, a philosopher in the late 18th and early 19th century shared his view on the common misconceptions of pragmatists account for the truth. Although I am only going to reinforce James views on a couple of these, there were in fact eight misunderstandings in his eyes. There is a passage written by James on his thoughts of what he called an automatic sweetheart.
According to Hergenhahn & Henley (2014) pragmatism is the belief that if an idea works, it is valid. An idea is judged on its usefulness, however, according to James there is a limit to its usefulness or cash value (p.324). This leads to the assumption that pragmatisms primary appeal is to action. (James) wrote that this is the second mistake people make when they judge pragmatism they
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i, p. 673, James proposed a question wondering if one could accept what he dubbed the “Automatic Sweetheart” (a robot) as a human if it was made with no noticeable difference between a machine and a human. It would be a soulless body that could laugh, show emotion, and do all things a human could do as if a soul were present in them. Could we accept it as human? James thought not. That as humans we crave attention. We crave love and admiration, and the need to be recognized.
From what I have learned thus far in psychology, there are many different views. I do not nor have I ever believed in just one truth. Everyone’s truths are different. Each of us have a mind of our own and perceive things entirely different from others. So in regards to James proposal of pragmatism, for me, trying to come to one truth is simply not possible, if we are talking in a personal sense. We cannot find the same truth for everyone, across the board. Each of us has our own mind and perceive things differently. When we think in terms of ideas, what works for me may not work for others and vice
to be more than robotic, there must be something not just unknown but still undecided”
Someone who is willing to consider the pros and cons and take the necessary measurements to accomplish that goal with a logical reasoning. I believe that Lucy Stone fits the perfect definition of a pragmatist. Stone was determined on fighting for women’s equal rights. However, her life made her go through different transitions where she knew what her priorities were. Lucy was fully aware that marriage would take her eyes off the equal rights movements. Lucy gave her later to be husband Henry Blackwell plenty of excuses in order to avoid her marriage. Lucy stated that “Men were more immature than women of the same age”(22). After she had her child, Lucy Stone was still engaged during the cause however, she was aware she also had other priorities and she was unable to spend as much time as she wanted to fight for the rights of women. Instead, she took care of Alice. “After Alice’s birth, Lucy overcome by lassitude, retired from her strenuous speaking tours. With the help of the Blackwells she temporarily became a stay-at-home mother”(30). Lucy Stone was a natural leader who was stood up for equal civil rights without forgetting her priorities. Lucy Stone was able to adapt to her situations in life in order to still fight for what she
In James’ first essay, he tries to explain what pragmatism is with a story about a camping trip he took with a few of his friends. The friends began to argue about whether a man and a squirrel pass each other while going around a tree but do not see one another. Pragmatism seems to be a little confusing at first. I had to reread the argument about the squirrel and the human a couple of times to understand what the argument was about. I personally agreed with the group who said the man did not go around the squirrel simply because physically, he did not pass the animal while going around the tree. When James explained what the pragmatic method was, I interpreted it as basically trying to find correctness in both arguments depending on how you’re looking at it.
…I like to think those other automata you and I created for ourselves out of our inhibitions were human beings underneath, and that we might have loved each other, completely and humanly, if we had found the courage. Men and women are not the sole members of the human hierarchy to which you and I can also claim to
Pragmatism in actions. I believe utterly in one of those old cliches: we are given only a limited time upon this earth and every moment wasted is lost forever. Therefore, I do not engage in those things that I view as useless. The next question is obvious. What do I view as useless? In reality, perhaps too many things and definitely too many to address in one essay. However, I can indulge in the discussion of a few. Hate is a wasted emotion. Hate accomplishes nothing. It does not relieve hunger. It does not alleviate pain. It creates only avoidable aggression. I do not believe in any kind of hate, including prejudice and racism. My energies and time can be better spent elsewhere. Anger too. What does anger do? Nothing. It frustrates us and aggravates us, and we can avoid it. Being frustrated is not a pleasing experience for me. When I was young, or rather, when I was younger than I am now, I would explode at the smallest disturbances (I'm sorry mom and dad). Now, I have realized that anger is a waste of time, and I no longer have a temper to lose. I would much rather wallow in happiness. And in my happiness, I do not worry much over my image in the eyes of others. The important word here is much, for there are opinions of certain individuals about which I do care a great deal, but these are few. They include my family, my close friends, and those who possess the power to affect my life significantly (for example, university admissions officers). Otherwise, I pay no attention to whispers behind my back or vague rumors circulating in the air above. As long as I know the truth, however harsh it may be, and those that I care about know the truth, I am not troubled. The masses may think as they wish. They are entitled. As can probably be observed from this essay thus far, my outlook on life saves me more than a bit of stress.
In the article, "The Will to Believe", William James responds to W.K. Clifford who argued
In the first chapter of Pragmatism (2) William James speaks about a rather unusual aspect of philosophy. He gives an outline of two prevailing temperaments in philosophy. 'Temperament', he argues,
What exactly is “truth”? And how do we arrive at the truth? Over these past weeks I have successfully be able to study two different but very closely linked methods of arriving at what we human beings know as truth. Introduced to the method of pragmatism by William James, I have concluded that pragmatism uses an approach in which reason is used to find what is true but what also has to be considered is that the truth is subject to change. Which distinguishes it from Rene Descartes' method of pursuing what is true. Essentially they follow the same procedures. Although at the final moments of my research, I began to find myself pro-pragmatism. I disbelieve Descartes claim that the mind believes everything that is perceived through the human eye which leaves no room for an imagination. Both James and Descartes differ in some areas while maintaing similarities in others. Whether its concerning the way their visions are presented, their interpretations of the truth, or how applicable the idea of it is to our lives.
This paper will dispute that scientific beliefs are not the right way to accept a belief and it will question if we should let one accept their rights to their own beliefs. In Williams James article Will to Believe, we accept his perspective on how we set and fix our beliefs. This paper will first outline his overview on the argument that someone does not choose their belief but rather one just has them. Following, it will outline my perspective on how we set our beliefs and agreement with purse. Then it will explain how other methodologies such as science cannot conclude to one’s true beliefs. Science has been seen as a way to perceive life and taken to consideration as the truth. This paper should conclude that humans define ourselves by
John Dewey was a leading proponent of the American school of thought known as pragmatism. Pragmatism is a philosophical movement that includes those who claim that an ideology or proposition is true if it works satisfactorily. John Dewey was the third major figure in the classical pragmatist pantheon, whose wide-ranging writings had considerable impact on American intellectual life for a half-century (McDermid, D. 2017).
The word that really made me actually think the most was pragmatism. Pragmatism is a philosophical tradition that began in the 1876 (Gutek, 2004). Pragmatism was developed by American philosophers Charles S. Piers, William James and John Dewey (Gutek, 2004). Pragmatist developed their philosophy around the idea that the function of though is an instrument or tool for prediction, action and problem solving. The empirical test is, does it work. American education has shown a definite belief in the idea that knowledge is valued because it can be applied in order to improve the human condition, increase productivity, and help solve problems (Gutek, 2004). A pragmatic person will not do things because he wants to, but because it will benefit him and the people around him. Like king john signing the Magna Carta, not because he wanted to by signing it he was losing a lot of power but because it benefited him by keeping his head on his shoulders. A pragmatic person will have to go through what he believes will work in order to see if it will work. Everyone would agree that killing is wrong; a pragmatist person would take a life in self-defense it meant it would save his own life. A Pragmatist uses practical knowledge in order to control reality. A pragmatic person will continue doing what he is doing because it benefits him until he finds a better way or he is stopped by society. ...
When we talk about education, we remember our teachers of elementary, middle and high school because they left their mark on our lives, and are who we truly taught things that even we , and we have to our knowledge, is that the main purpose of my philosophy educational. The basis of my educational philosophy pragmatism. The goal of education for pragmatists is the socialization of the individual and the transmission of cultural ideas of man to new generations. In this way, new generations have no need to repeat it step by step, the experiences of their ancestors (Riestra, 1970). The school must be active in developing critical thinking in the learner. This should not be a passive entity in the process of their education, you must learn to learn . The school must prepare students for this interaction with their environment that is always changing.
Different schools of thought have generated arguments since the beginning of civilization. They represent different perspectives of every part of life, whether its religion or politics. The realist school and the humanist perspectives offer people different views in many different aspects.
The traditional notion that seeks to compare human minds, with all its intricacies and biochemical functions, to that of artificially programmed digital computers, is self-defeating and it should be discredited in dialogs regarding the theory of artificial intelligence. This traditional notion is akin to comparing, in crude terms, cars and aeroplanes or ice cream and cream cheese. Human mental states are caused by various behaviours of elements in the brain, and these behaviours in are adjudged by the biochemical composition of our brains, which are responsible for our thoughts and functions. When we discuss mental states of systems it is important to distinguish between human brains and that of any natural or artificial organisms which is said to have central processing systems (i.e. brains of chimpanzees, microchips etc.). Although various similarities may exist between those systems in terms of functions and behaviourism, the intrinsic intentionality within those systems differ extensively. Although it may not be possible to prove that whether or not mental states exist at all in systems other than our own, in this paper I will strive to present arguments that a machine that computes and responds to inputs does indeed have a state of mind, but one that does not necessarily result in a form of mentality. This paper will discuss how the states and intentionality of digital computers are different from the states of human brains and yet they are indeed states of a mind resulting from various functions in their central processing systems.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence is a Steven Spielberg science fiction drama film, which tells the story of a younger generation robot, David, who yearns for his human mother’s love. David’s character stimulates the mind-body question. What is the connection between our “minds” and our bodies? It is apparent that we are personified entities, but also, that we embrace “more” than just our bodies. “Human persons are physical, embodied beings and an important feature of God’s intended design for human life” (Cortez, 70).