Discussion»Questions»Life and Society» What's wrong with being a pragmatist? Idealism is dead/realism is disputable. Pragmatism works within the range of the possible. Right?
It depends... in my view, the ideal ethic for life is to cause no harm.
Yet it is very difficult to live an entire lifespan without harming, even if only by accident.
And the majority of us do it purely for convenience every day: we knowingly harm the environment when we drive a car or use electricity from coal.
Governments must deal with the conflicting interests of different groups within society and, if they can't reach consensus, must try to negotiate for trade-offs and compromises. Their approach is primarily pragmatic.
With some issues, pragmatism can work well to attain the greatest good for the largest number most of the time. But when it ignores those who are disadvantaged by it, it is irresponsible and insufficient as an ethic. Human intelligence and creativity are such that there is always at least one solution possible.
The argument that universal free education, medicine, and a social safety-net are not affordable is false. It is a pragmatic lie since the revenue is there if the budget spends 40% less on war.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at October 24, 2016 5:09 AM MDT
Someone is going to be disadvantaged no matter what you do hartfire. When things are done it is always at the expense of some group, some principle, some individual, some belief, some religion, some oolitical party. I cannot think of a single thing you can do that isn't at someone else's expense. If you frequent stores that have the lowest prices that disadvantages mom and pop stores. There is no perfect balanec in life in my opinion. The best we can do is try get as close to fair/balanced as possible but someone is always going to get the short end of the stick. Usually the short-enders are those who are poor and the long-enders are usually if not always those who are wealthy. Thank you for your thoughtful reply and Happy Monday.
I'd say that although pragmatism's usefulness does obviously have its place, it would be utterly deficient in trying to explain the purpose or necessity of things like the appreciation of a good sculpture or a beautiful painting for example. Or the caring and feeling compassion for others for its own merit. Although I understand it can be argued that compassion and caring are a necessary part of our evolutionary process.
Benedict Arnold 