Why I'm glad you asked. Pragmatism is a universal trait I admit. But it is peculiarly American in that as a philosophical stance and school it originated in the 19th century east coast American universities (an ancesterJosiah Royce was one of the co-founders) as a reaction to the continental Idealism that was so dominant in that century. There was an emphasis on what is, rather than ought to be. What practically works. It is to not let the perfect,the ideal, be the enemy of the good, the practical. The exigencies and urgencies of some problems make pragmatists of us all.
Just now and what delayed my reply, half written, was that I had to deal with an environmental disaster in my wash room, a drainage hose had come out of a drain pipe and spilled rinse water from a clothes load that was running. Big pool of spreading water on my washroom floor. The ideal solution would have been to call the plumber and arrange for an emergency visit. The practical solution (given my stinginess) was to reinsert the hose, apply duct tape to keep it from escaping again, mop up our little mini-Valdez spill, test run the washer again through a complete cycle...all okay. That's pragmatism in action. My father who was a grandmaster of this approach called it the "Quick and Dirty' method! We see the debate in the ranks of environmentalists I think.
A very thought-provoking review of an important, peculiarly American brand of pragmatic conservationism. Could ignite debate still I suspect!
Interesting...I'm not sure what you mean by peculiarly American!
Why I'm glad you asked. Pragmatism is a universal trait I admit. But it is peculiarly American in that as a philosophical stance and school it originated in the 19th century east coast American universities (an ancesterJosiah Royce was one of the co-founders) as a reaction to the continental Idealism that was so dominant in that century. There was an emphasis on what is, rather than ought to be. What practically works. It is to not let the perfect,the ideal, be the enemy of the good, the practical. The exigencies and urgencies of some problems make pragmatists of us all.
Just now and what delayed my reply, half written, was that I had to deal with an environmental disaster in my wash room, a drainage hose had come out of a drain pipe and spilled rinse water from a clothes load that was running. Big pool of spreading water on my washroom floor. The ideal solution would have been to call the plumber and arrange for an emergency visit. The practical solution (given my stinginess) was to reinsert the hose, apply duct tape to keep it from escaping again, mop up our little mini-Valdez spill, test run the washer again through a complete cycle...all okay. That's pragmatism in action. My father who was a grandmaster of this approach called it the "Quick and Dirty' method! We see the debate in the ranks of environmentalists I think.
What a lot of questions? When is “our good” bad for nature? How can we know it’s bad for nature?
It’s a bit like creating a “Root Cause Analysis” (RCA) but instead using a “Root Because Analysis” (RBA) 🤣.
We still need the “5 Whys” ... but possibly need to add the 5 “why nots” too.
Looking for unknown repercussions takes extensive research & is humans are lazy!