Pragmatics and Semantics
Many contemporary philosophical approaches are based on semantics. Brandom for instance is a focus on the significance of words (albeit from a pragmatic perspective).
Others choose an approach that is more holistic to pragmatics, such as relevance theory, which seeks to determine how an utterance is perceived by the person listening. This method tends to overlook other aspects of pragmatics, for instance, epistemic discussions about truth.
What is the definition of pragmatism?
Pragmatism is a viable alternative to continental philosophy and analytic philosophy. Charles Sanders Peirce was the first to introduce the concept and William James extended it. Later, Josiah Royce developed the philosophy. It had a significant impact on areas of inquiry that ranged from theology to philosophy of science, but also found a place in ethics and politics, philosophy of language, aesthetics, and social theory. The pragmatist traditions continues to develop.
The pragmatic principle is at the heart of classical pragmatics. It is a principle that clarifies the meaning of hypotheses by examining their 'practical implications', or their implications for the experience of particular situations. This creates an epistemological view that is a kind of 'inquiry-based epistemology' and an anti-Cartesian interpretation of the rules that govern inquiry. The early pragmatists were largely divided on the issue of whether pragmatism should conceive of itself as a philosophy of science that is based on a monism regarding truth (following Peirce), or a broad-based alethic pluralism (James and Dewey).
One of the major concerns for philosophers who are pragmatists is understanding knowledge. Certain pragmatists like Rorty, are inclined to be skeptical of knowledge that rests on the basis of 'instantaneous' experiences. Others, such as Peirce or James are skeptical of the correspondence theory which holds that true beliefs are those which accurately represent reality.
Other pragmatism-related issues include the relationship between belief and reality as well as the nature of human rationality, the importance of values and virtues, and the meaning of life. Pragmatists have also come up with a wide range of theories and methods in fields such as semiotics and philosophy of language, the philosophy of religion, philosophy of science, ethics and theology. Some, such as Peirce and Royce, are epistemological relativists, while others argue that such relativity is a serious misguided idea. The late 20th century saw a revival of interest in classical pragmatics. This resulted in a variety of new developments. These include the concept of a "near-side" pragmatics that is concerned with the resolution of ambiguity indexicals, demonstratives, and anaphors, as well as the "far-side" pragmatics which examines the semantics of discourses.
What is the relation between what is said and what happens?
Semantics and Pragmatics are regarded as being on opposite ends of the continuum. On the side that is near, semantics are considered and pragmatics is located on the far side. Carston for instance, argues that there are at a minimum three main lines of contemporary pragmatics: those who view it as a philosophy based on the lines of Grice