3 ms·
I've always enjoyed the idea of "pragmatic truth". I'm probably misquoting a bit, but generally take it to mean "truth is what's most useful to your long term g
by skeptrune 2y ago
I've always enjoyed the idea of "pragmatic truth". I'm probably misquoting a bit, but generally take it to mean "truth is what's most useful to your long term goals."
- Barrin92 2y agoI'm sceptical of that definition of truth funnily enough for the reason that James (and you) endorse it: "Pragmatism had another benefit. It allowed for God.[...]If religion increased happiness, encouraged ethical behavior, and offered eternal life, why not gamble?" To me that's an almost canonical example of what's wrong with this notion of truth. I can accept that people have faith in God, even for unexplainable reasons on intuition, or don't, but the truth about God can't depend on whether that belief has value to me. If that's the case, God might very well cease to exist based on my mood. And that is so solipsistic it's arguably the exact opposite of a truthful worldview. If there's one thing in the world that can't be contingent on my expectation, it's by definition God. And that's arguably what's wrong with pragmatic truth on all issues, it's just less obvious.