Is pragmatisim an immoral morality?

Question

Pragmatism is the moral principle that the ends justifies the means Politically countries opperate pragmatically they will do what ever will get them the end they wont all that matters is the end not what gets you there, The means does not matter for the goverment pragmatice even if this means is immoral Does this make pragmatism an immoral morality - where you can do absolutly anything to get what end result you wont. If so does this means that hgovrments that operate pragmaticaly are immoral because they dont casre what they have to do to get what they wont

Answer 1

Oh... you'd be a scream on a date!

Answer 2

Jane...

My understanding of pragmatism comes from reading James, Peirce, Dewey, Davidson and Rorty about twenty years ago.

As others have said, it has nothing to do with "ends" per se.

And, at core, it has nothing to do with morality also.

Boiled down to the essence, it is simply this (and I'm quoting William James, one of the co-authors): "If it works, it's good."

Sounds disarmingly simple, right? And, by the way, that has nothing to do with practical or practicalities also.

Taken to the extreme manifestation of pragmatism, it means that the Nazi eradication of Jews and others in Europe was deemed as being good by Hitler and his gang. The same goes for Pol Pot and The Killing Fields -- the extreme form of pragmatism.

Politicians all over continually confuse "pragmatic" with "practical" -- so do dictionaries. Was it really practical for those monsters to eliminate so many millions?

As a philosophy, pragmatism is dead, long gone, having been demolished by Rorty and others. The word survives now only as an ill-used synonym for 'practical' and that is just wrong, as I've said.

So, whenever you hear someone talking about being pragmatic, you will know that the person is probably confused.

Answer 3

I don't think that's the word you're looking for. Pragmatism is defined as something a bit different.

Here are the definitions from Webster:

1 : a practical approach to problems and affairs
2 : an American movement in philosophy founded by C. S. Peirce and William James and marked by the doctrines that the meaning of conceptions is to be sought in their practical bearings, that the function of thought is to guide action, and that truth is preeminently to be tested by the practical consequences of belief

Maybe you're looking for: Consequentialism? It fits perfectly for what you're asking.

Answer 4

My understanding of pragmatism is that if the end is considered good,then the means must be considered to have been good (i.e. right or moral).
Personally, I would retain this philosophy only as one of many in my inventory to bring to bear when confronted with a moral dilemma.
Note that the reverse philosophy.Thomism, contends that if the means are good(right or moral),then the end must be considered good.

Answer 5

There is no such thing as an immoral morality in and of itself. You are mixing up morality with ethics. Morality is should or should not. Ethics is right or wrong. Pragmatism may be unethical but it is not immoral.

Answer 6

Actually, there is another word for that. It is "Teleologicism". The ends justify the means.
You should look into those discussions. Lots of organizations keep running debates on "Deontological vs. Teleological" as well as other topics of the like with no true one sided answer.