The Pragmatic Maxim and Four Classical Pragmatists

This essay explores the issue of what makes a pragmatist. It centers on the pragmatic maxim of Charles Sanders Peirce. Although Peirce deliberately coined the word ＂Pragmaticism＂ to express his disapproval of James＇s pragmatism, his pragmatic maxim has become the touchstone of a pragmatist, so much so that, to be a pragmatist, one must endorse the pragmatic maxim, notwithstanding the fact that the pragmatic maxim is open to various interpretations, as shown in the four classical pragmatists, Peirce, James, Dewey, and Mead. Their different interpretations of the pragmatic maxim are examined successively so as to offer a panoramic view of the pragmatic maxim and its significant role in constituting a pragmatist.

Pragmatist View of Human Rights:Theoretical Explanations of China’s Human Rights Practice

The pragmatist view of human rights represents a the-oretical condensation of the Chinese practice in human rights devel-opment.In view of the problem of circular idling between rights and claims caused by the traditional view of human rights of focusing on contents and not valuing implementation,social segmentation caused by empty talks on interests and claims while ignoring social develop-ment,and the phenomenon of the issue of human rights completely becoming empty and useless political rhetoric,the pragmatic view of human rights,based on the fact that there is a gap between the claims and realization of human rights,emphasizes that instead of blindly ex-panding the types of rights in term of text,it is better to base on prac-tice and promote the maximum realization of existing rights through development.The pragmatist view of human rights attaches impor-tance to relevant economic,social and cultural basis to promote the realization of human rights,rather than only focusing on the claims themselves;it pays greater attention to enhancing the realization of rights,rather than the distribution of rights under the total limit;it ad-vocates more for cooperativism in the realization of rights,rather than confrontation.The pragmatic concept of human rights takes Marxism as its theoretical basis and the gene of practice and the dimension of development as its theoretical characteristics,and promotes the devel-opment of human rights through the realization of rights.

Life Lives on the Edge of Contradiction

Advice giving covers a wide range of social engagements between friends,authorities to subordinates,professionals of many kinds and especially therapists.Therapists generally come from fields such as psychology and psychiatry wherein many focus on research sciences and others focus on use of therapeutics to somehow make people better in some way.For the latter group,coming to grips with what counts as better is problematic since it is not always clear even to the advisee what he or she would count as better.To the more scientifically-minded the notion of better is often eschewed as nothing more than distracting baggage when it comes to truly understanding human-nature.This paper shows first that understanding human nature is likely a chimera.It will never fully come within the grasp of the human sciences any more than the fist can grab itself.Still,scientific approaches are invaluable in the quest for tying action and goals together.However,while the sciences may eliminate the need for reference to some faux qualia,the phenomenology of human experience cannot be ignored altogether.As a result,advisory planning must navigate between the tough-minded and soft-minded while avoiding contradiction.

What Do Emotions Do？ A Pragmatist Approach to the Role of Emotions in Media Events

Expressions of emotion in the media, especially in the context of news, are often criticized as promoting irrational attitudes. For supporters of this kind of criticism, rather than addressing such emotional sensitivity, journalism should be objective, appealing to the rationality of the public. Anger, indignation, enthusiasm, and expressions of joy or sadness should not have part in public debates. From this perspective, rationality and emotions are opposed, the former being fundamental for the constitution of the public sphere, while the latter falls into the category of inner impulses. While Kant denied any sort of rationality to emotions, Gustave Lebon attributed emotional attitudes to crowds rather than to a public. In a crowd, emotions spread like an epidemic through a kind of contagion. The present study is based on a contrasting perspective and focuses on the rationality of emotions＇, whether in philosophy （Nussbaum）, sociology （Paperman, Aranguren 2014; Livet 2002）, or psychology （Krant-Gruber）. Oddly enough, these different approaches do not seem to have affected media studies where, belief in the irrationality of emotions, still dominates analyses of media coverage of natural or industrial catastrophes, wars, or terrorist attacks. Instead of considering the nature of emotions, or the question of whether they actually corrupt the objectivity of journalism and the supposed rationality of public debates, I will seek to develop a pragmatist approach to the question of what, emotions actually do. In fact, the idea of emotions spreading contagiously had been disputed since the 18th century when Adam Smith asked how a British newspaper reader could be affected by an earthquake happening in China. Suffering from a distance, says Adam Smith, is not the product of some kind of contagion. If we want to understand this sort of feeling, we have to imagine an inner moral spectator inside of every human being Oddly enough, Adam Smith considers emotions to be moral feelings. To feel horrified by the consequences of an earthquake, or to feel indignant about the death of innocent victims, are moral attitudes. In this respect, they are rational, but the feelings of indignation or horror also include bodily reactions. We scream, put our hands over our mouths; we blush, have tears in our eyes; we feel our heartbeat accelerate etc. These bodily reactions seem impulsive and entirely subjective, but to what extent can we say that they are rational or moral？

The Nature-Culture Distinction in Disaster Studies:The Recent Petition for Reform as an Opportunity for New Thinking?

This article constructively challenges the often cited distinction between the so-called hazard and vulnerability perspectives in disaster studies.In a context of increasingly intertwined,dense,and complex socioeco-logical dynamics,disaster scholars often hold onto an apparently untenable distinction between nature and culture,manifested as either a hazard or a vulnerability approach.This article maintains that the typically undesired approach(the hazard approach)is inherent to the preferred(vulnerability)perspective.The article builds on Oliver-Smith’s(2013)critique of the magnitude of requirements placed upon practitioners given the full implications of the vulnerability perspective.Although critical of the vulnerability perspective,this article does not fundamentally disagree with the validity of its claims.Instead,by drawing on the pragmatist philosophy of Rorty(1989)and by demonstrating the potential value of posthumanism for disaster studies,I wish to argue for greater pragmatism within disaster scholarship.The article considers the recent petition or manifesto for disaster studies(Gaillard et al.2019)for more inclusive disaster research as a potential opportunity to challenge the aforementioned nature-culture distinction in the field,as the petition signed by a number of disaster scholars outlines various concerns over the asymmetrical power relations between local and external researchers.These power relations have adverse consequences for the appropriateness of knowledge production in many contexts.I am primarily ISI Gideon van Riet Gideon.vanriet@nwu.ac.za 1 School for Government Studies,North-West University,Potchefstroom 2531,Northwest Province,South Africa concerned with the very local level of disaster occurrence,where posthumanism might be most valuable.

Pragmatist at the Helm

South Korea’s new president makes a commitment to cementing the country’s relations with China Lee Myung Bak’s career is a legen- dary success story that enjoys broad recognition from South Koreans. The country’s new president-elect was born to a poor family in south South Korea but ascended to the top spot of the country’s largest conglomerate company. He went on to become mayor of Seoul and is now about to become the country’s next president.