The distinctively American philosophical tradition holding that the meaning of a concept consists in its practical consequences and that truth is what works — rejecting fixed essences in favor of consequences, process, and democratic inquiry.
Peirce's pragmatic maxim (1878): to determine the meaning of an idea, consider what practical effects following from it would have — meaning is exhausted by practical consequences. James's radical empiricism: truth is what it is good for us to believe — not correspondence to reality but workability. Dewey's instrumentalism: ideas are tools for solving problems; intelligence is problem-solving applied to experience. Democracy as a way of life: the social correlate of scientific method — open inquiry, fallibilism, collective experiment. Anti-dualism: mind/body, theory/practice, fact/value are not fundamental distinctions. The most influential American contribution to philosophy.
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