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Today everyone seems to be a pragmatist; I have yet to crack open Ayn Rand's Philosophy, Who Needs It so can I get a general rundown about why the pragmatist are wrong in thinking they are the logical ones and everybody else is dogmatic and irrational towards various situations? |
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There is an excellent introduction to the nature of pragmatism in The Ayn Rand Lexicon under the topic of "Pragmatism." Pragmatism basically means rejection of principles. But man actually needs principles in order to live over the full span of his natural lifetime. On that time scale, pragmatism is impractical. Even on shorter time scales, acting without principle is practical only to the extent that one is actually able to hold and act on implicit principles of some kind (life-serving), as remnants from an earlier era when Western civilization held reason more openly in high esteem. |
