Pragmatic Temperaments
Someone might look at hunger and war, and say
"I'm well off, because I'm not hungry, I'm not a soldier, and I don't live in a country ravaged by war".
On the other hand, someone might say
"There is war in the world, the people are hungry, and all of this is proof of human imperfections and the need to fight for justice".
These two perspectives don't express pessimism or optimism, they express something else. We don't traditionally see passivity and idealism as being contradictory necessarily, but in this instance they are.
The real distinction here is between personal pragmatism and cultural pragmatism. To some people if something works, they won't fix it. Everything that just squeeks by gives opportunities for heroism. To other people, it is only worth fixing if it works. These tend to be idealists, and look to repair not just the realities or facts, but the less tangible methods and points of reference through which those facts come to have meaning.
Essays Return to Main
The preceding, as well as all other parts of Nathan's Philosophy and Writing are pending copyright
(c) 2006, Nathan Coppedge
Main Page
Essays Main
* Conc. & Abs.
* Iterative Philos.
* Unity Intro
* Imperfection
* Occam Dispute
* Nominal Mech.
* Res. Paradox
* Metamorphosis
* Essent. Principa
* Meta-Extension
* Meta Precis
* Meta Wrinkles
* Relevantism
* Relative Dispute
* Symbolism
* Wisdom Walks
* Pragma Temp.
* World consists
* Program. Antith
* Body Real Estate
* Four Corners
* Schizo def
* Moral 2d
* Eating Acrobats
* Fork Analogy
* Sloppy Thinking
Book of Indra
Unity Philosophy
Trans Ethics
On Systems
About Writing
Quotes & Slants
Intellectualia