Instrumentalism

Instrumentalism
Instrumentalism In`stru*men"tal*ism, n. (Philos.) The view that the sanction of truth is its utility, or that truth is genuine only in so far as it is a valuable instrument. -- {In`stru*men"tal*ist}, n.

Instrumentalism views truth as simply the value belonging to certain ideas in so far as these ideas are biological functions of our organisms, and psychological functions whereby we direct our choices and attain our successes. --Josiah Royce. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • instrumentalism — INSTRUMENTALÍSM s.n. Concepţie filosofică potrivit căreia noţiunile, categoriile şi teoriile ştiinţifice nu reflectă realitatea obiectivă, fiind numai nişte instrumente pentru săvârşirea unor acţiuni utile individului. – Din fr. instrumentalisme …   Dicționar Român

  • instrumentalism — [in΄strə mənt′ liz΄əm] n. Philos. the pragmatic doctrine that ideas are plans for action serving as instruments for adjustment to the environment and that their validity is tested by their effectiveness …   English World dictionary

  • Instrumentalism — In the philosophy of science, instrumentalism is the view that concepts and theories are merely useful instruments whose worth is measured not by whether the concepts and theories are true or false (or correctly depict reality), but by how… …   Wikipedia

  • instrumentalism — The view that a scientific theory is to be regarded as an instrument for producing new predictions or new techniques for controlling events, but not as itself capable of literal truth or falsity. The most famous example of this claim is that of… …   Philosophy dictionary

  • instrumentalism — noun Date: 1909 a doctrine that ideas are instruments of action and that their usefulness determines their truth …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • instrumentalism — /in streuh men tl iz euhm/, n. Philos. the variety of pragmatism developed by John Dewey, maintaining that the truth of an idea is determined by its success in the active solution of a problem and that the value of ideas is determined by their… …   Universalium

  • instrumentalism — noun In the philosophy of science, the view that concepts and theories are merely useful instruments whose worth is measured not by whether the concepts and theories are true or false (or correctly depict reality), but how effective they are in… …   Wiktionary

  • instrumentalism — See work, subjective experience of …   Dictionary of sociology

  • instrumentalism — doctrine that ideas are instruments of action Philosophical Isms …   Phrontistery dictionary

  • instrumentalism — n. philosophy that the truth of an idea is defined by how successful the idea is in solving problems …   English contemporary dictionary

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