Pragmatism (non-technical usage)


 * In ordinary usage, pragmatism refers to behavior which temporarily sets aside a more minor ideal to achieve some higher ideal.


 * A 17th century usage of the term pragmatist has it referring to a person who meddles in the affairs of others, in brief, a busybody (OED).


 * In philosophy, the term pragmatism has a number of technical meanings that are only incidentaly related to its ordinary usage. The philosophic school of pragmatism founded by Charles Peirce originated in the U.S. in the 1870s.