instrumentalism

in·stru·men·tal·ism

I i

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [in-struh-men-tl-iz-uh m]
- /ˌɪn strəˈmɛn tlˌɪz əm/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [in-struh-men-tl-iz-uh m]
- /ˌɪn strəˈmɛn tlˌɪz əm/

Definitions of instrumentalism word

noun instrumentalism 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 function in human experience. 1
noun instrumentalism A pragmatic philosophical approach that regards an activity (such as science, law, or education) chiefly as an instrument or tool for some practical purpose, rather than in more absolute or ideal terms, in particular. 1
noun instrumentalism a system of pragmatic philosophy holding that ideas are instruments, that they should guide our actions and can change the world, and that their value consists not in their truth but in their success 0
noun instrumentalism an antirealist philosophy of science that holds that theories are not true or false but are merely tools for deriving predictions from observational data 0
noun instrumentalism 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 0
noun instrumentalism (philosophy) 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 explaining and predicting phenomena. 0

See all 6 definitions of instrumentalism

Information block about the term

Origin of instrumentalism

First appearance:

before 1905

One of the 15% newest English words

First recorded in 1905-10; instrumental + -ism

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Instrumentalism

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Instrumentalism

instrumentalism popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 48% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 61% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

instrumentalism usage trend in Literature

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