0910G【Try Best】第二小组 issue99 by tiantian1989713

tiantian1989713UID: 2638025

In any realm of life-whether academic, social, business, or political-the only way to succeed is to take a practical, rather than an idealistic, point of view. Pragmatic behavior guarantees survival, whereas idealistic views tend to be superceded by simpler, more immediate options



I fundamentally agree that pragmatism plays a significant role in any realm of life since it is pragmatism that seems to primarily lead to the fast development of the present world, no matter whether it is applied to scientific, social or educational field. Yet, the author illogically assumes that idealism is of no importance, ignoring the fact that there is a clear relation between pragmatism and idealism and that the two functions equally indispensably though functioning differently.

Firstly, I have to concede that utility is one of the most
momentous
criteria in today’s society. In such a productive world, efficiency has become the predominant factor leading to success. Therefore, anything values if only it could be taken into practice immediately, including an individual’s practical point of view. Actually, it is people’s pragmatic opinions which are applied afterwards that solve all the immediate problems and result in the realization of all dreams. In almost all the fields, it shows clearly that people are always striving to seek for practice. John Dewey, who greatly influenced the education philosophy in the late 19th century, advocated that the only worthwhile knowledge is knowledge that can be used and under his influence, schools stopped to teach useless facts, instead they taught attitudes and skills, which helped produce large numbers of useful, responsible and happy adults; a large number of experimental scientists, including famous physicists Galileo and Hertz, applies the pure scientific theories to numerous instrumental implements and inventions, creating infinite treasure for humans.




However, it is still necessary for people to have an idealistic point of view since it serves as an impetus for everyone to advance. To most ordinary people, idealism stands for an ideal depiction of one’s own life or career, which is the ultimate destination of the individual to strive for. Supposing that one doesn’t have any , instead, the only thing he considers is to keep on working, someday he will inevitably feel out of momentum and wonder what exactly he is working for. In fact, idealism does not only functions as a kind of momentum, it also encourages people to lead highly moral lives, which is especially true in religion. No matter which sort of religious belief, it describes a kind of idealism where there is only jubilation and mercy while at the same time it asks every believer to be kind and noble. In order to go to the idealism after his death, most believers more or less take some control on their behavior, inhibiting themselves from developing into licentious ones.
     
Speaking of some general social idealistic perspectives, they signify in offering directions for the society to advance. For example, freedom and equality of opportunities are the two most eminent components in American idealism and apparently, there is hardly anyone who would argue that it is pointless to mention them just because racial discrimination and segregation still exists. In contrast, it is because that a long path seems to have to be taken to realize them that the idealism is kept in everyone’s mind. This kind of idealism provides a direction for the whole United States to develop. In this sense, idealism is a beacon for pragmatism, both to point out the existing long term problems rather than immediate ones that pragmatism itself could be solved and to indicate the right way to solve them.

In sum, pragmatism plays an important role in solving short-term problems while idealism makes its functions effectively in providing impetus, moral requirement as well as long-term perspectives. It is the combination of pragmatism and idealism that leads to the world’s fast development.