What is Pragmatism?

 What is Pragmatism? Why am I still interested in this unpopular philosophy? Here is a clear answer to my question from Richard J. Bernstein.

When I teach courses dealing with pragmatism (old and new), I tell my students that it is best to think of the discourse about pragmatism as an open-ended conversation with many loose ends and tangents. I don't mean an "idealized" conversation or dialogue, so frequently described and praised by philosophers. Rather, it is a conversation more like the type that occurs at New York dinner parties where there are misunderstandings, speaking at cross-purposes, conflicts, and contradictions, with personalized voices stressing different points of view (and sometimes talking at the same time). It can seem chaotic, yet somehow the entire conversation is more vital and illuminating than any of the individual voices demanding to be heard. This is what the conversation of pragmatism has been like. (The Pragmatic Turn, p.30-31) 

This book is not full of Bernstein's genuine concepts, but it tells us why we should take the discussion of pragmatism seriously. Simply speaking it is alive! It is an open conversation for all of those who are getting ready to jump into many of the important themes in contemporary philosophy. In this book, Bernstein clearly shows how pragmatism will free us from philosophical bias we have had: a sharp dichotomy between subject and object, mind-body dualism, analytic-synthetic, the knowing-the known, and theory-practice. So now it is time to free us from our bias in the term of pragmatism first, then let's start a journey to the conversation of pragmatism!