Editing Meaning of life (section)

====Pragmatism====
[[Pragmatism]] originated in the late-19th-century US, concerning itself (mostly) with [[truth]], and positing that "only in struggling with the environment" do data, and derived theories, have meaning, and that ''consequences'', like utility and practicality, are also components of truth. Moreover, pragmatism posits that ''anything'' useful and practical is not always true, arguing that what most contributes to the most human good in the long course is true. In practice, theoretical claims must be ''practically verifiable'', i.e. one should be able to predict and test claims, and, that, ultimately, the needs of humankind should guide human intellectual inquiry.

Pragmatic philosophers suggest that the practical, useful understanding of life is more important than searching for an impractical abstract truth about life. [[William James]] argued that truth could be made, but not sought.<ref name="James">{{Cite book |author=William James |author-link=William James |title=The Meaning of Truth |publisher=Prometheus Books |date=1909 |isbn=978-1-57392-138-1}}</ref><ref name="Corti">{{Cite book |author=Walter Robert Corti |title=The Philosophy of William James |publisher=Meiner Verlag |date=1976 |isbn=978-3-7873-0352-6}}</ref> To a pragmatist, the meaning of life is discoverable only via experience.