Intersection of Idealism and Pragmatism

Only at the intersection of Idealism and Pragmatism can we find fair and effective solution to society’s problems

In the previous post, we defined what is the Normative and Positive branch of Liberal sciences. We discussed that the Normative branch deals with how things should work in an ethical framework while the Positive branch deals with the description of a subject based on observations (empiricism) and a Cause-and-effect behavioral relationship. Positive branch is divorced from how things should work and is objective and pragmatic in nature.

Normative approach is closely related to Idealism whereas Positive approach is related to Pragmatism.

We also referred to the fact that unrealistic expectations might arise from relying too much on Normative (Idealistic) thinking. Over-Idealistic thinking either yields impractical solutions or no solution at all. Let us explore this a little further.

Human beings and communities have imperfect behavior. While promoting Idealism is a moral duty of a society, Pragmatism is what helps us in understanding and effectively solving societal problems by taking into account real-world complexities and constraints. It is very common to ignore and downplay the importance of Positive Liberal sciences and Pragmatism. Often people think that the only way of solving the problems of a community or humanity is to work on making people behave more ideally. While this is a noble goal, this type of thinking will lead to massive disappointment as attaining perfect human behavior in a society is an unachievable goal.

Idealistic people who have moralistic notions about how people should behave without understanding how people really do behave do more harm than good.

-The principles, Ray Dalio

Achieving progress and uplifting a community cannot be accomplished by merely theorizing abstract moral solutions. Instead, it requires firm grounding in realities of the world. This in turn needs a clear understanding of (1) human imperfections and (2) resource constraints. For coming up with pragmatic solutions, one needs strong analytical skills and critical thinking which is the primary purpose of studying Positive Liberal sciences.

One can assess the complexity of real-world by examining few concepts within Liberal sciences. Example:

• Tragedy of commons in economics.
• Democratic Elitism in democracy
• Realism in international politics.

Of this, we will only discuss the Tragedy of Commons here. The other two concepts will be deferred to future posts.

Tragedy of commons is an economic concept that explains how shared resources can get depleted by overconsumption when individuals act in their own self-interest, rather than considering the common good.

Examples can be found in panic buying during COVID-19 where people started stocking their supplies without thinking of other people’s needs. As a result, a large number of people were left without supplies causing shortages and price spikes.

Another example is Climate change. Climate change requires all countries, with different circumstances, to come on a common page and cut down Carbon emissions (So far it is not working).

The examples above present real life challenges with different degrees of complexity. While thinking about the solution one can take the following approaches:

• Approach1, Idealism: Reform people to not be selfish and develop empathy for the society by invoking the bonds of religion, nationalism, humanity.
• Approach2: Pragmatism: Develop some form of rationing to prevent depletion of supplies during a panic buying scenario. In addition, enact laws making hoarding illegal. For the case of climate change, something like a Paris Accord can be worked out where the wealthier nation should fund the renewable sources of energy in developing nations.

The key question is which approach should be adopted. The Normative approach alone cannot solve the problem, as we can never get a global perfect human behavior and it is an empty hypothetical solution to rely purely on altruism. However, disregarding Normative approach would be short-sighted. Normative thinking has shaped humanity and maintained order in society and nations, without which human beings would have destroyed each other. Even a Pragmatic approach, needs to be guided by an underlying Normative view which also sets its starting point. For instance, if the Normative framework suggests that Climate change is a hoax, then it would not even qualify as a Tragedy of Commons problem.

The Pragmatic approach holds great value in solving issues defined by a Normative view. Though it doesn’t define an end goal, Pragmatic approach is crucial for understanding human behavior through data analysis, historical case studies and other scientific principles. With this analysis, it comes up with creative and optimal solutions to tackle a problem in both short and long-term.

Only at the intersection of Idealism and Pragmatism exists the solution to complex problems of the real world. Idealism provides high level guidance on how things ought to be done in an ethical society BUT it doesn’t give precise solutions. Precise solutions is the realm of pragmatic study of Liberal science (i.e. positive Liberal sciences).

As previously mentioned, Liberal sciences-derived solutions are rarely perfect due to resource constraints and inherent human imperfections. Consider the example of Income inequality which has been a long-standing issue faced by all the societies. While the Normative approach might suggest altruistic wealth redistribution, as was tried in Communist countries, it remains a failed impractical approach. Pragmatic strategies like wealth tax and progressive income tax, developed through data analysis and cause-and-effect relationships may provide more tangible means to address the issue. However, in today’s interconnected world, finding the right balance is crucial as over-taxation could lead to capital flight, while maintaining the status quo may further exacerbate income disparities.

These are the complex real world problems for which Liberal science attempts to provide optimal solution based on Normative prescriptions and Pragmatic approach.

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