pragmatism

1. (philosophy) The idea that beliefs are identified with the actions of a believer, and the truth of beliefs with success of those actions in securing a believer's goals; the doctrine that ideas must be looked at in terms of their practical effects and consequences.Examples: "Our conception of these practical consequences is for us the whole of our conception of the object, so far as that conception has positive significance at all. This is the principle of [Charles Sanders] Peirce, the principle of pragmatism."countableuncountable

2. (politics) The theory that political problems should be met with practical solutions rather than ideological ones.countableuncountable

3. (obsolete) The habit of interfering in other people's affairs; meddlesomeness.countableobsoleteuncountable