(Memory is not fixed, but is made through acts of recollections understanding the past depends upon hindsight.) The past lives on in our relationships with what remains, and so there is always more to be said and done. The past comes to be what it is through our actions upon it, so there is no definitive end to the past. And pragmata do not stand on their own - they become what they are through our relationships with them.Įngagement comes first, rather than, for example, the material evidence of past event. To regard old things of archaeological and heritage interest as pragmata reminds us of the primacy of engaging with things. dictionary definitions for Twitter language,Sms Speak,txt msgs, txt messages, texting, Text sms phrases, SMS lingo, Tweat, Txt messaging language pragmata. Of course, archaia, old things, demand a particular orientation, both practical and imaginative. Remnants, vestiges, monuments, artifacts hold memories which we attentively piece together following, typically, an aspiration to fidelity and authenticity. This is cognate with making as poetics (the Greek root is poiein) - a creative component to practice generally.Īs an archaeologist, I emphasize the care that archaeologists, heritage managers, and many others have for pasts-in-the-present - loyalty to ta archaia (a root of ‘archaeology’, literally translated as ‘old things’). The verb at the root of pragmata is prattein - to act in the material world, engaged with things. (because I am fascinated by etymology and all things ancient Greek!)Įncompassing the richness of the old Greek meaning of the term, pragmata are ‘things’, but also ‘deeds’, ‘acts’ (things done), ‘doings’, ‘circumstances’ (encounters), ‘contested matters’, ‘duties’, or ‘obligations’. As it turns out, however, pragmatism itself does not work, and so it needs to be viewed with. The central idea of pragmatism is that truth is proved by whether or not the idea in question works, meaning it produces the expected or desired results.
I suggest Pragmatology: the theory and practice of pragmata Pragmatism is a philosophy most easily summarized by the phrase whatever works. In spite of how central things are to being human, there is no word that encompasses the connection, and certainly no discipline of things. Assemblages of materials, making, consumption, discard.
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