instrumentalism en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree English instrumental Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English instrumentalism From instrumental + -ism.
Meanings
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(countable, uncountable) In the philosophy of science, the view that concepts and theories are merely useful instruments whose worth is measured not by whether the concepts and theories are true or false (or correctly depict reality), but how effective they are in explaining and predicting phenomena.
Instrumentalism views truth as simply the value belonging to certain ideas in so far as these ideas are biological functions of our organisms, and psychological functions whereby we direct our choices and attain our successes.
1908, Josiah Royce, The Problem of Truth in Light of Recent Discussion:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| instrumentalisms | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Translations (4)
ja 道具主義 (view in the philosophy of science) · cmn 工具主義 /工具主义 (view in the philosophy of science) · pl instrumentalizm (view in the philosophy of science) · th อุปกรณ์นิยม (view in the philosophy of science)