instrumentalism
(noun) a system of pragmatic philosophy that considers idea to be instruments that should guide our actions and their value is measured by their success
Source: WordNet® 3.1
instrumentalism (countable and uncountable, plural instrumentalisms)
(philosophy) 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.
Source: Wiktionary
In`stru*men"tal*ism, n. (Philos.)
Definition: The view that the sanction of truth is its utility, or that truth is genuine only in so far as it is a valuable instrument. -- In`stru*men"tal*ist, n.
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. Josiah Royce.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
3 July 2025
(noun) the faculty through which the external world is apprehended; “in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing”
The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.
