Pragmatism

• Pragmatism involves a flexible approach to society with decisions made on the basis of what works
• Pragmatism is a complete rejection of ideology. Lord Hailsham said that conservatism represents the negation of ideology
• Pragmatism represents a flexibility of mind and a search for practical solutions rather than the inflexibility imposed by ideologies
• Pragmatism is linked to empiricism which claims that knowledge comes primarily from experience