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- HNUE JOURNAL OF SCIENCE
Social Sciences, 2020, Volume 64, Issue 4D, pp. 54-61
This paper is available online at http://stdb.hnue.edu.vn
PRAGMATISM’S INFLUENCES ON AMERICAN LIFESTYLE
Nguyen Van Thoa
Faculty of Philosophy, Hanoi National Universtiy of Education
Abstract. Pragmatism, originated in United States has met their people’s needs on practical
results. Pragmatism is a mode of thought in action, in which action is a key means and the
actual effect is its purposes. Pragmatism has become the “spiritual specialty” of American
people, having a profound impact on the American way of life characterized by
pragmatism, promoting individualism, concentrating on efficiency, utility and consumer
lifestyle. The article clarifies the conception of American way of life, influences of
pragmatism on it and some of its manifestations, thereby showing two-sided effects on the
development of the United States as a basis for applying and acquiring their values, as well
as overcoming their limitations in our country nowadays.
Keywords: pragmatism, American lifestyle, pragmatic lifestyle.
1. Introduction
Originated from the specific socio-economic condition of the nation, Americans have
always been restlessly making efforts in “reaching forward”. What they need is not abstract
philosophy but an instrumental reasoning system, a method of thinking that helps them
effectively give actions, to prove their own position; therefore, to meet that demand, a brand
new philosophical movement was born, named pragmatism. Pragmatism also made a
repercussion impact on social life and acted as one of the factors that clearly affect American
lifestyle. This lifestyle is typical for its pragmatics, focusing on productivity and materialism, a
consumer lifestyle, worshipping individualism and individual freedom. It has had a great
influence on the United States’ development in history and at present. However, this impact
must be seen as two-sided, both good and bad. There are several well-known scholars studying
about American pragmatism in Vietnam, namely Bui Dang Duy, Do Minh Hop, Nguyen Tien
Dung, Bui Thi Tinh, Trinh Son Hoan, etc. However, the majority of studies mainly focused on
the contents of pragmatism without mentioning the relationship between the philosophy and
lifestyle. It can be said that in Vietnam up to now, there has not been any systematic study on
the effect of pragmatism on the American lifestyle. Based on inherited research results, I
would systematically clarify the influences of pragmatism on the American lifestyle. The
research would become a lesson in acquiring and inheriting pragmatism’ values, as well as
American lifestyle, also, help us recognize and limit the drawbacks that this lifestyle shows in
Vietnam nowadays.
Received April 11, 2020. Revised April 24, 2020. Accepted May 15, 2020.
Contact Nguyen Van Thoa, e-mail address: thoanv@hnue.edu.vn
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2. Content
2.1. Conception of American lifestyle
The United States is often referred to as the “American dream”, which represents the dream
of seeking equality and freedom to achieve success in a new land. It is equality of opportunity,
here it means opportunity to make properties and change life. Abraham Lincoln stated that, “We
hope that the most normal person would have an opportunity of equality like any others, as to
grow rich… a society of freedom must be a place where that person knows he can improve his
own living” [1, p. 63]. This was shown clearly in Martin Luther King’s article, titled “I have a
dream”: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal… My country,
'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. And if America is to be a great nation, this must
become true” [1, pp.68-69]. The idea of freedom and equality became the content to shape the
nature of American lifestyle.
American lifestyle, as a “common belief” of American society, has coexisted for centuries
with other beliefs of the nation, both influence each other in a wide, sophisticated and complex
way. Originally, American lifestyle was formed by the Protestant traits that immigrants brought
to the country to realize the American dream. Their imagination of a “promised land” in the
wilderness of the New World has become a profound sense, Americans’ hope for the new and
unique of everything on the land of Western Hemisphere; created American beliefs in its own
actions to conquer new lands. The pragmatism also contributed to the pragmatic belief that
already existed in Protestantism, affecting American lifestyle. On the other hand, the American
lifestyle also contributes to shaping and restoring the religious beliefs of immigrants to the
United States. It can be said that once coming to the US, the long-standing religions tend to be
“Americanized” under the profound influence of American material lifestyle and historical
conditions.
In addition to the osmosis and impact of religion and spiritual factors on the American
lifestyle, we also see the impact of social historical conditions and material lifestyle in the
United States. The total force of that influence, in which secular religion, religious beliefs
became pragmatic belief, has had a strong impact on forming the American lifestyle. Americans
believe in religion in a more different way than any other nation: in which it carries a pragmatic
belief, an American dream - a dream of those who aspire to change and become successful.
Pragmatism contributed to the interpretation of American beliefs and lifestyle. That created a fit
between Religion - Pragmatism and the American lifestyle. There also exists truth within
religion because truth brings “good things” to individuals and communities.
Every class has its lifestyle, according to its views and any philosophical trend has its ideal
basis for a certain lifestyle. Pragmatism is no exception; it was born during the new
development and ambition of American expansion.
Pragmatism manifests the ideology of the bourgeoisie; in particular, it associates its
philosophy with a lifestyle known as the “pragmatic lifestyle” or the American lifestyle.
Therefore, considering pragmatism we need to look into the expressions of American lifestyle.
Lifestyle does not only include each person's way of living such as eating, dressing,
staying, entertaining, etc. but, in philosophical sense, is the whole way of living of each
individual, in order to satisfy their unique needs and personality development. Lifestyle is
defined by physical conditions of the society and the expressions are not the same between
each person.
American lifestyle is not easy to define, especially about American culture, which is
described as follows, “Americans do not like generalizing about American lifestyle. Being
atypical or unwilling to become typical is part of American” [1, p.50]. That does not mean we
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could not figure out the core nature of this lifestyle, as it is shown in the thought of freedom and
democracy in an American sense. Politically, it is institutionalized, with the highest being the
Constitution; economically, it is manifested in “free trade”; socially, as liberalism and equality,
and it is not only appropriate but actually leads to strong economic competition and high
flexibility. Mentally, it is perceived to reflect the American identity. It is a pragmatic belief,
where religious symbols become the symbol of faith that every American worship and practice.
American lifestyle is typical for its individualism, pragmatism and activeness. It affirms the
ultimate value and dignity of individual freedom; it emphasizes the relentless activeness to
assert the role of each individual, because the individual himself never stops, and always strives
to “go forward”; it defines a moral standard of independence, talent and personality, and judges
by success or failure: “action, no belief” is what it is based on, in this way, efficiency,
usefulness, success are truth: “The declared principles of the United States promote the efforts
of each individual to create a better life... American society allows personal freedom to a high
level, in every attempt to fulfill that promise” [2, pp.41-42]. American lifestyle is target-
oriented, “forward-looking”, and optimistic. Americans also show their generosity and kindness
since they are willing to respond to sorrows that occurs anywhere in the world. Americans
believe in progress, in self-improvement, and particularly, believe in the power of education to
bring about change and positive values. Because they are idealistic, they tend to confuse
between approving an ideal and implementing that. Therefore, they easily consider themselves
as good as their ideals and uphold their individual qualities.At the same time, they make a clear
distinction between right and wrong: they tend to consider issues simply and frankly, crystal
clear and treat them as moral issues.It can be seen that the core of American lifestyle is the
promotion of personal freedom, equality, pragmatism, practicality, dynamic, progressiveness,
consumer lifestyle and focusing on material values. These factors have affected every aspect of
the American social life.
2.2. The influence of pragmatism on the American lifestyle
Before the birth of pragmatic philosophy, the United States was considered a country with
little interest in philosophy. We all understand the philosophy that Americans were less
concerned about is the metaphysical, abstract philosophy coming from Europe, which is also the
home of most immigrants to the United States. A. Tocqueville, a researcher considered to
understand America better than themselves, gave us a true insight into American philosophy:
“In my opinion, there is no country in the civilized world that we are less preoccupied with
philosophy than the United States. Americans do not have a particular school of philosophy and
they are less interested in the schools of philosophy that are divided in Europe; they know the
schools by name and it is hard enough” [3, p.567]. The American way of thinking comes from
specific events in order to find effective ways of action. Therefore, they turned away from the
dogmas of speculative philosophy. Tocqueville was right about American philosophy: “Beyond
the systemic spirit, from the yoke of habit, family maxims, class views, and to some extent, free
from nationalist prejudices; traditions treated as information and happening events as a useful
way to look different and act better; exploring self-reliance and only seeking the cause of things
within themselves, aiming results without being bound by the means but the root of the problem
shown at its outward appearance” [3, p. 567].
Pragmatic philosophy, born in the United States in the late nineteenth century created
relevance not only for American way of thinking, but also in accordance with the characteristics
of its nation, people, culture and characteristics. It meets Americans’ requirements – who are
self-made and independent people, in which efficiency and success in action plays the core part:
“If there is any kind of philosophy in the world that closely keeps up with pulses of the era,
firstly, it is necessary to mention the philosophy of pragmatism of the United States, which was
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born in the call of the American era, together with the development of American society,
becoming the philosophy of American life” [4, p. 69].
C. Peirce was the philosopher laying the foundation of American pragmatic philosophy.
This school of philosophy expresses the resistance to the rational, epistemological, abstract truth
originated from Europe which is no more practical, useful to most Americans. They are known
to have left their homeland, sailing across the Atlantic to start a career on this new continent, to
find changes and desire to succeed. Thus, it is not surprising that they are realistic, and act based
on reality. The ideas of C.Peirce's pragmatic philosophy have somewhat met the needs of
Americans.
Concreting C.Peirce's mind, W.James asserted that useful ideas were acknowledged,
otherwise, they would be replaced. Useful ideas should be truth. It is a famous definition about
“truth” in pragmatic philosophy. This definition is suitable not only for American culture but
only for their personalities who dislike conservation and dogmatism. Having left Europe where
rationalism with massive theories, in order to find a new and promising land aiming to build a
bright future. It is understood that everyone has the same opportunity and desire to change, so
what they can do is only to move forward, live by their pragmatic faith with extraordinary
energy, with all their abilities and efforts. To become successful, besides perseverance,
optimism, progressiveness, and courage people must also be adaptive, creative, flexible due to
practical circumstances and situations. The ultimate target is efficiency, benefits and success
in action.
Pragmatic philosophers have defined human’s cognitive task is to reform the world. Being
conscious is to achieve practical efficiency and success for humans. Consciousness must,
therefore, become a tool for improving reality, as to bring the efficiency, benefits and success -
which is the standard of truth. Here, we see a similarity between Marxist - Leninist philosophy
and pragmatic philosophy. Marxist - Leninist philosophy sees reality as the goal of
consciousness, and J.Dewey sees perception as a task and a tool to improve reality.
Consciousness must be considered as tools, just like other physical objects that affect and
improve the world. The cognitive tool expressed through the spirit and mind of the human being
has great potentials and effects in reforming the world, once it effectively improves the reality,
that tool is truth. This point of view is worth acknowledging, especially in the current
knowledge economy when the value of a product does not lie mostly and magnificently in
materials, fuels, but knowledge and human intellect.
Thus, it is no exaggeration to say that pragmatic philosophy has been deeply rooted in
American social life and people. It has become an action tool to help people achieve efficiency,
benefits and success, thereby promoting social development. Therefore, pragmatic philosophy
has had an impact on every aspect of American society and people. The promotion of practice
and the importance of effectiveness have made the vitality of pragmatic philosophy: “It is not
strange that this theory was born in America - the land of pragmatism, where the criterion of all
values is success” [2, p.237]. Here we could see a coincidence how the truth is defined in both
this philosophy and the American mindset, while Americans are people who always appreciate
reality and efficiency. In their mind, truth is identified with efficiency, benefits and success. In
other words, the formation of pragmatic philosophy is a reflection of American thinking,
culture, lifestyle. It would be hard to clarify which existed first, but what we can be sure of is
that mentioning America, pragmatism should be called out and vice versa. In this nation, the
standard of truth consists of efficiency, benefits, satisfaction and success in the activity of
improving human’s living reality. Since the 70s - 80s of the twentieth century when
Americanization in the West happened, even now, this movement is taking place more and more
deeply in the world. It would be hard to deny the great influence the US had on the world in
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every aspect, including cultural and lifestyle influence to Western countries in particular and
countries around the world in general. These causes and great influences can be found from the
positive effects of American pragmatic philosophy to the formation and development of their
own social, cultural and lifestyle.
As a philosophical movement, pragmatism was born out of American socio-economic
conditions, however, being a form of social consciousness, pragmatism, in turn, has an impact
on American social life. American pragmatism exists as not only a theoretical system but also
comes into life, forming the so-called “American pragmatic lifestyle”. That lifestyle is defined
by material conditions, production methods, social existence and is manifested in personal life.
American lifestyle is a reflection of the material living conditions in American capitalist
society. Although born later, but in the nineteenth century, the US possessed a mechanized,
modernized industry which is highly developed far beyond many countries, including those
which developed earlier than the US. That physical strength located America in general and the
American bourgeoisie in particular an important position, leading the system of capitalist
countries. This achievement greatly influenced the mindset of the American bourgeoisie and
thinkers. It is their optimistic thinking that science and technology have brought them the most
powerful development in the world. That thought also has a profound impact on the American
lifestyle. According to them, nothing else but science and technical factors are the only means to
achieve the goal of efficiency, success and wealth. This technical element is the basis for them
to build trust in life. At that time, technical worshipping was even becoming a tendency in
American society. It had a new name, “technocratic society”; in other words, technology plays a
huge role, dominating the entire social life. Pursuing efficiency and interests, pragmatism stated
that technology has an absolute power, as a means for people to achieve their effectivity goals.
Thought of technology as dominance does not only apply in economic life but also
thoroughly controls all aspects of social life such as politics, ideological culture... It has come to
life and become the lifestyle of the whole society.
With a pragmatic spirit, American society is open in political institution that values and
receives all the ideas and doctrines making American society develop and prosper. With such an
open political position, the United States encourages a spirit of democracy and freedom. In
particular, the American bourgeoisie highly praised democracy and considered it a condition for
human beings to attain true freedom. They themselves also identify as “a world of freedom”.
Yet, freedom in American society is merely freedom for the minority, for the rich or the
bourgeoisie.
Responding to democracy and freedom, pragmatists also strongly encouraged and
explained democracy in a pragmatic spirit. Democracy must be attached with the cult of
material power. J.Dewey once stated that democracy was a belief in the capacity of human
experience to set goals and methods, so that the experience develops and becomes nurtured.
Being pragmatic, considering effectiveness and benefits for people is what needs to be
concerned; therefore, when the bourgeoisie applies technocracy in social life, they think that
changes in society today are controlled by technology and not by humans. Therefore, the
existence of the bourgeoisie and capitalism would also be indispensable and that dominant
social role, of course does not belong to anyone else but technicians.
Promoting the role of technocracy, effectiveness means right, good and truthful. This
caused a certain cult in American social life. Due to the cult of technology and the physical
conditions it brings, a common lifestyle in the US and many capitalist countries is now existent,
named “consumer lifestyle”.
Consumer lifestyle is not only a trend, a lifestyle but it actually is a consequence of the
capitalist economy. To gain economic profits, the bourgeoisie strives to promote the application
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of science and technology in their production in order to bring about high labor productivity.
However, due to workers’ low income, they can not afford to consume goods made by
themselves. Capitalist production brings about a massive volume of products, fulfilling the
consumers’ needs. But its consequence is the surplus of goods, leading to crisis, recession,
production stagnation for the economy. To address this situation, the bourgeoisie has created a
new lifestyle to satisfy the increasing demand in society to use up surplus goods created by
manufacturing. By advertising, they stimulate consumption and treat it as an indispensable need
in human activities. They state that consumption is as indispensable as production, a task of
every citizen so that the society can maintain its pace of development. To achieve the purpose of
stimulating demand for consumers, the bourgeoisie has set many sale methods such as selling
on credit, installment payment on wages, etc. making workers accidentally dependent on the
capitalist. From a psychological perspective, this is the capitalist's mission to reduce their
distance from the worker, to make them believe that in terms of consumption there is no
difference between the employer and the worker; so, workers may be assured of that condition
and enjoy a “full of comfort” life. The main purpose of the bourgeoisie must still be the
consumption of goods in society: “The consumer society can only develop thanks to more and
more excessive consumption, meaning waste” [2, p.422].
In short, with the purpose of promoting practical efficiency, pragmatism has jointly
adjusted the concept and lifestyle in American society. Since the twentieth century, pragmatism
has become popular in the US, to the point that all society is mostly about efficiency. For
Americans, what is the most important is the actual performance standards and action results.
For them, what really matters is not the “right” or “what we should believe” but “what we
believe that works best for us”. Pragmatic belief is highly appreciated, because when there is
faith, people have goals, methods of action in order to achieve efficiency and success.
According to Americans, it is not necessarily proved that “God is existent or not” but the issue
must be the effectiveness of that belief, i.e., answering the question of what meaning and role it
plays in people’s life. Therefore, people’s goals should be towards the future perspective, which
means they aim for efficiency and success. What they are interested in is not the objective
ethical standards but the problem is to seek the benefits and success.
Pragmatism does not only influence consumer lifestyles, the adjustment of American
conceptions and goals, but it also affects American education. Education is built on the basis of
the theory of pragmatism, in particular the opinion of J.Dewey. Education should be practically
oriented, disregarding book theory but focusing on practical improvement. The goal is “the
responsibility of a citizen” and “social and emotional development of children”. Pragmatism
builds an applicable educational philosophy, trains a new generation realizing the ambition to
make America more and more powerful. The progressive education, in their opinion, focuses on
the issue of beliefs and the need to teach people about beliefs. That method is carried through
work, labor and also actual activities. In order to educate through work and labor, according to
them, going to school in a traditional way is not necessary, but life can also be the best school
without theories or books; or only with books teaching skills of working, living, doing business
and being housewives, etc. providing practical knowledge directly serving life, teaching people
how to succeed, without heavily focusing on abstract theories. Its good thing is making realistic
people, reforming the reality, becoming ambitious in order to succeed.
However, pragmatism somewhat disregards the reasoning, which will lead to the
consequence of a superficial education of people, overly materialism, lack of humanity in
people’s hearts, even negatively affecting the majority of the society.
Besides education, consumer lifestyle and pragmatism also influence American spiritual
life, including literary writing. Adapting the consumption lifestyle, market-like social needs and
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the need for information are main reasons and there existed new kind of novels, namely
documentary novels, a new category in literary life; detective novel, referring to events that
meet the information needs of readers. In cinematography, the US quickly became a leading
country in the world both in number of films and artistic quality. The formation and
development of Hollywood cinema has become a symbol of the United States and is able to
conquer and attract the whole world. Even during the US economic downturn, Hollywood still
retained the leading brand position in the field of entertainment. In the field of artistic
creation, people are free to show their own creativity in their works of art: “The true attraction
of the total high quality and pure values, i.e. individualism and humanitarian, freedom of
movement, upward movement, the pursuit of happiness (mental or physical) and challenging
acception, the strong will to prove the individual, etc. All of them jointly helped maintaining
the position” [1, p.81].
American spiritual and cultural life may outwardly look so nurtured, however, that actual
nourishment is reflected in modern techniques creating a “technical culture”, “electronic
culture”, expressed by a shell that seemed so flashy.
All different aspects of American life with such consumer lifestyles are just for the purpose
of giving people a physical consumption mentality and the enjoyment of spiritual life, social
services. Therefore, culture does not only serve life, but it also becomes a means when one
wants to achieve a certain purpose.
Pragmatic spirit is expressed in the way of human life, that is, people only appreciate
efficiency and practical experience, dislike dogmatic reasoning, prefer practicality. That is how
the real “Americans” are. Americans set criteria of efficiency, what is beneficial or not. This is
also the main idea in American pragmatic philosophy. Accordingly, each person has the right to
pursue their interests in action. Therefore, if necessary, they are willing to leave the inherent
principles, revise the old ones, remove stereotypes and old ways of thinking to adopt new
perspectives and customs rather than stick to traditions or unchanging truths. As President Bill
Clinton stated, “There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right
with America” [1, p.8]. In the 30s of the twentieth century, to save the United States from the
great economic crisis, President Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented the New Deal, which
allowed the state to intervene in economic activities, do social welfare to improve the lives of
the poor - which is contrary to the tradition of American business freedom, actually to solve the
crisis, thereby promoting production and consumption. By the 1980s, when the welfare policies
enabled a lazy, parasitic class, President Ronald Reagan again launched a policy of reducing
welfare and reducing taxes to promote economic growth, control monetary issues and inflation.
President Bill Clinton also succeeded in renovating the social welfare system to narrow down
the beneficiaries, minimize the lazy mindset in the society. President Donal Trump also issued
policies on immigration, with the two main points being to encourage highly skilled
immigration and tighten family reintegration, in order to reduce the burden on the United States,
thereby promoting development. It can be said that policies in the United States are always
adjusted to achieve efficiency, facilitate conditions and environment for socio-economic
development.
3. Conclusions
In short, pragmatism has encouraged Americans to pursue efficiency and material values.
Pragmatism has contributed to form the American lifestyle imbued with individualism and
pragmatism; formed the love for labor, acceptance of challenges, and always going ahead in
American people. Simultaneously with these values, pragmatism also creates a consumer habit,
a consumer lifestyle. Those influences are double-sided, reflecting the true nature of pragmatic
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theory. On the positive side, it is clearly seen that the influence of American lifestyle on the
development of the US, which explains that the strong development of the US is not granted but
is an achievement of a whole process and effort to work towards efficiency and success,
reflected in a very “American” lifestyle. On the other hand, in the very development of the US,
the American lifestyle also showed some negative aspects such as overly worshipping
individualism, consumer lifestyle with focus on materialism, inequality, discrimination, as well
as other consequences created by this lifestyle during their development. Understanding this
duality helps us better understand the nature of American society and people, which is the basis
to immerse the values and limit the negative aspects during the process of international
integration, which is becoming more and more widespread in Vietnam today.
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