Toward a Definition of "Pragmatism" (2)

A practical approach to problems and affairs. An American movement in philosophy founded by C.S. Peirce and William James and marked by the doctrine that the meaning on conceptions is to be sought in their practical bearings, that the function of thought is to guide action, and that truth is preeminently to be tested by the practical consequences of belief.

From Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary