The Paradox of Pragmatism

Abstract

The core of this paradox is the epistemological problem of the bridge between internal conceptions and the external face of what we observe; the difference between what we can see and what is seen. This involves questioning what the similarities are between objective reality and subjective imagination. Having a dualistic starting point will not help to bridge the gap between object and subject. A position of unity is the most fundamental and the only possible starting point for dealing with the paradox of dualism, just as we see in the Yin-Yang structure of the Tao. Our world is comprised of a basic unity of two co-components; an external level of ‘doing’ and an internal level of ‘being’; the two faces of one reality which are fundamentally connected, being expressions of the same root.