Some aspects of the world yield to rules, which is to say: “always do this” or “never do that.” When the frame of a particular problem is sufficiently narrow, this can suffice. However, much of the world rejects the straightjacket of rules.
When the matter is more complex, which is especially true of any human-centric or social endeavor, then we would do well to navigate it without too many of an “always” or a “never.” That is not to say that we should be rampaging pragmatists either, but rather that we should exercise a certain discretion.
Choosing which way a trolley rolls is an interesting problem, but you need only play the hypothetical game once to learn that the pragmatism that felt appropriate (at first), would do well to listen to a principle or two.
Conversely, play a different game, one of wearing too many rules, and the thing-we-are-trying-to-do falls over.
It is not a question of balance, or the right number of rules, but a question of different types. Rules sit on both sides of pragmatism.
On one side are our principles.
They should be wrestled with lest pragmatism teaches us to start pushing our neighbours to their deaths in the naive pursuit of the greater good. They should also be few in number. Thus they can take on a quality akin to the sacred: precious, protected, and meant for a higher purpose than the current game.
Moreover, when we do this wisely, our open-minded frame gives us an opportunity to improve upon our principles - to be sure that the “always” and the “never” is well-placed. Naturally, the principles will constrain - that is their job - but they achieve this at higher frames than our immediate paradigms.
Unfortunately, sound principles can’t be plucked from the air, and nor can they be downloaded seamlessly from our predecessors. We have little hope of getting it right the first time, regardless of the wisdom of our tradition or the tiresome nagging of our elders (it turns out there was something in there - we just weren’t ready to hear it). And that engagement, that cultivation, is a normal part of maturation.
On the far side of pragmatism, is process.
Process looks like principle, but with the properties of ice cream; it appears a solid, but once it moves into any testing environment, easily yields, or even melts away entirely. These are the rules that can change in contact, and thus not principles at all.
Process encompasses the trivial, but helpful, rules. Sometimes an “always” but always after an “if.” And never a “never”, but plenty of “usually.”
Pragmatism gets sandwiched between.
Much like principle, pragmatism can be cultivated. Where our judgement and intuition is stretched, our pragmatic sense is grown too. This in turn matures our sacred (and few) principles, and puts process in her proper place.
Principles before Pragmatism. Pragmatism before Process.
