Explaining the relationship between pop art and pragmatism

One of the most important features of pop art is its critical approach to idealistic aesthetics; In addition to this characteristic, one can find other characteristics in pop art that show the relationship between pop and the philosophical school of pragmatism. Pragmatism, as a philosophical school, takes a critical approach to the philosophy of idealism. Pragmatism looks for the practical consequences of affairs and establishes evaluation criteria dependent on these results. According to the followers of this approach, a proposition is true if it can be considered valid in the context of a practical effect. In other words, the meaning of a proposition should be sought in its practical consequences.

The philosophers of pragmatism, like the idealists, were not indifferent to the theory of art and beauty; John Dewey was one of the most important philosophers of this school. His book Art as Experience proposes pragmatic features in the theory of art. According to these features, pragmatism can be considered one of the trends influencing art in the second half of the 20th century.

At the same time, pop art, as one of the important artistic currents in the second half of the 20th century, seems to have a significant relationship with the philosophical school of pragmatism. An accurate understanding of pop art depends on the detailed evaluation of its pragmatist characteristics. In its main purpose, the current research seeks to identify and analyze this relationship; Therefore, the questions addressed by the current research can be stated in three cases:

- In addition to its critical opposition to idealist aesthetics, what pragmatic qualities does pop art contain, and what kinds of thought and philosophical foundations underpin this pragmatic quality?

- How can the processes of ideation, topic selection, execution, and presentation in pop works be understood in relation to the philosophical school of pragmatism?

- What changes in valuation and critical judgment result when idealist aesthetics give way to a kind of public aesthetics?

With these questions in mind, the necessary data have been collected through documentary methods and written sources which have been analyzed qualitatively. Based on the obtained results, we can conclude that pop art is influenced by the philosophy of pragmatism in addition to the critical approach to idealistic aesthetics.

In addition to the theoretical foundations of the pop movement, pragmatism also influences the process of ideation, the choice of topic and content, formal qualities, and performance of the works. In the context of the execution of the works, the use of techniques borrowed from commercial printing or what was introduced under the general title of "process abbreviation" expresses a pragmatic quality. The pop movement influenced by pragmatism gives art a practical character and considers it a medium of communication. In addition, according to pragmatism's approach to art, pop art can be said to have a dialogue-oriented characteristic, so it cannot be evaluated by mere aesthetic criteria; Therefore, it can be acknowledged that in art criticism, valuation and judgment become relativistic and descriptive criticism.