instrumentalism

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noun

In the philosophy of science, the view that concepts and theories are merely useful instruments whose worth is measured not by whether the concepts and theories are true or false (or correctly depict reality), but how effective they are in explaining and predicting phenomena.

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Meanings

nouninstrumentalism (countable and uncountable, plural instrumentalisms)

plural instrumentalisms

  1. countableuncountablehuman sciencesIn the philosophy of science, the view that concepts and theories are merely useful instruments whose worth is measured not by whether the concepts and theories are true or false (or correctly depict reality), but how effective they are in explaining and predicting phenomena.

    Instrumentalism views truth as simply the value belonging to certain ideas in so far as these ideas are biological functions of our organisms, and psychological functions whereby we direct our choices and attain our successes.

    1908, Josiah Royce, The Problem of Truth in Light of Recent Discussion

Origin

From instrumental + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 工具主義 /工具主义
  • 工具主義 /工具主义 (gōngjùzhǔyì)view in the philosophy of science
Japanese 道具主義
  • 道具主義 (dōgushugi)view in the philosophy of science
Polish instrumentalizm
  • instrumentalizmview in the philosophy of science
Thai อุปกรณ์นิยม
  • อุปกรณ์นิยมview in the philosophy of science
Cite this entry
APA

instrumentalism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instrumentalism

MLA

“instrumentalism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instrumentalism. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “instrumentalism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/instrumentalism.

Source: instrumentalism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.