we must ask ourselves concerning the truth of a proposition: "Suppose this proposition were true; what influence might it have concerning our behavior?" Once this question has been answered, we have said all there is to say about the meaning of the proposition. However, if we are powerless to state in any way how its truth or falsehood has any importance to our lives, then we are also unable to declare any meaning at all for that proposition. In other words, a proposition that is unverifiable, has no actual meaning. Peirce states: "Now quite the most striking feature of the new theory was its recognition of an inseparable connection between rational cognition and rational purpose; and that consideration it was which determined the preference for the name pragmatism" (M
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