Articles on Education

7/27/2019 Articles on Education

1/60

ARTICLES ON EDUCATION(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

1


2/60

Philosophy of education

The philosophy of education is the study of the purpose, process,nature and ideals of education. This can be within the context of education

as a societal institution or more broadly as the process of humanexistential growth, i.e. how it is that our understanding of the world iscontinually transformed (be it from facts, social customs, experiences, oreven our own emotions).

Contents

1 Educational Philosophies 2 Chronological Summary

o 2.1 Plato

o 2.2 Aristotleo 2.3 Rousseauo 2.4 Deweyo 2.5 Rudolf Steinero 2.6 B.F. Skinnero 2.7 Maria Montessorio 2.8Jean Piageto 2.9 Paulo Freireo 2.10 Neil Postman and the Inquiry

Methodo 2.11John Taylor Gatto

3 Critical responses and counter-philosophies 4 Notes

5 External links

Educational Philosophies

Educational essentialism Educational progressivism Educational perennialism Educational existentialism Educational behaviourism (with more information)

2
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Educational_Philosophies%23Educational_Philosophieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Chronological_Summary%23Chronological_Summaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Plato%23Platohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Aristotle%23Aristotlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Rousseau%23Rousseauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Dewey%23Deweyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Rudolf_Steiner%23Rudolf_Steinerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#B.F._Skinner%23B.F._Skinnerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Maria_Montessori%23Maria_Montessorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Maria_Montessori%23Maria_Montessorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Jean_Piaget%23Jean_Piagethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Jean_Piaget%23Jean_Piagethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Paulo_Freire%23Paulo_Freirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Neil_Postman_and_the_Inquiry_Method%23Neil_Postman_and_the_Inquiry_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Neil_Postman_and_the_Inquiry_Method%23Neil_Postman_and_the_Inquiry_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#John_Taylor_Gatto%23John_Taylor_Gattohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#John_Taylor_Gatto%23John_Taylor_Gattohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Critical_responses_and_counter-philosophies%23Critical_responses_and_counter-philosophieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Notes%23Noteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#External_links%23External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_essentialismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_progressivismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_perennialismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_existentialismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Educational_behaviourism&action=edithttp://edweb.sdsu.edu/LShaw/f95syll/philos/phbehav.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Educational_Philosophies%23Educational_Philosophieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Chronological_Summary%23Chronological_Summaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Plato%23Platohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Aristotle%23Aristotlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Rousseau%23Rousseauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Dewey%23Deweyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Rudolf_Steiner%23Rudolf_Steinerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#B.F._Skinner%23B.F._Skinnerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Maria_Montessori%23Maria_Montessorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Jean_Piaget%23Jean_Piagethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Paulo_Freire%23Paulo_Freirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Neil_Postman_and_the_Inquiry_Method%23Neil_Postman_and_the_Inquiry_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Neil_Postman_and_the_Inquiry_Method%23Neil_Postman_and_the_Inquiry_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#John_Taylor_Gatto%23John_Taylor_Gattohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Critical_responses_and_counter-philosophies%23Critical_responses_and_counter-philosophieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#Notes%23Noteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education#External_links%23External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_essentialismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_progressivismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_perennialismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_existentialismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Educational_behaviourism&action=edithttp://edweb.sdsu.edu/LShaw/f95syll/philos/phbehav.html


3/60

Chronological Summary

A chronological summary of the work of some of the most important andinfluential Western culture educational philosophers follows.

Plato

Plato is the earliest important educational thinker. Education is, of course,a relatively minor part of his overall philosophical vision, but it is animportant one. He saw education as the key to creating and sustaining hisRepublic. He advocated extreme methods: removing children from theirmothers' care and raising them as wards of the state, with great carebeing taken to differentiate children suitable to the various castes, the

highest receiving the most education, so that they could act as guardiansof the city and care for the less able. Education would be holistic, includingfacts, skills, physical discipline, and rigidly censored music and art.

For Plato the individual was best served by being subordinated to a justsociety. Plato's belief that talent was distributed non-genetically and thusmust be found in children born to all classes moves us away fromaristocracy, and Plato builds on this by insisting that those suitably giftedare to be trained by the state so that they may be qualified to assume therole of a ruling class. What this establishes is essentially a system ofselective public education premised on the assumption that an educatedminority of the population are, by virtue of their education (and inborneducability), sufficient for healthy governance.

Plato should be considered foundational for democratic philosophies ofeducation both because later key thinkers treat him as such, and because,while Plato's methods are autocratic and his motives meritocratic, henonetheless prefigures much later democratic philosophy of education.This is different in degree rather than kind from most versions of, say, theAmerican experiment with democratic education, which has usuallyassumed that only some students should be educated to the fullest, while

others may, acceptably, fall by the wayside.

Aristotle

Though Aristotle wrote a treatise On Education, this only survives throughfragments that have come down to us. We thus know of his philosophy ofeducation primarily through brief passages in other works. Aristotleconsidered nature, habit and reason to be three equally important forcesto be cultivated in education. Thus, for example, he considered repetitionto be a key tool to develop good habits. The teacher was to lead thestudent systematically; this differs, for example, from Socrates' emphasison questioning his listeners to bring out their own ideas (though thecomparison is perhaps unfair since Socrates was dealing with adults).

3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_(Plato)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotlehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_(Plato)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle


4/60

Aristotle placed great emphasis on balancing the theoretical and practicalaspects of subjects taught. Subjects he explicitly mentions as beingimportant included reading, writing and mathematics; music; physicaleducation; literature and history; and a wide range of sciences. He alsomentioned the importance of play.

One of education's primary missions for Aristotle, perhaps its mostimportant, was to produce good and virtuous citizens for the polis. All whohave meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convincedthat the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.

Rousseau

Rousseau (1712-78), though he paid his respects to Plato's philosophy,rejected it as impractical due to the decayed state of society. Rousseaualso had a different theory of human development--where Plato held thatpeople are born with skills appropriate to different castes (though he didnot regard these skills as being inherited), Rousseau held that there wasone developmental process common to all humans. This was an intrinsic,natural process, of which the primary behavioral manifestation wascuriosity. This differed from Locke's tabula rasa in that it was an activeprocess deriving from the child's nature, which drove the child to learn andadapt to its surroundings.

As Rousseau wrote in his book Emile, all children are perfectly designedorganisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to grow into

virtuous adults. But, due to the malign influence of corrupt society, theyoften failed to do so. Rousseau advocated an educational method whichconsisted of removing the child from society (i.e., to a country home) andalternately conditioning him through changes to environment and settingtraps and puzzles for him to solve or overcome.

Rousseau was unusual in that he recognized and addressed the potentialof a problem of legitimation for teaching. He advocated that adults alwaysbe truthful with children, and in particular that they never hide the factthat the basis for their authority in teaching was purely one of physicalcoercion--"I'm bigger than you." Once children reached the age of reason

(about 12), they would be engaged as free individuals in the ongoingprocess of their own.

Dewey

Main article:John Dewey

4
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile:_Or%2C_On_Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Deweyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseauhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emile:_Or%2C_On_Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey


5/60

Rudolf Steiner

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), a philosopher and writer, created a holisticeducational impulse that has become known as Waldorf Education. Heemphasizes a balance of developing the intellect (or head), feeling and

artistic life (or heart), and practical skills (or hands). The education focuseson producing free individuals, and Steiner expected it to enable a new,freer social order to arise, through the creative, free human beings that itwould develop.

Waldorf Education is based on Steiner's philosophy, known asanthroposophy, and divides education into three discrete developmentalstages; these stages predate but have close similarities to Piaget's stagesof child development.

The first stage is early childhood, normally lasting 6-7 years. In this stage,which emphasizes practical skills and concrete experiences, imitation isthe primary educative force, and an environment replete with healthyimpulses and especially practical work - crafts, gardening, cooking,cleaning, woodwork, and much more - is regarded as the ideal educationalsetting for the pre-school and kindergarten years. Language developmentis fostered through story-telling, verse and movement and/or fingergames, i.e. primarily imitatively. The children are given opportunities forfree play both inside and outside; this is considered vital for their healthydevelopment, as this is the way they digest their impressions and developtheir will forces, feeling life and intellect in an age-appropriate manner.

The second stage runs from the beginning of schooling, at six or sevenyears of age, until puberty. Here, education is best achieved throughappeal to the child's imagination; development of the children's feelingand artistic life is strongly emphasized. The teacher's authority isestablished through guiding the child wisely and sensitively, but clearly;there is great worth placed upon establishing this sense in the child ofhaving found a true authority in the teacher. There is a balance betweenacademic, artistic and practical (crafts) subjects. The arts play anespecially large role at this time; all subjects are to be presented withartistic feeling and permeated with imaginative approach. Two foreign

languages are normally taught from first grade on. Generally the attemptis made to keep a main teacher with a class for longer periods of time,often from first grade right through the end of the elementary school.

The third stage runs from puberty until the end of childhood, orapproximately from 13-14 years of age until 20-21. Here, the authority ofthe earlier years is no longer a viable pedagogical tool; instead, idealismbecomes the key force of education. The children's intellectualdevelopment is now intensively fostered and their sense of judgementcalled upon. Great worth is placed upon avoiding early specialization; even

in the secondary school, all students are normally expected to take a fullrange of academic courses (including physics, chemistry, biology, geology,

5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steinerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piagethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Steinerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldorf_educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthroposophyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaget


6/60

mathematics, history, art history and literature), one or two foreignlanguages, arts, crafts, music (frequently both orchestral and choral),physical education and a movement discipline special to the schools(eurythmy). Teachers are specialized according to the discipline and theeducation should introduce the adolescent to the larger world as much as

possible. Foreign exchanges and work experience are both thus commonelements of the secondary school.

Throughout the education, a great importance is placed upon having freeand creative individuals as teachers; thus, schools should have anappropriate amount of freedom to shape their own curriculum andteachers should have a corresponding freedom to shape the daily life ofthe classroom. In order for such a system to function, intensive work musttake place both amongst teachers within schools and between schools toprovide the necessary communication, training and development.

Waldorf education includes a respect for children's physical nature,rhythmic life (technical term: ether body), consciousness (technical term:astral body) and individuality (ego). Anthroposophy includes teachingsabout reincarnation and schools often try to foster an awareness that eachhuman being - and thus each child - carries a unique being into thisearthly life.

As both an independent educational model and a major influence uponother educators - such as Maria Montessori - Waldorf education is currentlyboth one of the largest and one of the fastest growing educational

movements in the world. Waldorf schools are also increasingly operatingas state-funded (in the U.S.A. charter) schools or even state-run (in theU.S.A. public) schools.

B.F. Skinner

One of B.F. Skinner's (1904-90) contributions to education philosophy ishis text Walden Two wherein he details the failings of society andeducation, as one is intricately and intrinsically linked to the other. Thepedagogical methods Direct Instruction and Precision Teaching owe muchto his ideas. Behaviorist theories play largely in his proposed ideas of

social engineering.

Precision Teaching, developed by Skinner's student Ogden Lindsley, usesthe basic philosophy that the "learner knows best". Each learner is chartedon a unique graph known as a "Standard Celeration Chart". The record ofthe rate of learning is tracked by this charting and decisions can be madefrom these data concerning changes in an educational program.

6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurythmyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ether_bodyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_bodyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Montessorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.F._Skinnerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Twohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Direct_Instruction&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Teachinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaviorismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(political_science)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurythmyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ether_bodyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astral_bodyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reincarnationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Montessorihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B.F._Skinnerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walden_Twohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Direct_Instruction&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_Teachinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaviorismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_engineering_(political_science)


7/60

Maria Montessori

Maria Montessori (August 31, 1870 May 6, 1952) was an Italian

educator, scientist, physician, philosopher, feminist, and humanitarian.

She was born in Chiaravalle (Ancona), Italy. Maria was the first female tograduate from the University of Rome Medical School. She was a memberof the University's Psychiatric Clinic and became intriguied with trying toeducate the "mentally retarded" and the "uneducable" in Rome. Sheopened her first school, in a housing project in Rome, onJanuary 6, 1907.

The Montessori method ofeducation that she derived from this experiencehas subsequently been applied successfully to children and is quite

popular in many parts of the world. Despite much criticism of her methodin the early 1930s-1940s, her method of education has been applied andhas undergone a revival. It can now be found on six continents andthroughout the United States.

By 1907 Montessori had established the first Casa dei Bambini orChildren's House, in Rome. By 1913, there was an intense interest in hermethod in North America, which later waned. (Nancy McCormickRambusch revived the method in America by establishing the AmericanMontessori Society in 1960.) Montessori was exiled by Mussolini mostlybecause she refused to compromise her principles and make the children

into soldiers. She moved to Spain and lived there until 1936 when theSpanish Civil War broke out. She then moved the Holland until 1939.During a teachers conference in India she was interned by the authoritiesand lived there for the duration of the war. Montessori lived out theremainder of her life in the Netherlands, which is now the headquarters ofthe AMI, or Association Montessori Internationale. She died in Noordwijkaan Zee. Her son Mario headed the AMI until his death in 1982.

Pedagogy

Aside from a new pedagogy, among the premier contributions toeducational thought by Montessori are:

instruction of children in 3-year age groups, corresponding tosensitive periods of development (example: Birth-3, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12 year olds with an Erdkinder (German for "land children") programfor early teens)

children as competent beings, encouraged to make maximaldecisions

observation of the child in the environment as the basis for ongoingcurriculum development (presentation of subsequent exercises for

skill development and information accumulation)

7
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_31http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1870http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiaravallehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Anconahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentally_retardedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childrenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1913http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nancy_McCormick_Rambusch&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nancy_McCormick_Rambusch&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Montessori_Society&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Montessori_Society&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noordwijkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noordwijkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_31http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1870http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1952http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiaravallehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Anconahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mentally_retardedhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childrenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1930shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1913http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_Americahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nancy_McCormick_Rambusch&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nancy_McCormick_Rambusch&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Montessori_Society&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Montessori_Society&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolinihttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlandshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noordwijkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noordwijkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogy


8/60

child-sized furniture and creation of a child-sized environment(microcosm) in which each can be competent to produce overall aself-running children's world

parent participation to include basic and proper attention to healthscreening and hygiene as a prerequisite to schooling

delineation of a scale of sensitive periods of development, whichprovides a focus for class work that is appropriate and uniquelystimulating and motivating to the child (including sensitive periodsfor language development, sensorial experimentation andrefinement, and various levels of social interaction)

the importance of the "absorbent mind," the limitless motivation ofthe young child to achieve competence over his or her environmentand to perfect his or her skills and understandings as they occurwithin each sensitive period. The phenomenon is characterized bythe young child's capacity for repetition of activities within sensitiveperiod categories (Example: exhaustive babbling as languagepractice leading to language competence).

self-correcting "auto-didactic" materials (some based on work ofItard and Seguin)

Jean Piaget

Jean Piaget (August 9, 1896 September 16, 1980) was a Swissphilosopher, natural scientist and developmental psychologist, well known

for his work studying children and his theory of cognitive development.

Contents[hide]

1 Early life 2 The stages of cognitive development 3 Piaget's view of the child's mind 4 The developmental process 5 Influence

o 5.1 Developmental psychologyo 5.2 Educationo 5.3 Historical studies of thought and

cognitiono 5.4 Evolution of human intelligenceo 5.5 Primatologyo 5.6 Philosophyo 5.7 AI

6 Major works and achievementso 6.1 Major workso 6.2 Other workso 6.3 Appointments

8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_periodshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babblinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Itard&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seguinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childrenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://toggletoc%28%29/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Early_life%23Early_lifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#The_stages_of_cognitive_development%23The_stages_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Piaget.27s_view_of_the_child.27s_mind%23Piaget.27s_view_of_the_child.27s_mindhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#The_developmental_process%23The_developmental_processhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Influence%23Influencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Developmental_psychology%23Developmental_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Education%23Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Historical_studies_of_thought_and_cognition%23Historical_studies_of_thought_and_cognitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Historical_studies_of_thought_and_cognition%23Historical_studies_of_thought_and_cognitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Evolution_of_human_intelligence%23Evolution_of_human_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Primatology%23Primatologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Philosophy%23Philosophyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#AI%23AIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#AI%23AIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Major_works_and_achievements%23Major_works_and_achievementshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Major_works%23Major_workshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Other_works%23Other_workshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Appointments%23Appointmentshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensitive_periodshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babblinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Itard&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seguinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_9http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_16http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1980http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childrenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://toggletoc%28%29/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Early_life%23Early_lifehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#The_stages_of_cognitive_development%23The_stages_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Piaget.27s_view_of_the_child.27s_mind%23Piaget.27s_view_of_the_child.27s_mindhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#The_developmental_process%23The_developmental_processhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Influence%23Influencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Developmental_psychology%23Developmental_psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Education%23Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Historical_studies_of_thought_and_cognition%23Historical_studies_of_thought_and_cognitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Historical_studies_of_thought_and_cognition%23Historical_studies_of_thought_and_cognitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Evolution_of_human_intelligence%23Evolution_of_human_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Primatology%23Primatologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Philosophy%23Philosophyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#AI%23AIhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Major_works_and_achievements%23Major_works_and_achievementshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Major_works%23Major_workshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Other_works%23Other_workshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Appointments%23Appointments


9/60

7 Piagetian and post-Piagetian stage theories 8 References

9 External links[edit]

Early life

Piaget was born in Neuchtel in the French-speaking part of Switzerland.His father, Arthur Piaget, was a professor of medieval literature at theUniversity of Neuchtel. Piaget was a precocious child who developed aninterest in biology and the natural world, particularly molluscs, and evenpublished a number of papers before he graduated from high school. Infact, his long career of scientific research began when he was just eleven,with the 1907 publication of a short paper on the albino sparrow. Over the

course of his career, Piaget wrote more than sixty books and severalhundred articles.

Piaget received a Ph.D. in natural science from the University ofNeuchtel, and also studied briefly at the University of Zrich. During thistime, he published two philosophical papers which showed the direction ofhis thinking at the time, but which he later dismissed as adolescent work.His interest in psychoanalysis, a strain of psychological thoughtburgeoning at that time, can also be dated to this period.

He then moved from Switzerland to Grange-aux-Belles, France, where hetaught at the school for boys run by Alfred Binet, the developer of theBinet intelligence test. It was while he was helping to mark some instancesof these intelligence tests that Piaget noticed that young childrenconsistently gave wrong answers to certain questions. Piaget did not focusso much on the fact of the children's answers being wrong, but that youngchildren kept making the same pattern of mistakes that older children andadults did not. This led him to the theory that young children's thought orcognitive processes are inherently different from those of adults.(Ultimately, he was to propose a global theory of developmental stagesstating that individuals exhibit certain distinctive common patterns of

cognition in each period in their development.) In 1921, Piaget returned toSwitzerland as director of the Rousseau Institute in Geneva.

In 1923, he married Valentine Chtenay; together, the couple had threechildren, whom Piaget studied from infancy.

[edit]

The stages of cognitive development

Main article: Theory of cognitivedevelopment

9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Piagetian_and_post-Piagetian_stage_theories%23Piagetian_and_post-Piagetian_stage_theorieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#References%23Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#External_links%23External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuch%C3%A2telhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_literaturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molluschttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparrowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Philosophyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Z%C3%BCrichhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoanalysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Binethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_testhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rousseau_Institutehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genevahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#Piagetian_and_post-Piagetian_stage_theories%23Piagetian_and_post-Piagetian_stage_theorieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#References%23Referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Piaget#External_links%23External_linkshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuch%C3%A2telhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_literaturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molluschttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1907http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparrowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_Philosophyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Z%C3%BCrichhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoanalysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Binethttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_testhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rousseau_Institutehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genevahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_development


10/60

Piaget served as professor ofpsychology at the University of Geneva from1929 to 1975 and is best known for reorganizing cognitive developmenttheory into a series of stages, expanding on earlier work fromJames MarkBaldwin: four levels of development corresponding roughly to (1) infancy,(2) pre-school, (3) childhood, and (4) adolescence. Each stage is

characterized by a general cognitive structure that affects all of the child'sthinking (a structuralist view influenced by philosopher Immanuel Kant).Each stage represents the child's understanding of reality during thatperiod, and each but the last is an inadequate approximation of reality.Development from one stage to the next is thus caused by theaccumulation of errors in the child's understanding of the environment;this accumulation eventually causes such a degree of cognitivedisequilibrium that thought structures require reorganising.

The four development stages are described in Piaget's theory as

1. Sensorimotor stage: from birth to age 2years (children experience the worldthrough movement and senses and learnobject permanence)

2. Preoperational stage: from ages 2 to7(acquisition of motor skills)

3. Concrete operational stage: from ages 7 to11 (children begin to think logically aboutconcrete events)

4. Formal Operational stage: after age 11

(development of abstract reasoning).

These chronological periods are approximate, and in light of the fact thatstudies have demonstrated great variation between children, cannot beseen as rigid norms. Furthermore, these stages occur at different ages,depending upon the domain of knowledge under consideration. The agesnormally given for the stages, then, reflect when each stage tends topredominate, even though one might elicit examples of two, three, oreven all four stages of thinking at the same time from one individual,depending upon the domain of knowledge and the means used to elicit it.

Despite this, though, the principle holds that within a domain ofknowledge, the stages usually occur in the same chronological order.Thus, there is a somewhat subtler reality behind the normalcharacterization of the stages as described above.

The reason for the invariability of sequence derives from the idea thatknowledge is not simply acquired from outside the individual, but it isconstructed from within. This idea has been extremely influential inpedagogy, and is usually termed constructivism. (See "Constructivism(learning theory)") Once knowledge is constructed internally, it is then

tested against reality the same way a scientist tests the validity ofhypotheses. Like a scientist, the individual learner may discard, modify, or

10
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Genevahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mark_Baldwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mark_Baldwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structuralisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensorimotor_stagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preoperational_stagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_operational_stagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_Operational_stagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Genevahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mark_Baldwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Mark_Baldwinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structuralisthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanuel_Kanthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensorimotor_stagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preoperational_stagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete_operational_stagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formal_Operational_stagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedagogyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory)


11/60

reconstruct knowledge based on its utility in the real world. Much of thisconstruction (and later reconstruction) is in fact done subconsciously.

Therefore, Piaget's four stages actually reflect four types of thoughtstructures. The chronological sequence is inevitable, then, because one

structure may be necessary in order to construct the next level, which issimpler, more generalizable, and more powerful. It's a little like saying thatyou need to form metal into parts in order to build machines, and thencoordinate machines in order to build a factory.

[edit]

Piaget's view of the child's mind

Piaget viewed children as little philosophers, which he called tiny thought-

sacks and scientists building their own individual theories of knowledge.Some people have used his ideas to focus on what children cannot do.Piaget, however, used their problem areas to help understand theircognitive growth and development.

[edit]

The developmental process

Piaget provided no concise (or clear) description of the development

process as a whole. Broadly speaking it consisted of a cycle:

The child performs an action which has aneffect on or organizes objects, and the childis able to note the characteristics of theaction and its effects.

Through repeated actions, perhaps withvariations or in different contexts or ondifferent kinds of object, the child is able todifferentiate and integrate its elements andeffects. This is the process of reflecting

abstraction (described in detail in Piaget2001).

At the same time, the child is able toidentify the properties of objects by the waydifferent kinds of action affect them. This isthe process ofempirical abstraction.

By repeating this process across a widerange of objects and actions, the childestablishes a new level of knowledge andinsight. This is the process of forming a newcognitive stage

. This dual process allows thechild to construct new ways of dealing with

11
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=4http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=3http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=4


12/60


13/60

reflection and abstraction that the child constructs the principles on whichaction is not only effective or correct but alsojustified.

[edit]

Influence

Despite ceasing to be a fashionable psychologist, the magnitude ofPiagets continuing influence can be measured by the global scale andactivity of the Jean Piaget Society, which holds annual conferences andattracts very large numbers of participants. His theory of cognitivedevelopment has proved influential in many different areas:

Development psychology Education

Historical studies of thought and cognition Evolution of human intelligence Primatology Philosophy AI

On the other hand, Piaget does not seem to have influenced therapeuticmethods or models to any significant degree.

[edit]

Developmental psychology

Piaget is without doubt one of the most influential developmentalpsychologists, influencing not only the work of Lev Vygotsky and ofLawrence Kohlberg but whole generations of eminent academics. Althoughsubjecting his ideas to massive scrutiny led to innumerable improvementsand qualifications of his original model and the emergence of a plethora ofneo-Piagetian and post-Piagetian variants, Piagets original model hasproved to be remarkably robust (Loureno and Machado 1996).

[edit]

Education

During the 1970s and 1980s, Piagets works also inspired thetransformation of European and American education, including both theoryand practice, leading to a more child-centred approach. In Conversationswith Jean Piaget, he says: "Education, for most people, means trying tolead the child to resemble the typical adult of his society . . . but for meand no one else, education means making creators. . . . You have to makeinventors, innovatorsnot conformists," (Bringuier, 1980, p.132). Hisinfluence on education was not long lasting or profound, however. Thiswas perhaps because his theory is not well taught in educational colleges

13
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotskyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotskyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education


14/60

and text books, and perhaps because his model of the child's developmentimplied a far more radical transformation of the education system thanwas acceptable. //

[edit]

Historical studies of thought and cognition

Historical changes of thought have been modelled in Piagetian terms.Broadly speaking these models have mapped changes in morality,intellectual life and cognitive levels against historical changes (typically inthe complexity of social systems). Robinson's History of Human Reason(2004) also suggests that history itself is the expression of ourintelligence.

Notable examples include:

Michael Barnes' study of the co-evolution ofreligious and scientific thinking (Barnes2000)

Peter Damerow's theory of prehistoric andarchiac thought (Damerow 1995)

Kieran Egan's stages of understanding James W. Fowler's stages of faith

development Suzy Gablik's stages of art history (Gablik

1977) Christopher Hallpikes studies of changes in

cognition and moral judgment in pre-historical, archaic and classical periods(Hallpike 1979, 2004)

Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moraldevelopment

Don Lepan's theory of the origins of modernthought and drama (LePan 1989)

Charles Radding's theory of the medievalintellectual development (Radding 1985)

R.J. Robinson's stages of history (Robinson2004)

[edit]

Evolution of human intelligence

The origins of human intelligence has also been studied in Piagetian terms.Wynn (1979, 1981) analysed Acheulian and Oldowan tools in terms of theinsight into spatial relationships required to create each kind. On a more

general level, Robinsons Birth of Reason (2005) suggests a large-scalemodel for the emergence of a Piagetian intelligence.

14
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=8http://www.prometheus.org.uk/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kieran_Eganhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Educated_Mindhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_W._Fowlerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_faith_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_faith_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=9http://www.prometheus.org.uk/http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=8http://www.prometheus.org.uk/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kieran_Eganhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Educated_Mindhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_W._Fowlerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_faith_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_faith_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=9http://www.prometheus.org.uk/


15/60

[edit]

Primatology

Piagets models of cognition have also been applied outside the human

sphere, and there is a thriving community of primatologists assessing thedevelopment and abilities of primates in terms of Piagets model. Notablenames include Sue Taylor Parker and Francesco Antinucci. A summary ofthe very extensive literature can be found in Parker and McKinney (1999).

[edit]

Philosophy

Given his explicitly neo-Kantian assumptions and his focus on topics such

as logical and mathematical reasoning, moral judgment, contradiction,language, justification and so on, it is surprising how little attention Piagethas attracted among philosophers. Some have taken account of his work,however, For example, the philosopher and social theorist JrgenHabermas has incorporated it into his work, most notably in The Theory ofCommunicative Action. The philosopher Thomas Kuhn credited Piaget'swork in helping him understand the transition between modes of thoughtwhich characterized his theory ofparadigm shifts.

[edit]

AI

Piaget also had a considerable impact in the field ofcomputer science andartificial intelligence. Seymour Papert used Piaget's work while developingthe Logo programming language. Alan Kay used Piaget's theories as thebasis for the Dynabook programming system concept, which was firstdiscussed within the confines of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, orXerox PARC. These discussions led to the development of the Altoprototype, which explored for the first time all the elements of thegraphical user interface (GUI), and influenced the creation of userinterfaces in the 1980's and beyond.

Piagetian and post-Piagetian stage theories

Michael Barnes' historical stages of religiousand scientific thinking (Barnes 2000)

Peter Damerow's theory of prehistoric andarchiac thought (Damerow 1995)

Kieran Egan's stages of understanding James W. Fowler's stages of faith

development Suzy Gablik's stages of art history (Gablik

1977)

15
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=10http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_theoristhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Communicative_Actionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Communicative_Actionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kuhnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shifthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Paperthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_programming_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Kayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_PARChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interfacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Barneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Damerow&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kieran_Eganhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Educated_Mindhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_W._Fowlerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_faith_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_faith_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suzy_Gablik&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=10http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=11http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_theoristhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Habermashttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Communicative_Actionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Theory_of_Communicative_Actionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kuhnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradigm_shifthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Piaget&action=edit&section=12http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Paperthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logo_programming_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Kayhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynabookhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xerox_PARChttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphical_user_interfacehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Barneshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Damerow&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kieran_Eganhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Educated_Mindhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_W._Fowlerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_faith_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stages_of_faith_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Suzy_Gablik&action=edit


16/60

Christopher Hallpike's historical stages ofcognitive moral understanding (Hallpike1979, 2004)

Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moraldevelopment

Don Lepan's theory of the origins of modernthought and drama (LePan 1989)

Charles Radding's theory of the medievalintellectual development (Radding 1985)

R.J. Robinson's stages of history (Robinson2004)

Robert Kegan's constructive-developmentaltheory (Kegan 1982)

Allen Ivey's developmental counseling andtherapy (DCT) (Ivey 1986)

Paulo Freire

A Brazilian who became committed to the cause of educating theimpoverished peasants of his nation and collaborating with them in thepursuit of their liberation from oppression, Paulo Freire (1921-97)contributes a philosophy of education that comes not only from the moreclassical approaches stemming from Plato, but also from modern Marxistand anti-colonialist thinkers. In fact, in many ways his Pedagogy of theOppressed may best be read as an extension of or reply to Frantz Fanon'sWretched of the Earth, which laid strong emphasis on the need to provide

native populations with an education which was simultaneously new andmodern (rather than traditional) and anti-colonial (that is, that was notsimply an extension of the culture of the colonizer).

Freire is best-known for his attack on what he called the banking conceptof education, in which the student was viewed as an empty account to befilled by the teacher. Of course, this is not really a new move--Rousseau'sconception of the child as an active learner was already a step away fromthe tabula rasa (which is basically the same as the "banking concept"),and thinkers like John Dewey and Alfred North Whitehead were stronglycritical of the transmission of mere facts as the goal of education.

More challenging, however, is Freire's strong aversion to the teacher-student dichotomy. This dichotomy is admitted in Rousseau andconstrained in Dewey, but Freire comes close to insisting that it should becompletely abolished. Critics have argued that this is impossible (theremust be some enactment of the teacher-student relationship in theparent-child relationship), but what Freire suggests is that a deepreciprocity be inserted into our notions of teacher and student. Freirewants us to think in terms of teacher-student and student-teacher, that is,a teacher who learns and a learner who teaches, as the basic roles of

classroom participation.

16
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Hallpike&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don_Lepan&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Radding&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=R.J._Robinson&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Keganhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Allen_Ivey&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frantz_Fanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Banking_concept_of_education&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Banking_concept_of_education&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Deweyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_North_Whiteheadhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Hallpike&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Kohlberghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg's_stages_of_moral_developmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don_Lepan&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charles_Radding&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=R.J._Robinson&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Keganhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Allen_Ivey&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collaborationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frantz_Fanonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Banking_concept_of_education&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Banking_concept_of_education&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_rasahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Deweyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_North_Whitehead


17/60

This is one of the few attempts anywhere to implement something likedemocracy as an educational method and not merely a goal of democraticeducation. Even Dewey, for whom democracy was a touchstone, did notintegrate democratic practices fully into his methods. (Though this is inpart a function of his peculiar attitudes toward individuality and his idea of

democracy as a way of living rather than merely a polticial practice ormethod.) However, in its early, strong form this kind of classroom hassometimes been criticized on the grounds that it can mask rather thanovercome the teacher's authority.

Freire's work is widely-read by educationalists but is less well-respectedamong philosophers.[citation needed]

Aspects of the Freirian philosophy have been highly influential in academicdebates over 'participatory development' and development moregenerally. Freire's emphasis on emancipation through interactiveparticipation has been used as a rationale for the participatory focus ofdevelopment, as it is held that 'participation' in any fora can lead toempowerment of poor or marginalised groups. Critics argue that theinherently undemocratic, unequal nature of development projectsforecloses any possibility of Freirian emancipation, but many cling to the'empowering potential' of development.

Neil Postman and the Inquiry Method

Neil Postman has been a strong contemporary voice in both methods and

philosophy of education. His 1969 book "Teaching as a SubversiveActivity" (co-authored with Charles Weingartner) introduced the concept ofa school driven by the Inquiry Method, the basis of which is to get thestudents themselves to ask and answer relevant questions. The "teacher"(the two authors disdained the term and thought a new one should beused) would be limited in the number of declarative sentences he couldutter per class, as well as questions he personally knew the answer to. Theaim of this type of inquiry would be to prepare the students to leadresponsible adult lives, primarily by functioning as an antidote to therampant bureaucracy most adults are faced with after leaving school.

Postman went on to write several more books on education, notably"Teaching as a Conserving Activity" and "The End of Education." The latterdeals with the importance of goals or "gods" to students, and Postmansuggests several "gods" capable of replacing the current ones offered inschools, namely, Economic Utility and Consumerism.

John Taylor Gatto

John Taylor Gatto is an American retired school teacher of 30 years andauthor of several books on education. He is an activist critical of

compulsory schooling and the hegemonic nature of discourse on educationand the education professions.

17
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Postmanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquiry_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Economic_Utility&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teacherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoolinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemonyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Postmanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquiry_Methodhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Economic_Utility&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teacherhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schoolinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hegemony


18/60


19/60

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education"

19
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_educationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_education


20/60

Epistemology

Epistemology or theory of knowledge is the branch ofphilosophy that

studies the nature and scope of knowledge. The term "epistemology" isbased on the Greek words " or episteme" (knowledge) and" or logos" (account/explanation); it is thought to have been coinedby the Scottish philosopherJames Frederick Ferrier.

Much of the debate in this field has focused on analyzing the nature ofknowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth, belief, andjustification. It also deals with the means of production of knowledge, aswell as skepticism about different knowledge claims. In other words,epistemology primarily addresses the following questions: "What isknowledge?", "How is knowledge acquired?", and "What do people know?".Although approaches to answering any one of these questions frequentlyinvolve theories that are connected to others, there is enough particular toeach that they may be examined separately.

There are many different topics, stances, and arguments in the field ofepistemology. Recent studies have dramatically challenged centuries-oldassumptions, and the discipline therefore continues to be vibrant anddynamic.

Contents

1 Defining knowledgeo 1.1 Distinguishing knowing that from knowing howo 1.2 Beliefo 1.3 Trutho 1.4Justified true beliefo 1.5 The Gettier problem

1.5.1 Responses to Gettier 1.5.1.1 Infallibilism, indefeasibility 1.5.1.2 Reliabilism

1.5.1.3 Other responseso 1.6 Externalism and internalism

2 Acquiring knowledgeo 2.1 The regress problemo 2.2 A priori and a posteriori knowledgeo 2.3 Analytic/synthetic distinctiono 2.4 Specific theories of knowledge acquisition

2.4.1 Empiricism 2.4.2 Rationalism 2.4.3 Constructivism

3 What do people know?o 3.1 General skepticismo 3.2 Responses to general skepticism

20
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logoshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Frederick_Ferrierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_analysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beliefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_justificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Defining_knowledge%23Defining_knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Distinguishing_knowing_that_from_knowing_how%23Distinguishing_knowing_that_from_knowing_howhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Belief%23Beliefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Truth%23Truthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Justified_true_belief%23Justified_true_beliefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Justified_true_belief%23Justified_true_beliefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#The_Gettier_problem%23The_Gettier_problemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Responses_to_Gettier%23Responses_to_Gettierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Infallibilism.2C_indefeasibility%23Infallibilism.2C_indefeasibilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Reliabilism%23Reliabilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Other_responses%23Other_responseshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Externalism_and_internalism%23Externalism_and_internalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Acquiring_knowledge%23Acquiring_knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#The_regress_problem%23The_regress_problemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#A_priori_and_a_posteriori_knowledge%23A_priori_and_a_posteriori_knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Analytic.2Fsynthetic_distinction%23Analytic.2Fsynthetic_distinctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Specific_theories_of_knowledge_acquisition%23Specific_theories_of_knowledge_acquisitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Empiricism%23Empiricismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Rationalism%23Rationalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Constructivism%23Constructivismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#What_do_people_know.3F%23What_do_people_know.3Fhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#General_skepticism%23General_skepticismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Responses_to_general_skepticism%23Responses_to_general_skepticismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_languagehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logoshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Frederick_Ferrierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_analysishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beliefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_justificationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Defining_knowledge%23Defining_knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Distinguishing_knowing_that_from_knowing_how%23Distinguishing_knowing_that_from_knowing_howhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Belief%23Beliefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Truth%23Truthhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Justified_true_belief%23Justified_true_beliefhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#The_Gettier_problem%23The_Gettier_problemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Responses_to_Gettier%23Responses_to_Gettierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Infallibilism.2C_indefeasibility%23Infallibilism.2C_indefeasibilityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Reliabilism%23Reliabilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Other_responses%23Other_responseshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Externalism_and_internalism%23Externalism_and_internalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Acquiring_knowledge%23Acquiring_knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#The_regress_problem%23The_regress_problemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#A_priori_and_a_posteriori_knowledge%23A_priori_and_a_posteriori_knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Analytic.2Fsynthetic_distinction%23Analytic.2Fsynthetic_distinctionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Specific_theories_of_knowledge_acquisition%23Specific_theories_of_knowledge_acquisitionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Empiricism%23Empiricismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Rationalism%23Rationalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Constructivism%23Constructivismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#What_do_people_know.3F%23What_do_people_know.3Fhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#General_skepticism%23General_skepticismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Responses_to_general_skepticism%23Responses_to_general_skepticism


21/60

3.2.1 Contextualism 3.2.2 Fallibilism

o 3.3 Specific forms of skepticism and responses tothem

3.3.1 Skepticism about the external world 3.3.2 Skepticism about ethics 3.3.3 Skepticism about religious claims

4 Notes 5 References and further reading 6 External links and references

7 See also

Defining knowledge

The first question that will be dealt with (of the questions presented at thebeginning of this article) is the question of what knowledge is. It is aproblem that is several millennia old, and among the most prominent inepistemology.

Distinguishing knowing thatfrom knowing how

In this article, and in epistemology in general, the kind of knowledgeusually discussed is propositional knowledge, also known as "knowledge-that" as opposed to "know-how". To exemplify the distinction: inmathematics, there is knowing that2 + 2 = 4, but there is also knowinghow to count to 4. Or, one knows how to ride a bicycle and one knows thata bicycle has two wheels.

The distinction is between theoretical reason and practical reason, withepistemology being interested in knowledge of the theoretical kind, notthe practical kind.

Belief

Sometimes, when people say that they believe in something, what they

mean is that they predict that it will prove to be useful or successful insome senseperhaps someone might "believe in" his or her favoritefootball team. This is not the kind of belief usually dealt with inepistemology. The kind that is dealt with as such is that where "to believesomething" just means to think that it is truee.g., to believe that the skyis blue is to think that the proposition, "The sky is blue," is true.

Belief is almost universally accepted as a necessary part of knowledge.[citation needed] Consider someone saying, "I know that P is true, but I don'tthink that P is true." The person making this utterance, it seems,contradicts him- or herself. If one knows P, then, among other things, onethinks that P is indeed true. If one thinks that P is true, then one believesP. (See the article on Moore's paradox.)

21
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Contextualism%23Contextualismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Fallibilism%23Fallibilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Specific_forms_of_skepticism_and_responses_to_them%23Specific_forms_of_skepticism_and_responses_to_themhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Specific_forms_of_skepticism_and_responses_to_them%23Specific_forms_of_skepticism_and_responses_to_themhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Skepticism_about_the_external_world%23Skepticism_about_the_external_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Skepticism_about_ethics%23Skepticism_about_ethicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Skepticism_about_religious_claims%23Skepticism_about_religious_claimshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Notes%23Noteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#References_and_further_reading%23References_and_further_readinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#External_links_and_references%23External_links_and_referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#See_also%23See_alsohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propositional_knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoretical_reasonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Practical_reasonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_paradoxhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Contextualism%23Contextualismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Fallibilism%23Fallibilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Specific_forms_of_skepticism_and_responses_to_them%23Specific_forms_of_skepticism_and_responses_to_themhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Specific_forms_of_skepticism_and_responses_to_them%23Specific_forms_of_skepticism_and_responses_to_themhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Skepticism_about_the_external_world%23Skepticism_about_the_external_worldhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Skepticism_about_ethics%23Skepticism_about_ethicshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Skepticism_about_religious_claims%23Skepticism_about_religious_claimshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Notes%23Noteshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#References_and_further_reading%23References_and_further_readinghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#External_links_and_references%23External_links_and_referenceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#See_also%23See_alsohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propositional_knowledgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theoretical_reasonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Practical_reasonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footballhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moore's_paradox


22/60

Truth

Knowledge is distinct from belief. If someone claims to believe something,he or she is claiming that it is the truth. Of course, it might turn out that heor she was mistaken, and that what was thought to be true was actually

false. This is not the case with knowledge. For example, suppose that Jeffthinks that a particular bridge is safe, and attempts to cross it;unfortunately, the bridge collapses under his weight. We might say thatJeffbelieved that the bridge was safe, but that his belief was mistaken. Wewould not(accurately) say that he knew that the bridge was safe, becauseplainly it was not. For something to count as knowledge, it must be true.

Justified true belief

Knowledge is true and believed and...

In Plato's dialogue Theaetetus, Socrates considers a number of theories asto what knowledge is, the last being that knowledge is true belief that hasbeen "given an account of"meaning explained or defined in some way.Although not the same, the theory that knowledge is justified true beliefhas often been identified with the theory Socrates discussed at the end ofthe Theaetetus.[citation needed] According to the theory that knowledge isjustified true belief, in order to know that a given proposition is true, onemust not only believe the relevant true proposition, but one must alsohave a good reason for doing so. One implication of this would be that noone would gain knowledge just by believing something that happened tobe true. For example, an ill person with no medical training, but agenerally optimistic attitude, might believe that she will recover from herillness quickly. Nevertheless, even if this belief turned out to be true, thepatient would not have known that she would get well since her belieflacked justification.

22
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theaetetus_(dialogue)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Classical-Definition-of-Kno.gifhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theaetetus_(dialogue)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socrateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources


23/60

Socrates rejected the theory that knowledge is true belief that has beengiven an account of. The theory that knowledge is justified true belief, onthe other hand, was widely accepted as straightforwardly correct until the1960s.[citation needed] At this time, a paper written by the American philosopherEdmund Gettier provoked widespread attempts to revise or replace it.

The Gettier problem

In his 1963 paper, "Is Justified True Belief Knowledge?", Edmund Gettiercalled into question the theory of knowledge that had been dominantamong philosophers for thousands of years. In a few pages, Gettier arguedthat there are situations in which one's belief may be justified and true,yet fail to count as knowledge. That is, Gettier contended that it isnecessary for knowledge of a proposition that one be justified in one's truebelief in that proposition, it is not sufficient. More technically, Gettierclaimed that the following account of knowledge is insufficient:

S knows that P if and only if:

P is true; S believes that P is true; and S is justified in believing that P.

According to Gettier, there are certain circumstances in which one doesnot have knowledge, even when all of the above conditions are met.Gettier proposed two thought experiments, which have come to be known

as "Gettier cases", as counterexamples to the classical account ofknowledge. One of the cases involves two people, Smith and Jones, whoare awaiting the results of their applications for the same job. Both menhave ten coins in their pockets. Smith has excellent reasons to believethat Jones will get the job and, furthermore, believes the true propositionthat Jones has ten coins in his pocket (he recently counted them). Fromthis, Smith infers that the man with ten coins in his pocket will get the job.However, Smith is unaware that he himself also has ten coins in hispocket. Furthermore, Smith, not Jones, is going to get the job. While, Smithhas strong evidence to believe that Jones will get the job, he is wrong.Smith has a justified true belief that the man with ten coins in his pocket

will get the job; however, according to Gettier, Smith does not know thatthe man with ten coins in his pocket will get the job, because Smith'sbelief is "...true in virtue of the number of coins in Smith's pocket, whileSmith does not know how many coins are in Smith's pocket, and bases hisbelief...on a count of the coins in Jones's pocket, whom he falsely believesto be the man who will get the job."[1]

23
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Gettierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_experimenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterexamplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#_note-0%23_note-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1960shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Gettierhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_experimenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterexamplehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#_note-0%23_note-0


24/60

Responses to Gettier

The responses to Gettier have been varied. Some have suggested that

with respect to the example of Smith and his job, Smith really does knowthat someone with ten coins in their pocket will get the job. [citation needed]

However, many people find this claim counterintuitive.[citation needed] Usually,responses to Gettier have involved substantive attempts to provide adefinition of knowledge aside from the classical one, either by recastingknowledge as justified true belief plus some fourth condition, or assomething else altogether.

Infallibilism, indefeasibility

In one response to Gettier, the American philosopher Richard Kirkham hasargued that the only definition of knowledge that could ever be immune toall counterexamples is the infallibilist one.[citation needed] To qualify as an itemof knowledge, so the theory goes, a belief must not only be true andjustified, the justification of the belief must necessitate its truth. In otherwords, the justification for the belief must be infallible. (See Fallibilism,below, for more information.)

Yet another possible candidate for the fourth condition of knowledge isindefeasibility. Defeasibility theory maintains that there should be nooverriding or defeating truths for the reasons that justify one's belief. For

example, let's suppose that person S believes they saw Tom Grabit steal abook from the library and uses this to justify the claim that Tom Grabitstole a book from the library. A possible defeater or overriding propositionfor such a claim could be a true proposition like, "Tom Grabit's identicaltwin Sam is currently in the same town as Tom." So long as no defeaters ofone's justification exist, a subject would be epistemically justified.

Reliabilism

Reliabilism is a theory advanced by philosophers such as Alvin Goldmanaccording to which a belief is justified (or otherwise supported in such a

way as to count towards knowledge) only if it is produced by processesthat typically yield a sufficiently high ratio of true to false beliefs. In otherwords, as per its name, this theory states that a true belief counts asknowledge only if it is produced by a reliable belief-forming process.

Reliabilism has been challenged by Gettier cases. A prominent such caseis that of Henry and the barn faades. In the thought experiment, a man,Henry, is driving along and sees a number of buildings that resemblebarns. Based on his perception of one of these, he concludes that he hasjust seen barns. While he has seen one, and the perception he based hisbelief on was of a real barn, all the other barn-like buildings he saw werefaades. Theoretically, Henry doesn't know that he has seen a barn,despite both his belief that he has seen one being true and his belief being

24
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kirkhamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infallibilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Fallibilism%23Fallibilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Goldmanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Kirkhamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infallibilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology#Fallibilism%23Fallibilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvin_Goldman


25/60

formed on the basis of a reliable process (i.e. his vision), since he onlyacquired his true belief by accident.[citation needed]

Other responses

The American philosopher Robert Nozick has offered the followingdefinition of knowledge:

S knows that P if and only if:

P; S believes that P; ifP were false, S would not believe that P; ifP is true, S will believe that P.[citation needed]

The British philosopher Simon Blackburn has criticized this formulation by

suggesting that we do not want to accept as knowledge beliefs which,while they "track the truth" (as Nozick's account requires), are not held forappropriate reasons. He says that "we do not want to award the title ofknowing something to someone who is only meeting the conditionsthrough a defect, flaw, or failure, compared with someone else who is notmeeting the conditions."[citation needed]

Finally, at least one philosopher, Timothy Williamson, has advanced atheory of knowledge according to which knowledge is not justified truebelief plus some extra condition(s). In his book Knowledge and its Limits,

Williamson argues that the concept of knowledge cannot be analyzed intoa set of other conceptsinstead, it is sui generis. Thus, though knowledgerequires justification, truth, and belief, the word "knowledge" can't be,according to Williamson's theory, accurately regarded as simply shorthandfor "justified true belief".

Externalism and internalism

On a last note: part of the debate over the nature of knowledge is adebate between epistemological externalists on the one hand, andepistemological internalists on the other. Externalists think that factors

deemed "external", meaning outside of the psychological states of thosewho gain knowledge, can be conditions of knowledge. For example, anexternalist response to the Gettier problem is to say that, in order for ajustified, true belief to count as knowledge, it must be caused, in the rightsort of way, by relevant facts. Such causation, to the extent that it is"outside" the mind, would count as an external, knowledge-yieldingcondition. Internalists, contrariwise, claim that all knowledge-yieldingconditions are within the psychological states of those who gainknowledge.

25
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Nozickhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Blackburnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Williamsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knowledge_and_its_Limits&action=edithttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Nozickhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Blackburnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Williamsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Knowledge_and_its_Limits&action=edit


26/60

Acquiring knowledge

The second question that will be dealt with is the question of howknowledge is acquired. This area of epistemology covers what is called"the regress problem", issues concerning epistemic distinctions such asthat between experience and aprioricity as means of creating knowledgeand that between analysis and synthesis as means of proof, and debatessuch as the one between empiricists and rationalists.

The regress problem

The regress problem emerges in the context of asking for justification forevery belief. If a given item of justification depends on another belief forits justification, one can also reasonably ask for this latter justification tobe provided, and so forth. This appears to lead to an infinite regress, witheach belief justified by some further belief. The apparent impossibility ofcompleting an infinite chain of reasoning is thought by some to supportskepticism. The skeptic will argue that since no one can complete such achain, ultimately no beliefs are justified and, therefore, no one knowsanything. However, many epistemologists studying justification haveattempted to argue for various types of chains of reasoning that canescape the regress problem.

Some philosophers, notably Peter Klein in his "Human Knowledge and theInfinite Regress of Reasons", have argued that it's not impossible for aninfinite justificatory series to exist. This position is known as "infinitism".Infinitists typically take the infinite series to be merely potential, in thesense that an individual may have indefinitely many reasons available tohim, without having consciously thought through all of these reasons. Theindividual need only have the ability to bring forth the relevant reasonswhen the need arises. This position is motivated in part by the desire to

avoid what is seen as the arbitrariness and/or circularity of its chiefcompetitors, foundationalism and coherentism.

Foundationalists respond to the regress problem by claiming that somebeliefs that support other beliefs do not themselves require justification byother beliefs. Sometimes, these beliefs, labeled "foundational", arecharacterized as beliefs that one is directly aware of the truth of, or asbeliefs that are self-justifying, or as beliefs that are infallible. According toone particularly permissive form of foundationalism, a belief may count asfoundational, in the sense that it may be presumed true until defeatingevidence appears, as long as the belief seems to its believer to be true.[citation needed] Others have argued that a belief is justified if it is based onperception or certain a priori considerations.

26
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kleinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinitismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundationalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sourceshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Kleinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinitismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundationalismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources


27/60

The chief criticism of foundationalism is that it allegedly leads to thearbitrary or unjustified acceptance of certain beliefs.[citation needed]

Another response to the regress problem is coherentism, which is therejection of the assumption that the regress proceeds according to a

pattern of linear justification. The original coherentist model for chains ofreasoning was circular.[citation needed] This model was broadly repudiated, forobvious reasons.[citation needed] Most coherentists now hold that an individualbelief is not justified circularly, but by the way it fits together (coheres)with the rest of the belief system of which it is a part.[citation needed] This theoryhas the advantage of avoiding the infinite regress without claimingspecial, possibly arbitrary status for some particular class of beliefs. Yet,since a system can be coherent while also being wrong, coherentists facethe difficulty in ensuring that the whole system corresponds to reality.

There is also a position known as "foundherentism". Susan Haack is thephilosopher who conceived it, and it is meant to be a unification offoundationalism and coherentism. One component of this theory is what iscalled the "analogy of the crossword puzzle". Whereas, say, infinistsregard the regress of reasons as "shaped" like a single line, Susan Haackhas argued that it is more like a crossword puzzle, with multiple linesmutually supporting each other.[citation needed]

A priori and a posteriori knowledge

For centuries, a distinction has been made between two kinds of

knowledge: a priori and a posteriori. The nature of this distinction hasbeen disputed by various philosophers; however, the terms may beroughly defined as follows:

A priori knowledge is knowledge that is independent of experience(that is, it is non-empirical).

A posteriori knowledge is knowledge that is dependent onexperience (that is, it is empirical).

In addition to disputes over the nature of the distinction, there are

disputes among philosophers regarding its relation to other distinctions,su

Articles on Education

Documents

Transcript of Articles on Education