Major philosopy propositions

SYNTHESIS OF PHILOSOPHYSYNTHESIS OF PHILOSOPHY

(Naturalism, Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism and Existentialism) (Naturalism, Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism and Existentialism)

From Donald J. Butler’s book:

Four Philosophies and Their Practices in Education and Religion

Compiled by JOHNY S. NATAD

© 2009

http://johnysnatad.wordpress.com

Synthesis of Philosophy Compiled by Johny S. Natad © October 2009 2

Synthesis of Philosophy (Naturalism, Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism and Existentialism)

PHILOSOPHY METAPHYSICS EPISTEMOLOGY AXIOLOGY ISM IN RELIGION ISM IN EDUCATION STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

NATURALISM

• Nature is all

there is, and all

basic truths are

truths of nature

• Nature is good;

society is evil

and crafty

• Nature offers us

freedom and

necessity, if we

live close to her;

society offers

tyranny and

authority

• Nature has

smooth-flowing

rhythms which

choose their own

time

• There is no

higher tribunal

for truth than

natural itself

• Science is the

best way to

explore the

processes of the

universe and

that those

processes are

what modern

science is

striving to

understand

• To preserve

natural goodness

and virtue

• Reduces Religion to

a phenomenon of

human experience

• God is that

structure in the

world which makes

possible the

realization of values

• Education must

satisfy the inborn

needs of the

individual

• Education is

geared to the

individual growth

• Education is not

simply mental in

nature

• Contributes a

simplifying

influence,

neutralizing

confusion of self

and society effect

measurable

benefits

• Oversimplifies

life and existence

and does not go

deep enough in

its attempted

explanations



Naturalism Proposition

• Nature is all the reality there is. (Leucippus, Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius, and Spencer)

• Reality is comprised of bodies moving in space. (Leucippus, Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius, and Hobbes)

• Ultimate reality is force or energy. (Spencer)

• The most acceptable life is possessed by keeping close to the simple and peaceful ways of natur (Leucippus,

Democritus, Epicurus, Lucretius, and Rousseau)




IDEALISM

• Reality is

spiritual or

mental and

unchanging

• All of reality is

reducible to one

fundamental

substance – spirit

• Matter is not

real, rather it is a

notion, an illus-

trations of the

mind

• It is only the

mind that is real

• Knowing is the

rethinking of

latent ideas

• All knowledge is

independent of

sense experience

• The act of

knowing takes

place within the

mind

• The mind is

active and

contains innate

capacities for

organizing and

synthesizing the

data derived

through

sensation

• Values are

absolute and

eternal

• Values are

rooted either in a

personal God or

in an impersonal

spirit force of

nature

• Religion provides

structure for

intellectualizing

religious faith and

experience

• The curriculum is

based upon the idea

or assumption of

the spiritual nature

of man

• A subject –matter

or curriculum must

emphasize the great

and enduring ideas

of the culture

• Subjects must be

essential for the

realization of

mental and moral

development

• Can live with

science, value it,

and join in its

advancement,

but at the same

time it can also

insist, as it doer,

on the

superiority of the

human and

personal over

scientific

achievement

• The abundance

of

misconceptions

• The idea about

man is irrelevant

in our present

historic setting

• It is subjective to

which nothing

exists except in

the mind of the

individual



Idealism Proposition

• Ultimate reality is of the same substance as ideas. (Plato and Hegel)

• Behind the phenomenal world is an infinite Spirit that is both substructure and creator of cosmos. (Leibniz and Berkeley)

• One of the two attributes of God is thought. (Spinoza)

• The existence of God is made necessary by certain factors in selfhood –

�The fact that I have an idea of perfect being necessitates that perfect being exist. (Descartes)

�The fact that I have perceived qualities in the objective world necessitates a God to create these qualities. (Berkeley)

�The fact that there is a category of imperatives in self necessitates God as the one who guarantees contentment as the accompaniment of

moral obedience.(Kant)

On selfhood

• The self is the prime reality in the experience of a person. (Descartes, Berkeley, and Kant)

• Human selves are like God that there are spirits, unlike Him in that they are finite. (Leibniz)

• Man as a thinking being is a part of God. (Spinoza)

• The human self has freedom of will. (Leibniz and Kant)

On knowledge

• By examining his own ideas and testing their consistency, man can achieve truth. (Plato, Leibniz, and Hegel)

• The self reads meaning and unity into the objective.

• Value and meaning are obtained by relating parts and an whole. (Spinoza)




REALISM

• Reality consists

of many

substances

(pluralism)

• There is

privation of will

(free will)

• The self consists

of body

(material

principle) and

soul (rational-

spiritual

principle) in

man

• The world is

made of real,

substantial, and

material entities

• Knowledge is

independent on

mind

• The instrument of

knowledge are ex-

perience (sensory –

perceptual

experience);

authoritarianism

(church, school and

state, and revela-

tion)

• At birth, the mind

of man is blank

• (tabula rasa)

• Man can

capitalized on this

knowledge by

using reason to

discover objects &

relationships which

he does not or

cannot perceive

• Common sense

shows that it is

reasonable to

assume that objects

exist independent

of one’s mind and

that man can

discover these

things by using

senses

• Values are simply

indefinable

• A value is depend-

ent upon the

attitude of sentient

• Anything consistent

with nature is

valuable

• Standards of value

are found

(determine) by

means of act of

reason

• Value judgment is

never considered to

be factual, it is a

subjective judgment

based on feeling

• Accepted values

conforms with the

prevailing opinion

of society

• Prevailing opinion

of society reflects

the status quo of

social reality

• Social reality

represents the truth

that is out there,

beyond the mind

• There is basis for

worship of a God

who is real in

actual world

• A pupil shall be

taught with strong

states of personal

discipline

• Pupil must be

provided with

essential

knowledge re-

quired for survival

in natural world

• Curriculum is best

organized

according to sub-

ject – matter

• Curriculum should

also emphasized

the effects of the

social environment

on the individual’s

life

• Subjects are taught

by a teacher who is

impersonal and

objective and

knows the subject

fully

• The teaching

method

recommended are

authoritative

• Whatever is

real is

independent

of every

finite

individual

who may

know it

• Realism

demands and

recognizes of

relation to

that which is

beyond self

• Reality is

capable of

interpretation

• Embrace

pluralism in

preference to a

more or

essence side

• Conception of

pupil is not

adequate

• Realism

places too

much

confidence in

transmission

of content

• Too much

stress upon the

formation of

the pupil



REALISM Proposition

On the Physical Word

• Nature is a primary self evident reality, a starting point in philosophizing. (Aristotle)

• The physical world is real, at least for the duration of the temporal order. (Saint Thomas and Descartes)

• There is no thought without extension. (Spinoza)

• The primary qualities of experience exist in the physical world. (Locke)

• There is something which produces my sensations and perceptions, the thing-in-itself, which cannot be known to be mental character. (Kant)

On the Character of Mind

• Mind is like a mirror receiving images from the physical world. (Comenius)

• The mind of a child at birth is similar to a blank sheet of paper upon which the world proceeds to write its impression. (Locke)

• Mind is a manifold of ideas and concepts. (Herbart)

• Consciousness is not a substance, it is an awareness of experiences, and experience is a medium in which objects and organisms are related.

(James)




PRAGMATISM

• Reality is the

interaction of an

individual with

environment or

experience: it is

always changing

• Reality cannot be

proven, even if it

were, it wouldn’t

help us solve

problems

• Reality is

dependent upon

experience which

determine

knowledge

• Man is both in

the world of his

perception

• Knowing results

from experiencing

use of scientific

method

• Reason is the chief

instrument of

knowledge

• (Rationalism)

• Truth is something

that happens to an

idea

• Knowing to make

personal choices

• Values are

situational or

relative

• Ultimate values

cannot exist for

truth is always

relative and

conditional

• Value judgment

are useful as

means to an

intelligent life

• There is no

supernatural base

for religious

experience

• Good and evil are

dramatically

opposed to one

another by a

precariously

decisive world

• School must aim at

developing those

experiences that

will enable one to

lead a good life

• Advocate the

importance of

democracy

• Education must

help its students

become excellent

citizens in a

democratic society

• Teachers must

provide experience

that will excite

motivation

• School Curriculum

must be part of

social context

• Instruction

organized around

problem solving

according to the

scientific method

• Offers wise

counsel for day-

to-day living

which may help

maintain mental

health

• Keep us close

to experience

and to shelter

for us artificial

of the cloistered

and formally

academic

• Helps to discern

the ways of

experience and

offers some

source in the

control of

experience

• Has a great

contribution in

education in

giving

sensitivity to

the cycle of

learning

• Being practical

would sometimes

loose our moral

values

• Not satisfactorily

representing the

essence and

existence of

individual

• The application of

experimental

method is arbitrary

being done to

every individual

• Radically negative

in its ontological

meaning

• Redefining

religion as wisdom

pointing to certain

attitudes in

religious devotion,

which are needed

for effective lying

• Experimental

method is applied

a bit more

universal and

arbitrary in

educational

method



PRAGMATISM Proposition

• All things flow, nothing remains the same. (Heraclitus and Dewey)

• It is impossible to gain knowledge of ultimate reality. (The Sophists and Dewey)

• Hypothesis tested by experience constitute the nearest approach to knowledge which we have. (The Sophists and Dewey)

• Science should become a special pursuit by being applied cooperatively to the study of all the problems of a man. (Bacon, Comte and Dewey)

• In order to determine the meaning of an idea, it must be put into practice; the consequences which follow constitute the meaning of the idea. (James and

Dewey)




EXISTEN-

TIALISM

• Reality is

subjective with

existence

preceding

essence

• “Facticity” and

“existence”

precedes

essence

• Knowing to

make personal

choices

• Values should

be freely chosen

• Believing in God

is a matter of

choice (Theistic or

Atheistic)

• Teaching

strategies must

stimulate an

awareness that

each person

creates a self-

concept through

significant choices

• Teacher should

help the student to

become for

himself what it is

he wants to

become

• School assists

student in knowing

themselves and

leaning their place

in society

• Freedom with

convergence or

responsibility

• There are a lot

of opportunities

to explore

nature and

enhance oneself

out of the given

freedom

• Respect for

individual’s

background

• Value formation

and integration

are enliven

through

decision –

making and

experience

• Standard of

goodness varies

from another

• One’s choice

may not be of

others

• Respect for

others is seldom

considered

Source:

Four Philosophies and Their Practices in Education and Religion

By: Donald J. Butler

http://johnysnatad.wordpress.com

Major philosopy propositions

Spiritual

Transcript of Major philosopy propositions