SCOPE OF PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS

The role of philosophy in education is to provide the student the ability to synthesize,

criticize, assimilate and evaluate a variety and huge mass of knowledge. It is aimed to make a

well-developed man-cultured refined and well rounded. It is an important part of the student’s

total development that will provide opportunities for him to lead a life worthy of man’s dignity

as an individual and as a member of society.

The Importance of Philosophy

The study of philosophy will provide an individual a strong foundation in meeting the

demands of his profession and in coping with the problems brought about by multifarious

activities of man.

Philosophy developed from the concept which recognized man’s essential worth as a

member of society. J. A. Nicholson brought into being on a firm place the importance of

philosophy in the life of a person and of society when he eloquently stated!

“There is no other knowledge that so widens our intellectual horizon and that

deepens thereby both our understanding and our sympathies. It breaks up that

“intellectual crust” of which Wordsworth speaks the “yoke of conventional custom” that

thinking tends fatally to impose upon itself, and/by setting thought free, it permits that

full functioning of the life of the spirit that alone constitute the good life.”

Socrates, an eminent Athenian philosopher, said, “The unexamined life is not worth

living.”

Undoubtedly, the study of philosophy will always be an important feature of human

experience and its importance in the development of the complete social being, ready to take

on his responsibility in this rapidly changing world cannot be over emphasized.

The Three Major Fields of Philosophy

The three major fields of philosophy are:

1. Epistemology It deals with the study of origin, structures, methods, nature, limit and

veracity (truth, reliability, validity) of human knowledge. It also includes logic and a

variety of linguistic concerns and the philosophy of science.

The word “epistemology” is derived from the Greek Word “episteme” which

means “knowledge” and “logos” which means “the study of.” Epistemology as a theory

of knowledge in all its forms and applications of how it is formulated and expressed and

communicated. It also looks into the role of sense experience and how knowledge is

acquired.

2. Metaphysics. It deals with questions of reality-its nature, meaning and existence. The

word “metaphysics” is derived from the Greek word “meta” which means “beyond” and

“physikon” which means “nature” from which is derived the word physics, the science

which deals with matter, energy, force, natural laws and processes. Metaphysics is also

concerned about the nature of mind, self and consciousness, the nature of religion, such

as the existence of God, the destiny of the universe, and the immortality of the soul.

Aside from the nature of reality and the universe, metaphysics examines time, space,

cause and chance.

3. Axiology It deals into the study of values. It analyzes the origin, types and characteristics,

criteria and knowledge of values. It includes values of human conduct, the nature and

justification of social structures and political systems and the nature of art and its

meaning in human experience.

The question of value is a very significant issue not only among philosophers and

social thinkers but also among ordinary people and students. Some questions raised by

ordinary people and students in relation to axiology are! What makes an individual,

thing, place, or event valuable or desirable? Is value a product of mind or it is in the

quality of an object or in an act? Are things valuable only because of the way one feels

towards them, or does he feels toward them, or does he feel a certain way toward them

because of what they are?

The philosophical enterprise is an active imaginative process of formulating

proper questions and resolving them by rigorous and persistent analysis.

Various Perceptions about Philosophy

By and large, in spite of the different ways we use the word “philosophy” in ordinary

speech we tend to think of the discipline as some extremely complex intellectual activity. We

are inclined to imagine the philosopher, personified in Rodin’s statue of the Thinker, as

somebody who sits, pondering questions of the ultimate significance of human life while the

rest of us only have the time or the energy to live it. Sometimes, when an article is published in

newspapers or magazines about the life of an important philosopher of our contemporary

period, for instance, Bertrand Russell, the impression given is that he had devoted his life to the

contemplation of the problems of the world in a most abstract manner and had arrived at views

and theories that may sound splendid, but seems hardly of much practical value.

While this view has been created by the philosopher and what he is trying to do is for

the interest and well-being of mankind, there is also another image. Social thinkers and

revolutionist such as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were the ones who created the point of

view of the Communist ideology; while others like Thomas Jefferson, John Locke and John

Stuart Mill developed the political theories which prevail in democratic societies today.

It may be noted that, of these various conceptions of the role of philosophy, and

regardless of how remote we think of the activities of a philosopher from our immediate

concerns, it is a fact

Educational Implications of Philosophy

1. It guides the individual in coming up with the ri.ght decision from a broader

perspective because philosophy provides him the holistic view that undoubtedly be

an integral part of his development.

2. The individual cannot be intimidated by dogmatic statements, and he is prepared to

strive and challenge those who would attempt to control his thoughts.

3. It serves as a bulwark against mental servitude and provides a framework within

which the individual can think and act intelligently.

4. It will always be an important feature of human experience and its importance in the

development of the complete social being ready to take on the responsibility in this

rapidly changing world.

5. It can provide some insights which an individual can see his role in a civilized society

and determine if it has some significance.

The Age of Naturalism vis-a-vis Educational Foundations

Naturalism is a philosophy that views that all objects and events are capable of being

accounted for by scientific explanation. It is a doctrine denying anything in reality that has a

supernatural significance and any theological conceptions of nature are invalid. There is an

utter denial of the miraculous and the supernatural and revelation is rejected. Truth can be

discovered only through nature. The three philosophers who were considered naturalists were!

Thales, Anaximander and Anaximemes.

They were considered naturalists because of their almost exclusive interest in physics

and cosmology.

Synthesis of Naturalism

1. There is only one reality, and that reality is nature.

2. Reality is composed of bodies moving in space.

3. Force or energy is the ultimate reality.

4. Keeping close to the dominated and peaceful ways of nature is the most acceptable way

of adhering to the demands of day-to-day life.

Three fundamental objectives of naturalistic education are:

1. The preservation of the natural goodness of man.

2. Education according to nature

3. Society anchored upon the natural individual rights of man.

4. Naturalism - is aimed at the preservation of that natural goodness and virtue of the

individual and the formation of a society based upon the recognitions of the natural

individual rights.

5. The content of the curriculum should consist of activities and interest manifested by the

child in the process of growing up.

6. Naturalism stood for a democratic and universal type of education. Education is a basis

natural right and therefore, everyone should be educated in the same way.

7. Instead of books and the traditional R’s, Naturalism favoured the informal exercises of

the sense, the muscles and the tongue.

It is interesting to note that ROUSSEAU took the view that man as he came from nature

was good but he became evil through contact with society. he asserts that the educational aim

was to free men from the artificialities and restraints of human society.

Naturalism emphasized the duties of parents in the education of their children by

protecting from artificial society. Parents should develop the children’s inherent qualities.

The form stages of life and development are:

1. Infancy (birth to 5) - let the experience everything and this should be accomplished

without external compulsion of authority.

2. Childhood (5- 12) - laissez- fair approach. Let the‘ child do nothing and allow nothing

to be done. Do not use books, instead use games and let experience be the only

teacher.

3. Boyhood (12-15) — age of reasons. This is the age when the child’s natural desire to

learn should be developed. The child would then recognize the usefulness of

knowledge.

4. Adolescence (15-20) — perception of human relation arouse. This is the stage were

sex impulse appeared to be strong and reason had to check the sexual desires and

channel them to more desirable outlets. He should develop an ethical point of view

and strive for spiritual inspiration.

The main contribution of naturalism to the educational method was its emphasis on

making the child the center of the educative process.

Man: His Dignity, Rights and Duties

True dignity is in virtuous living.

True dignity and excellence in man resides in moral living that is, in virtue is the

common inheritance of man, attainable equally by the humblest and the mightiest, by the rich

and the poor, and the reward of eternal happiness will follow upon virtue and merit alone

regardless of the person in whom they may be found.

The dignity of the human person requires that every man enjoys the right to act freely

and responsibly. Vatican II lays stress on reverence for man, everyone must consider his

neighbour without exception as another self, taking into account first of all his life and the

means to living it with dignity.

Whatever is opposed to life itself, such as any type of murder, genocide, abortion,

euthanasia or willfull self-destruction; whatever violates the integrity of the human person,

such as mutilation, torments inflicted on body and mind, attempts to coerce the will itself,

whatever insults human dignity, such as sub-human living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment,

deportation, slavery, prostitution, the selling of women and children; as well as disgraceful

working conditions, where men are treated as mere tools for profit, rather than as free and

responsible persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed. They poison

human society, but they do more harm to those who practice them than those who suffer from

the injury. Moreover, they are a supreme dishonor to the creator.

Although rightful difference exists between men, the equal dignity of persons demands

that a more humane and just conditions of life be brought about. For excessive economic and

social differences between members of one human family or population, groups cause

scandals, and militate against social justice, equity, the dignity of the human person, as well as

social and international peace.

Sense of responsibility and living conditions.

A man can scarcely arrive at the needed sense of responsibility, unless his living

conditions allow him to become conscious of his dignity, and to rise to his dignity by spending

himself for God and for others. But human freedom is often crippled when a man encounters

extreme poverty, just as it withers when he indulges in too many of life's comforts and

imprisons himself in a kind of splendid isolation.

A man is more precise for what he is than what he has.

Man is the source, the center, and the purpose of all economic and social life. That is

why every man is called to full development.

It is the image in man which underlies the freedom and dignity of the human person.

It is true that man is called to be like God. But he becomes like God not in the arbitrariness of

his own good pleasure but to the extent that he recognizes that the truth and love are at the

same time the principle and the purpose of his freedom.

Human beings are totally free only when they are completely in the fullness of their

rights and duties. The same can be said about society as a whole.

It is not possible to understand man on the basis of economics alone, to define him

simply on the basis of class membership.

Cultures are the expressions of the meaning of existence.

At the very he art of every culture lies the attitude man takes to the greatest mystery

the mystery of God. Different cultures are ‘basically different ways of facing the questions of

the meaning of personal existence. When this question is eliminated, the culture and moral life

of nations are corrupted. For this reason the struggle to defend work was spontaneously linked

to the struggle for culture and for national rights.

Man who was created for freedom, bears within himself the wound of original sin,

which constantly draws him towards evil and puts him in need or redemption.

Man tends towards good, but he is also capable of evil. He can transcend his immediate

interest and still remain bound to it. The social order will be all the more stable, the more it

takes this fact into account and does not place in opposition personal interest and the interests

of society as a whole, but rather seek ways to bring them into fruitful harmony. No authentic

progress is possible without respect for the natural and fundamental right to know the truth

and live according to the truth.

The satisfaction of human needs is a strict demand of justice.

It is a strict duty of justice and truth not to allow fundamental human needs to remain

unsatisfied, and not to allow those burdened by such needs to perish. A man is alienated if he

refuses to transcend himself and to live the experience of self-giving and of the formation of an

authentic human community oriented towards his final destiny, which is God.

It there is no transcendent truth, in obedience to which man achieves his full identity,

then there is no sure principle for guaranteeing just relations between people. Their self-

interest as a class, group or nation would inevitably set them in opposition to one another.

STUDY GUIDE

A. Terms / Concepts to understand

truth principle

beauty doctrine

goodness axiom

value speculative

theory cosmos

B. Questions to answer

1. What is epistemology?

2. What is the role of philosophy in education?

3. Why is philosophy important in formulating educational goals and objectives?

4. Distinguish between educational goals and educational objectives.

5. Enumerate the three major fields of philosophy and explain each.

6. What is your perception of philosophy as a discipline?

7. What is the political philosophy of Karl Marx?

8. Do you agree with Karl Marx political philosophy? Quality your answer.

9. What is your philosophy as a student?

10. Some students view that philosophy is difficult to understand, impractical and even “out

of touch with reality.” Do you agree?

THE EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES OF THE WORLD’S GREATEST PHILOSOPHERS

The emergence of various educational philosophies has been an interesting subject of

study among social thinkers, scholars, educators and students. It is in this context that there is a

need to identify and understand their major contributions in relation to education.

1. Plato

a. Every individual should devote his life to what is best fitted for him to do.

b. The important function of education is to determine what every individual is by nature

capable and fitted of doing things.

c. Poor leadership will lead to wrong decisions

d. The physical objects are not permanent representations of unchanging ideas, and that

the ideas alone give true knowledge as they are known by the mind.

e. Social justice is giving of what is due to whom it is due.

f. Intellectual aristocracy is the rule of intellectual elite.

g. An individual who should lead society should be endowed with superior intelligence and

possessed impeccable integrity.

2. Aristotle

a. The end of education is not knowledge alone. It is the union of the innate intellect of the

individual and his will. It is knowledge expressed in action

b. Virtue which is moral excellence, goodness and righteousness is not possession of

knowledge. It is the state of the will.

c. The process of correct thinking can be reduced to ruled like physics and geometry, and

taught to any normal mind.

d. Advocates the practice of moderation.

e. Vices are irrational habits or practices because they often stem from passion which

often goes beyond reason.

f. Advocates scientific approaches to education

3. Socrates

a. Knowledge is wisdom which, in effect, means virtue.

b. The problem of evil is the results of ignorance.

c. Knowledge is virtue and ignorance is vice.

d. Knowledge is the basis of all right actions including the art of living

4. Confucius

a. Development of moral and ethical principles to promote peace and order and to

preserve human dignity.

b. The family should serve as model for correct relations among men.

c. Postulated the golden rule for all men to follow “Treat others as you wish them to treat

you.”

d. Reason and natural law constantly enjoy man to live righteously to offend no one and to

give one his due.

e. Order and harmony should begin in the inner nature of man.

f. Man can enjoy inner peace and harmony and happiness by observing God’s law which is

enshrined in every individual conscience.

g. Emphasized the importance of self-control. “He who conquers others are strong; he

who conquers himself is the greatest victor.”

h. Reason is supposed to rule and regulate the lower craving of man such as appetites and

passions.

i. Justice and love always go together.

j. The coming into being of the perfect man is a perfect social order is simply the full

development of the human personality through the realization of man’s powers and

natural endowments — his physical, intellectual, emotional, political and economic

aspirations.

5. Lao-Tze

a. He emphasized the virtue of passivity, humility and frugality.

b. To achieve happiness, men should bring themselves into harmony with the TAO which

he was not a god but the supreme and governing principle of the universe.

c. To achieve happiness is: “Be yourself, be natural; live in accordance with your true, good

and best nature.

6. Comenius

a. Development of the whole man before he becomes professional.

b. Effective learning is done through the use of the vernacular.

c. Follow the order of natural law.

d. Train for character development.

e. Both boys and girls should be included in education regardless of their socioeconomic

status.

f. Advocated the use of visual aids in classroom teaching.

7. Locke

a. “Tabular rasa” or “blank slate” theory — A child is born with a blank mind neither good

nor bad.

b. Education can help shape the pupil according to the disposition of the teacher.

c. Emphasized formal discipline moral and physical education.

d. Methods of instruction should consider habit formation through drill and exercise,

memorization and reasoning.

8. Rousseau

a. Man is by nature good and virtuous.

b. Development of the child according to his inherent endowments

c. The child is the most important component of the school system.

d. Use of instinctive tendencies as the starting point in any educational pursuit.

e. “Everything is good as it comes from the hand of the author of nature.

9. Pestalozzi

a. Education is a social process of organized growth and development.

b. Education should be in accordance with the laws of natural growth and development of

the child.

c. Lessons were to be learned through direct experience with objects and places through

observation, inquiry and reasoning.

d. Emphasis or method and technique of imparting knowledge and information.

e. Reality is objective and is composed of matter and form; it is fixed, based on natural law.

f. Knowing consists of sensation and abstraction.

g. Values are absolute and eternal based on nature’s laws.

h. Subject matter curriculum should be humanistic

10. Froebel

a. “Father of Kindergarten”

b. Creative expression should be encouraged.

c. Education should be accompanied with spirit of informality and joy.

d. Self-activity as a means of development.

e. Individual differences should be respected.

f. Knowing is the rethinking of latent ideas.

g. Values are eternal.

h. Play, spontaneous activity should be utilized to promote self-realization.

i. A subject matter curriculum emphasizing the great and enduring ideas of culture.

j. Social development

11. Herbart

a. Principles of apperception and doctrine of interest

b. Learning should lead to character formation

c. Aim of education should be ethical and moral

d. The leader gets meaning from previous experiences to which it is related.

e. The curriculum should include a wide range of subjects

f. Unity could be achieved through reflection and could be greatly aided by a correlation

of subject matter.

g. Preparation - recall of old ideas in the learner’s experience to which the new instruction

can be related.

h. Preparation - a story, demonstration, experiment or a reading assignment that included

facts or new materials or ideas of the new material.

i. Comparison - connections and associations between the old and the new.

j. Generalization - general principles that are formed from the lesson.

k. Application - putting the new idea to work.

12. Spencer

a. Knowledge acquired that is best for use in life is also the best for the development of

power.

b. Emphasis on physical activity

c. Science oriented curriculum

d. Societies are bound to change

e. Opposed to free public education; those who really want an education should work hard

to acquire the means to attain it.

13. John Dewey

a. Learning by doing

b. Education is life, not preparation for life.

c. Education is a social process

d. Education is growth and a continuous reconstruction of experience.

e. The center of education is the child’s own social activities

f. f. The school is primarily a social institution

It is interesting to note that the various philosophies of education of the world's greatest

philosophies that have tremendous influence to education are applied today.

Philosophical Thoughts of Great Thinkers in Education

Education as a Necessity of Life

Education makes possible continuance/renewal of social life.

Education is a communication-making experience.

Education is a shared possession.

Education is a self-renewing instrument of a complex society.

Education as a Social Function

Education provides the social environment that leads to the development of attitudes

necessary for a continuous and progressive life.

As an educative environment, the school performs three social functions:

a. simplifying/ordering the fact/or attempts to develop;

b. cristalizing the existing social function; and

c. creating a wider perspective and better balanced environment.

Education as Direction

Education directs the natural impulses of the young to agree with the life customs of the

group through commands, prohibitions, approvals and disapprovals.

The business of education is to make the young understand the internal controls.

Education as Growth

Education is all one with life; life is growth and, therefore, education has no end beyond

growth.

Growth in education is not physical but growth in insight and understanding of

relationship between various experiences and learning episodes.

Education as Preparation

Education is preparation when it:

a. progressively realizes present possibilities, thus, making the individual better fitted

to cope with later requirements; and

b. b. makes the present rich and significant, thus, merging into the future.

Education as Unfolding

Education is unfolding when it draws out from the learner what is desired through

suggestive questioning or other pedagogical device.

Education is unfolding from within

Education as Training of Faculties

Education as training of original impulsive activity is selecting those responses that can

be utilized by the individual.

Education is not mere “exercise” of the faculties of the mind but the development of

initiative, inventiveness, and adaptability.

Education as Formation

Education is formation when it consists of the selection and coordination of native

activities so that the subject matter of the social environment is utilized.

Education as Recapitulation and Retrospection

Education is not “repeating” the past but utilizing it as a resource in developing the

future.

Education as Reconstruction

Education is the reorganization of experience which adds to its meaning, increasing its

ability to direct the course of subsequent experience.

In education as reconstruction, increment of meaning corresponds to increased

perceptions of connections and continuities of experiences.

Education is the fundamental method of social reform.

Education as a Democratic Social Function

Education gives the individuals a personal interest in social relationship and controls the

habits of the mind which secure social changes without introducing disorder.

Education emphasizes the cooperative nature of shared human experience which

embraces three key elements:

a. common - represents shared objects, ideas;

b. communication - occurs when people share their experiences; and

c. community - results when individuals discuss common experiences through shared

communication.

STUDY GUIDE

A. Terms/Concepts to understand

emergence virtue

intellectual aristocracy irrational habits

superior intelligence ignorance

innate intellect tabular rasa theory

impeccable integrity correlation

B. Questions to answer

1. Enumerate some important educational philosophies postulated by Plato.

2. According to Socrates, knowledge is wisdom which, in effect, means virtue. Can you

explain this statement?

3. Order and harmony should begin in the inner nature of man. Do you agree? Why?

4. According to Rousseau, Man is by nature good and virtuous. Do you agree? Explain your

answer.

5. Who is considered the "Father of Kindergarten”?

6. For Pestalozzi, education is a social process of organized growth and development. Can

you explain this further?

7. According to John Dewey, learning by doing is effective. Explain this educational

philosophy further.

8. Education is a social process. Explain this statement.

9. Explain the statement. The problem of evil is the result of ignorance.

10. What is the golden rule postulated by Confucius?