Discussions of Chapter 4 "Philosophy: Reflections on the Essence of Education"
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SS203Spring2019Chapter4PhilosophyEssenceofEducation.pptxChapter 4:
Philosophy: Reflections on the Essence of Education
By: Arion Parks, David Camper, Brendon Bush
Structure and methodology of Philosophy
- In this section we will be discussing the reasoning and the foundation of philosophy. We will discuss how it is broken down and its true purpose.
Philosophy
-Philosophy means the love of wisdom.
-Seeks to understand fundamentals
-Philosophy provides tools to think clearly
Types of Thought as a philosopher
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the first principles of things, including abstract concepts such as being, knowing, substance, cause, identity, time, and space.
People with this set of ideals believe knowledge of humanity and the universe are the most important ideas.
Teachers role is to guide and and determine what is worth knowing.
Physical sciences and reality
Epistemology is the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.
Knowledge about and what to know is most important
It is up to the teacher to decide what is in the curriculum and the role of the teacher is to teach and know what is in the curriculum
Truth
Types of Thoughts (contd)
Axiology is the study of the nature of value and valuation, and of the kinds of things that are valuable.
Teachers of this train of thought are open to new ideas and interpretations. Ethics and morals are deemed to be most important.
Good citizenship, honesty, and correct human relations are the most important topics. The instructor’s role is to guide the student to have good morals and ethics.
Examples
Metaphysicist
Pythagoras of Samos[a] (c. 570 – c. 495 BC)[b] was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of Plato, Aristotle, and, through them, Western philosophy. Around 530 BC, he travelled to Croton, where he founded a school in which initiates were sworn to secrecy and lived a communal, ascetic lifestyle.
Epistemology
Robert Audi Robert N. Audi (born November 1941) is an American philosopher whose major work has focused on epistemology, ethics – especially on ethical intuitionism – and the theory of action. His book, The Good in the Right, updates and strengthens Rossian intuitionism and develops the epistemology of ethics. He has also written important works of political philosophy, particularly on the relationship between church and state. He is a past president of the American Philosophical Association and the Society of Christian Philosophers.
Analytic ways of Thinking in Philosophy
Analytical thinking- what seems to be
Abstraction- drawing away from experiences to a conceptual plane. 1 Focusing on some feature within experience. 2 examine precise characteristics of this feature. 3 remembering the deaure and its characteristics later so as to apply them life.
Imagination and generalization- altering of abstractions and set ranges
Analytic ways of Thinking (contd)
Logic- examines principals that allow us to move between arguments.
Induction- the productions of facts to prove a statement.
Deduction- coming to a conclusion or inference from set a laws or principles from the facts.
Schools of Philosophy and Their Influence on Education
In this section we will discuss the individual philosophers and their schools of thoughts and the four well known schools of thoughts: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, and Existentialism.
Idealism-Definition
-A school of philosophy that considers ideas to be the only true reality. Physical entities are only shadows of the true reality. (e.g idea and mind)
Idealism Cont’d
-Idealism’s roots are found in the writings of Plato.
-Idealists believe in the power of reasoning but de-emphasize both the scientific method perception, which they hold suspect. Thus, idealists contend that the rational mind has the ability to reason its way to the underlying ideas that support the world we live in today.
-Idealists practices Epistemology, which is the study of the nature of knowledge, justification, and the rationality of belief
-Idealist value universal and absolute truths or ideas that remains consistent throughout centuries.
-Idealist believes that truth, goodness and beauty transcends and connects ideas. They’re important to all cultures and people.
-Idealists considers that values are unchanging, due to them underlying all aspects of existence and that they are perfect. This is called Axiology.
Idealist Philosophers
Plato (427-347 BCE)
According to Plato, truth is our central reality.
Plato believes that truth is perfect, therefore it can’t be found in the world of matter because the material world is imperfect.
People create knowledge, rather than discover it.
Humans once had true knowledge, but lost it by being placed in a material body that distorts and corrupt that knowledge.
Socrates (470-399 BCE)
Spoke to himself as a midwife because, he believed that humans were pregnant with knowledge-knowledge that had not been born or realized.
Socrates wrote a Doctrine titled, “Doctrine of Reminiscence”. In the doctrine it describes how teachers need to question students, in such a way as to help them remember what they have forgotten.
The Socratic Method emphasizes on bringing forth knowledge from students through artful questioning.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
Believed in freedom, the immortality of the soul, and the existence of God.
The only way humankind can know things is through the process of reasoning.
It is only through reason that we acquire knowledge of the world.
Reality is not a thing by itself, but the interaction of reason and external sensations.
Jane Roland Martin (1929-)
Labeled as a feminist scholar, Jane is a contemporary disciple of Plato’s dialogues.
In Martin’s book, she describes how women have historically been excluded from conversations that constitutes Western educational thought.
In order to be educated is to engage in a conversation that stretches back in time.
Education=the conversation, is the place where one comes to learn what it is to be a person.
Socratic Dialogue to Enhance Reflective Learning
Socrates and Plato believed that learning is best achieved through dialogue.
When using this Socratic Dialogue, the teacher does not teach a subject by direct exposition. Teachers throw out a series of questions, that causes the learners to reflect on their beliefs.
There was a study created in 2001, using the Socratic Dialogue to see how it helps students, and researchers found that those students who were assisted with the Socratic dialogue significantly improved both surface level and abstract understanding of the project.
Realism-Definition
A school of philosophy that holds that reality, knowledge, and value exist independently of the human mind. In contrast to the idealist, the realist contends that physical entities are true reality. (e.g nature, body)
Realism Cont’d
Realist believes in natural causes for evolution of the universe.
They also believe that the world of physical objects is the ultimate reality.
Realist, unlike idealist focus more on the body then the mind.
Believes that the reason things look different from one another is due to the form that structures their matter (Metaphysics).
Realist endorse the use of the senses and scientific investigation to find truth in the physical world.
Aristotle, a realist, claims that the art of thinking well is to be able to distinguish things based on essential differences (epistemology).
Realist Philosophers
Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
Believed that ideas are found through the study of the world of matter.
Believed that one could acquire knowledge of ideas or forms by investigating matter.
Matter cannot exist without form.
John Locke (1632-1704)
Believed in the Tabula Rasa (blank tablet) view of the mind.
Tabula Rasa (an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals; a clean slate.)
Locke stated that the mind of a person is blank at birth and that the person’s sensory experiences make impressions on the blank tablet.
Ideas Represent Objects.
Locke claimed that primary qualities represents the world, whereas secondary qualities have a basis in the world but do not represent it.
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)
Attempted to reconcile some conflicting tenets of idealism and realism.
Proposed “process” to be the central aspect of realism.
Unlike Locke, Alfred did not see objective reality and subjective mind as separate.
Believes the universe is made up of patterns and these patterns are analyzed through math.
Pragmatism-Definition
-A late 19th century U.S school philosophy that stresses becoming rather than being. (e.g experience and problem solving with reason)
Pragmatism Cont’d
-Pragmatism emphasizes the importance of understanding what it means to know.
-Believe that that we learn best through experience, but they also believe that the experience changes both the knower and the world.
-Knowing is a transaction or a conversation between the learner and the environment.
-Pragmatist do not believe in absolute and unchanging truth or values
Pragmatist Philosophers
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914)
Introduced the principle that belief is a habit of action undertaken to overcome indecisiveness.
Believed that the purpose of thought is to produce action and that the meaning of thought is the collection of results of action.
Peirce’s pragmatic method are to supply a procedure for constructing and clarifying the meanings and to facilitate communication.
John Dewey (1859-1952)
Believe pragmatism was related to evolution, explaining that humans are creatures who have to adapt to one another and to their environments.
Viewed life as a series of overlapping and interpenetrating experiences and situations, each has his own identities.
Richard Rorty (1931-2007 )
Believed that reality is not fixed, and that the task of thinkers to come up with a procedure for correctly describing the nature of reality.
Argued that reality is the outcome of inquiry.
Also believed that different disciplines have different avenues for studying the world, so these avenues create different realities.
Lastly, he believed that a thinker should not be represented as a discovere, instead they should be represented as a maker.
Existentialism-Definition
-A school of philosophy that focuses on the importance of the individual rather than on external factors.
Existentialism Cont’d
-Believe there is nothing absolute, not even change.
-Believes that knowledge is limited.
-The most significant knowledge is personal and nonscientific.
-Their key value is that human beings are free to make choices, and that we define ourselves.
-Existentialists believe that we live in an alien, meaningfulness existence on a smaller planet in an unimportant galaxy in an indifferent world.
-Believe that knowing is personal reflective process.
Existentialism Philosophers
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980 )
Saw no difference between being free and being human.
Believes that existence (being) comes before essence (meaning).
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)
Stresses the importance of the individuality of a person.
Believes humans are portrayed much more as victims of social dynamics than as inferior or superior human beings.
Teaches how to pursue a healthy love of self-care.
Maxine Greene (1917- )
Has faith in human beings’ willingness to build and transcend their lived worlds.
Believes that living is philosophy.
Believes that schools must be places that offer “and authentic public space where diverse human beings can appear before one another as best they know to be.
Educational Implications of Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, Existentialism.
What should we teach:
Idealism: Study of ideas
Realism: The advancement of human rationality.
Pragmatism: How to construct and use knowledge.
Existentialism: Understanding self.
How should we teach:
Idealism: Lectures, discussions.
Realism: Experimental and observational techniques.
Pragmatism: Integrated and democratic teaching.
Existentialism: Engaging projects, allows students to express themselves.
Matching ideas to your own:
Idealism: Importance of philosophy.
Realism: importance of teacher.
Pragmatism: Importance of understanding the concept of change.
Existentialism:Importance of knowing oneself.
Eastern and Native North American Ways of Knowing
Most studies of Western philosophy begin with Greek philosophers, but there is evidence that Platonic philosophy owed much of its development to Eastern thinkers. Native peoples from many lands, including North America, have developed ways of thinking about life and education that extends and reorganizes the writing of Western thinkers.
Eastern Ways of Knowing
Although there are differences between the writings of Far Eastern and Near Eastern philosophers, Eastern ways of knowing as a whole stress inner peace, tranquility, attitudinal development, and mysticism.
In general, Eastern ways of knowing emphasize order, regularity, and patience. Eastern thinkers have always concerned themselves with education as a way to achieve wisdom, maintaining family structure, establishing law, and providing for social and economic concerns.
Western philosophy tends to emphasize logic and materialism, while Eastern ways of knowing, on the other hand, stress the inner rather than the outer world. Whereas Western philosophy would use sense, Eastern philosophy would use intuition. Where Western philosophy would use scientific discoveries, Eastern philosophy would use mysticism. Western philosophers tend to begin with the material world to create abstract concepts from it. Eastern ways of knowing begin with the inner world and then reach to the outer world of phenomena.
Eastern Ways of Knowing Cont.
One good reason to study Eastern ways of knowing is that they offer vantage points from which to examine Western thought. Eastern ideas encourage one to seriously question the Western world’s most basic commitments to science, materialism, and reason.
Indian Thought
Far Eastern Indian thought is permeated by opposites. For example great emphasis is placed on the search for wisdom, but this does not mean a rejection of worldly pleasures. Far Eastern Indian thinkers insist that knowledge be used to improve both social and communal life and that people should live according to their ideals.There is a prevailing sense of universal moral justice, according to which individuals are responsible for what they become.
Chinese Thought
The emphasis of far eastern Chinese philosophy is on harmony. Correct thinking should help one achieve harmony with life. This harmony of government, business, and family should then lead towards a higher synthesis. Confucianism and Taoism provide two major contexts for Chinese thought.
Confucian thought has influenced education, government, and culture for more than two thousand years in China. Confucius believed that people need standards for all of life so rules were made for a wide range of activities. Gives education a high place, but stresses moral building more than merely teaching skills or information.
Taoism is based around the concept of Tao, meaning “the Way” or “the Path.” The Tao is the way the universe moves, the way of perfection and harmony. It is conformity with nature. The most significant aspect of the Tao is letting things alone, and not forcing personal desires onto the natural course of events. It is a noncompetitive approach to life.
Japanese Thought
Japanese thought is rooted in Shinto, a way of thinking that recognizes the significance of the natural world. Shinto accepts the phenomenal world (the world people get through their senses) as absolute. This acceptance leads to a disposition to place greater emphasis on intuitive, sensible, concrete events rather than on universal ideas.
Educational Implications of Eastern Ways of Knowing
Eastern educational thought places great emphasis on the teacher-student relationship. Attitude shaping is important because the attitude a person holds toward life will determine the individual’s levels of goodness and wisdom. A recurring aim in Eastern thought is to put humanity in tune with nature. The importance of achieving wisdom, satori, enlightenment, or nirvana is supreme.
Native North American Ways of Knowing
Native North American Ways of Knowing included a varied set of beliefs that span the different tribes in North America. They center around the relationship of humans to all of nature, including the earth, the sun, the sky, and beyond. Although Native North American ways of knowing differ across nearly 400 tribes in North America, these ways of knowing have similar elements. They all include traditional stories and beliefs that dictate a way of knowing and living, a reverence for nature and a sense of humans’ responsibility to nature, and make reference to a supreme being.
Navajo, Lakota & Hopi Thought
The Navajo’s early history was nomadic, and their thoughts and customs are known for their unique ability to assimilate with and adapt to the thoughts and customs of other tribes. At the basis of NAvajo teachings and traditions is the value of a life lived in harmony with the natural world. To understand the Navajo view of the world, one must understand the “inner forms” of things. The inner form concept is similar to the idea of spirits or souls, and without it the outer forms would be dead.
The Lakota, a native culture of the Great Plains, is based on mystical participation with the environment. All aspects of this ecosystem, including the earth, sky, day, night, sun and moon, are elements of the oneness within which life was undertaken.
The Hopi follow the path of peace, which they believe is a pure and perfect pattern of humankind’s evolutionary journey. The road of life is represented as a journey through seven universes created at the beginning, and at death one’s conduct and the plan of the Creator will decide the next step a person takes.
Educational Implications of Native North American Ways of Knowing
Native North American educational thought emphasizes the importance of nature. The pursuit of knowledge and happiness must be subordinate to a respect for the universe. To know is to understand one’s place in the natural order of things. These principles encourage educators to study the physical and social world by examining the natural relationships that exist among things, animals, and humans. Native American thought supports the use of hands-on learning, making connections, holding discussions, and celebrating the moment.
