Philosophy of Education Overview

Philosophy and Education

• Truth requires perspective and context; philosophy aids in understanding fundamental questions and attitudes towards activities.
• Education devoid of philosophy is lacking; conversely, philosophy without education is incomplete.
• Philosophy of Education applies philosophical principles to educational practices.

Branches of Philosophy

Cognitive (What is?)

• Logic: Focuses on correct reasoning; includes:
  • Deductive reasoning: Validates conclusions from general premises.
  • Inductive reasoning: Draws general conclusions from specific instances, but conclusions are probable, not certain.
• Epistemology: Explores the nature of knowledge acquisition.
  • Rationalism: Knowledge is derived from reasoning.
  • Empiricism: Knowledge is derived from sensory experience.
• Metaphysics: Investigates the fundamental nature of reality, encompassing existence beyond physical phenomena.

Normative (What we want to be?)

• Ethics: Examines moral judgment and character.
• Politics: Underlines the intrinsic connection between society and political structures.
• Aesthetics: Studies beauty and artistic expression.

Epochs of Philosophy

Ancient Period (Cosmocentric)

• Philosophers aimed to understand the universe's fundamental components, focusing on materialism.
  • Thales: Proposed water as the essence of all.
  • Anaximander: Introduced Apeiron as the unlimited source of all.
  • Anaximenes: Identified air as the primary substance.
  • Pythagoras: Emphasized numbers as fundamental to existence.
  • Heraclitus: Identified fire as the core principle.
  • Empedocles: Suggested four elements: water, air, fire, earth.
  • Protagoras: Claimed "Man is the measure of all things."
  • Socrates: Advocated for self-examination in life.
  • Plato: Suggested past influences everything and espoused reincarnation.

Medieval Period (Theocentric)

• Centered around God as the core of reason and existence.
  • St. Augustine: Believed in Divine Illumination.
  • St. Thomas Aquinas: Offered argumentation for God's existence through motion, causation, necessity, perfection, and governance.
  • St. Bonaventure: Asserted all conclusions lead to God.
  • St. Anselm: Defined God as the most perfect being.

Modern Philosophy (Idiocentric, Epistemocentric)

• Examined individual experience and knowledge acquisition.
  • Niccolò Machiavelli: Proposed political realism—"The end justifies the means."
  • Aldous Huxley: Argued against justifying means by ends.
  • Thomas Hobbes: Viewed man as inherently self-interested for survival.
  • Social Contract Theory: Developed with Locke and Rousseau, proposing government formation through mutual agreement.
  • René Descartes: Established modern philosophy with "Cogito, ergo sum" (I think, therefore I am).
  • John Locke: Introduced the concept of Tabula Rasa (blank slate) for knowledge acquisition.
  • George Berkeley: Advocated for idealism; questioned reality of unobserved phenomena.
  • David Hume: Stressed empiricism—the belief that knowledge originates from sensory experience.

Contemporary Period (World Issues Focus)

• Addressed modern philosophical dilemmas concerning human existence.
  • Friedrich Nietzsche: Called for equal treatment of all individuals.
  • Jean-Paul Sartre: Emphasized individual freedom and self-definition.
  • Martin Heidegger: Advocated for a respectful relationship with nature.
  • Michel Foucault: Encouraged freedom from institutional constraints using reason.
  • Alfred North Whitehead: Promoted education as a means for self-development.