Philosophical Roots of Education Chapter 2
Branches of Philosophy: Metaphysics Metaphysics: What is the nature of reality, what is real? What exists? Reality is permanent and unchanging (absolute) or dynamic and evolving (relative) Reality…a priori, apart from human experience or a posteriori, only existing after and because we experience it Idealism versus Realism Basic human nature: good, bad, neutral
Branches of Philosophy: Epistemology How do we know what is real? What is knowable? Arriving at truth: authority, sensory experience, empiricism, logic, intuition, revelation Knowledge by acquaintance…hands on sensory experience Knowledge by description…through books, lecture, internet
Branches of Philosophy: Axiology What is of value? Ethics…concerned with right conduct Aesthetics…addresses standards of beauty Are values absolute or relative?
Branches of Philosophy: Politics Politics is concerned with justice, the allocation of power in society, between individuals and groups, the distribution of resources Educational authority is either positional, rule-bound or anthropological (Benne)
Traditional Philosophies of Education Idealism: the school as ivory tower, learning for its own sake, divorced from the workaday world Reality lies in the mind. There is absolute truth. Truth pursued through logic. Deductive reasoning is best. “All inquiry and all learning is but recollection.” (Plato) Born with wisdom…our own reasoning Hutchins and Adler: Great Books
Realism Reality can be found in the world available to the senses Through observation and orderly analysis we find common features, generalizations, rules Careful study inductively leads to valid and better ideas Aristotle: truth lays in reason based on systematic observation
Realists Aristotle: The disorganized life is not worth living Thomas Aquinas: From concrete observation to abstract conclusions John Locke: tabula rasa, reason and good behavior develop from daily practice and good habits Johann Pestalozzi: Nature is the best teacher…the natural universe is a guide to truth Rousseau: Emile “Everything is good as it leaves the hands of the Author of things; everything degenerates in the hands of man.”