PHILOSOPHY & EDUCATION

1. PHILOSOPHY &
EDUCATION an
INTRODUCTION
DR MAHESWARI JAIKUMAR
maheswarijaikumar2103@gmail.com

2. PHILOSOPHY
• Philosophy is a Greek word.
“PHILOS” means “love” and
“SOPHIA” means “wisdom”.
Philosophy means love of
wisdom.

3. • Philosophy of education is
"the philosophical study
of education and its
problems...its central subject
matter is education, and its
methods are those of
philosophy.

4. • It is both part of the field of
education and a field of applied
philosophy, drawing from fields
of :
metaphysics, epistemology, axiol
ogy and the philosophical
approaches to address issues
relating to education.

5. BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
• Metaphysics: What is the nature
of reality?
• Epistemology: What is the
nature of knowledge? How do
we come to know?
• Axiology: What values should
one live by?

6. • Philosophy helps teachers to
reflect on key issues and
concepts in education, usually
through such questions as
follows :

7. Cont…..
• What is being educated? What is
the good life? What is
knowledge? What is the nature
of learning? And What is
teaching? Philosophers think
about the meaning of things and
interpretation of that meaning.

8. • A philosophy of education
represents answers to questions
about the purpose of schooling,
a teacher's role, and what should
be taught and by what methods.

9. DEFINITION
• “Philosophy is
the science of
sciences”-
COLERIDGE.

10. • “Philosophy is
the science of
knowledge” -
FITCHE

11. “Philosophy is
the mother of
all arts and the
true medicine
of mind” -
CIZERO

12. “Philosophy is a
search for
comprehensive
view of nature”
- HENDIRSON

13. • “Philosophy is an
unceasing effort
to discover the
general truth that
lies behind the
particular facts to
discern, also the
reality that lies
behind
appearance” –
RAYMOND TALLYS

14. MAJOR PHILOSOPHIES OF
EDUCATION TODAY
• Essentialism.
• Perennialism.
• Progressivism.
• Naturalism.

15. • Realism.
• Idealism.
• Humanism.
• Pragmatism.
• Existentialism.

16. EXISTENTIALISM
• Existentialism is a philosophy
that emphasizes individual
existence, freedom and choice.

17. • It is the view that
humans define their own
meaning in life, and try to
make rational
decisions despite existing in
an irrational universe.

18. • It focuses on the question
of human existence, and the
feeling that there is no
purpose or explanation at the
core of existence.

19. • It holds that, as there is no
God or any
other transcendent force, the
only way to counter this
nothingness (and hence to
find meaning in life) is
by embracing existence.

20. PERENNIALISM
• According to the Perennialists,
the aim of education is to ensure
that students acquire
understandings about the great
ideas of Western civilization.
These ideas have the potential
for solving problems in any era.

21. • The focus is to teach ideas
that are everlasting, to seek
enduring truths which are
constant, not changing, as the
natural and human worlds at
their most essential level, do
not change.

22. • Teaching these unchanging
principles is critical. Humans
are rational beings, and their
minds need to be developed.
• Thus, cultivation of the
intellect is the highest priority
in a worthwhile education.

23. PERENNIALISM
• Mortimer Adler.
• Robert. M. Hutchins

24. PROGRESSIVISM
• Progressivists believe that
education should focus on the
whole child, rather than on
the content or the teacher.

25. • This educational philosophy
stresses that students should
test ideas by active
experimentation.

26. • Learning is rooted in the
questions of learners that
arise through experiencing
the world. It is active, not
passive.

27. • The learner is a problem
solver and thinker who makes
meaning through his or her
individual experience in the
physical and cultural context.

28. PROGRESSIVISM
• John Dewey.
• Cecil Reddie.
• John Locke.
• Jean Jaques Rousseau.

29. ESSENTIALISM
• A belief that things have a set of
characteristics which make them
what they are, and that the task
of science and philosophy is
their discovery and expression;
the doctrine that essence is
prior to existence.

30. • Refers to doctrine that certain
traditional concepts, ideals,
and skills are essential to
society and should be taught
methodically to all students,
regardless of individual
ability, need.

31. ESSENTIALISM
• James D. Koerner.
• H. G. Rickover.
• Paul Copperman.
• Theodore Sizer.

32. NATURALISM
• Naturalism is the belief that
nothing exists beyond the
natural world.

33. • Naturalism focuses on
explanations that come from
the laws of nature.

34. NATURALISM
• Émile Zola.
• Thérèse Raquin

35. REALISM
• Realism refers to the attitude
or practice of accepting a
situation as it is and being
prepared to deal with it
accordingly.

36. • Realism refers to the quality
or fact of representing a
person or thing in a way that
is accurate and true to life.

37. • The philosophical doctrine
that physical objects continue
to exist when not perceived is
called realism.

38. REALISM
• Aristotle.
• St. Thomas Aquinas.
• John of Salisbury.

39. IDEALISM
• Idealism refers to the
unrealistic belief in or pursuit
of perfection.

40. • Idealism generally suggests
the priority of ideals,
principles, values, and goals
over concrete realities.
Idealists are understood to
represent the world as it
might or should be.

41. • Idealism refers to any view
that stresses the central role
of the ideal in the
interpretation of experience.

42. IDEALISM
• Plato.
• Augustine.
• Descartest.
• Kant & Hegel.

43. HUMANISM
• Humanism is defined as a
rationalist outlook or system
of thought attaching prime
importance to human rather
than divine or supernatural
matters.

44. • Humanism is a system of
values and beliefs that is
based on the idea that people
are basically good and that
problems can be solved using
reason instead of religion.

45. • Humanism is a doctrine,
attitude, or way of life centered
on human interests or
values; especially , It is a
philosophy that usually rejects
supernaturalism and stresses an
individual's dignity and worth
and capacity for self-realization
through reason.

46. HUMANISM
• Paul Kurtz.
• Abraham Maslow.
• Carl Rogers.
• Malcolm Knowles.

47. PRAGMATISM
• Pragmatism is defined as an
approach that evaluates
theories or beliefs in terms of
the success of their practical
application.

48. • The philosophy of
pragmatism “emphasizes the
practical application of ideas
by acting on them to actually
test them in human
experiences”.

49. • Pragmatism focuses on a
“changing universe” rather
than an unchanging one.

50. PRAGMATISM
• Charles Sanders Peirce.
• William James.
• John Dewey.
• George Herbert Mead.

51. PROPONENTS &
CONTRIBUTORS

52. PRAGMATISM
• Charles Sanders Peirce.
• William James.
• John Dewey.
• George Herbert Mead.

53. HUMANISM
• Paul Kurtz.
• Abraham Maslow.
• Carl Rogers.
• Malcolm Knowles.

54. REALISM
• Aristotle.
• St. Thomas Aquinas.
• John of Salisbury.

55. NATURALISM
• Émile Zola.
• Thérèse Raquin

56. IDEALISM
• Plato.
• Augustine.
• Descartest.
• Kant & Hegel.

57. ESSENTIALISM
• James D. Koerner.
• H. G. Rickover.
• Paul Copperman.
• Theodore Sizer.

58. EXISTENTIALISM
• Søren Kierkegaard.
• Friedrich Nietzsche.
• Martin Heidegger.
• Karl Jaspers.
• Edmund Husserl.

59. PROGRESSIVISM
• John Dewey.
• Cecil Reddie.
• John Locke.
• Jean Jaques Rousseau.

60. PERENNIALISM
• Mortimer Adler.
• Robert. M. Hutchins

61. FIVE IMPORTANT
SCHOOLS OF
THOUGHT & AN
ANALYSIS

62. IDEALISM
• A philosophical theory
advocating that reality
depends on the mind for
existence & that truth is
universal and absolute.

63. REALSIM
• A philosophical system
stressing that the laws and
order of the world as revealed
by science are independent
from human existence.

64. PRAGMATISM
• An American movement in
philosophy emphasizing
reality as the sum total of
each individual’s experiences
through practical
experimentation.

65. NATURALISM
• A belief that the laws of
nature govern life and that
individual goals are more
important than societal goals.

66. EXIXTENTIALISM
• A twentieth century
philosophy that centers on
individual's existence and
advocates that truth and
values are arrived at by each
person’s experience.

67. CURRICULAR FOCUS
SCHOOL OF THOUGHT CURRICULAR FOCUS
IDEALISM TEACHER CENTERED
REALISM SUBJECT CENTERED
PRAGMATISM STUDENT CENTERED
NATURALISM INDIVIDUAL
READINESS TO LEARN
EXISTENTIALISM INDIVIDUAL CENTERED
- BASED ON
SELFREALIZATION

68. WEAKNESSES
SCHOOL OF
THOUGHT
WEAKNESS
IDEALISM RESISTANCE TO
CHANGE,
DEVELOPMENT
OF BODY
SECONDARY TO
THE MIND

69. WEAKNESSES
SCHOOL OF
THOUGHT
WEAKNESS
REALISM TOO NARROW
VIEW, EVERY
THING MUST
CONFORM TO
NATURAL LAW
OR IT IS WRONG

70. WEAKNESSES
SCHOOL OF
THOUGHT
WEAKNESS
PRAGMATISM LACKS FIXED
AIM TO GIVE
STUDENT
STABILITY &
DIRECTION

71. WEAKNESSES
SCHOOL OF
THOUGHT
WEAKNESS
NATURALISM TOO SIMPLE AN
EDUCATION FOR
A COMPLEX
WORLD

72. WEAKNESSES
SCHOOL OF
THOUGHT
WEAKNESS
EXIXTENTIALISM OVER EMPHASIS
ON
INDIVIDUALITY
PRECLUDES
PREPARATION
FOR SOCIAL LIFE

73. THANK YOU
PLATO