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 students total development that
will provide opportunities for him to lead a life worthy of mans 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 mans
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 Rodins 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

2.

view that undoubtedly be an integral part of his development.

The individual cannot be intimidated by dogmatic statements, and
he is prepared to strive and challenge those who would attempt to

3.

control his thoughts.

It serves as a bulwark against mental servitude and provides a
framework

4.

within

which

the

individual

can

think

and

act

intelligently.
It will always be an important feature of human experience and its
importance in the development of the complete social being ready

5.

to take on the responsibility in this rapidly changing world.

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.
2.
3.
4.

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

Reality is composed of bodies moving in space.
Force or energy is the ultimate reality.
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.
2.
3.
4.

The preservation of the natural goodness of man.

Education according to nature
Society anchored upon the natural individual rights of man.
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 Rs, 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
childrens 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 childs
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

fundamental right to know the truth and live according to the truth.

and

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 WORLDS 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
b.

in action
Virtue which is moral excellence, goodness and righteousness is not

c.

possession of knowledge. It is the state of the will.

The process of correct thinking can be reduced to ruled like physics

d.
e.

and geometry, and taught to any normal mind.

Advocates the practice of moderation.
Vices are irrational habits or practices because they often stem from

f.

passion which often goes beyond reason.

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
Gods 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 mans 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 natures laws.
h. Subject matter curriculum should be humanistic

10. Froebel
a. Father of Kindergarten

b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.

Creative expression should be encouraged.

Education should be accompanied with spirit of informality and joy.
Self-activity as a means of development.
Individual differences should be respected.
Knowing is the rethinking of latent ideas.
Values are eternal.
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.
a.
b.
c.
d.

Herbart
Principles of apperception and doctrine of interest
Learning should lead to character formation
Aim of education should be ethical and moral
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 learners 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
b.
c.
d.
e.

development of power.
Emphasis on physical activity
Science oriented curriculum
Societies are bound to change
Opposed to free public education; those who really want an education
should work hard to acquire the means to attain it.

13.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.

John Dewey
Learning by doing
Education is life, not preparation for life.
Education is a social process
Education is growth and a continuous reconstruction of experience.
The center of education is the childs own social activities
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
Education
Education
Education

makes possible continuance/renewal of social life.

is a communication-making experience.
is a shared possession.
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
innate intellect

ignorance
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?