2. One of the most important schools of philosophy of education is
pragmatism. Pragmatism stands between idealism and materialism a sort
of compromise. Its origin can be traced from the Sophists philosophers
of ancient Greece who held that man is the measure of all things.
• It is a philosophical movement that includes those who claim that an
ideology or proposition is true if it works satisfactorily, that the
meaning of a proposition is to be found in the practical consequences
of accepting it, and that unpractical ideas are to be rejected.
3. • Derived from Greek word ‘pragma’ which
means work, practice, action or activity.
• The philosophy that encourages people to
find processes that work in order to
achieve their desired ends.
• Pragmatists believe that reality is
constantly changing and that we learn best
through applying our experiences and
thoughts to problems, as they arise.
5. Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914)
• An American philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist.
• “The Father of Pragmatism"
• Believed that thought must produce action, rather than linger in the
mind and lead to indecisiveness.
6. William James (1842-1910)
• An American philosopher and psychologist who was also trained as a
physician.
• The first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States,
James was one of the leading thinkers of the late nineteenth century
and is believed by many to be one of the most influential philosophers
the United States has ever produced, while others have labelled him
the "Father of American psychology".
• William James, the author of the Pragmatic Theory, defines truth in
terms of the usefulness of a belief. He thinks that useful beliefs are
true and useless beliefs are false.
7. John Dewey (1859-1942)
• An American philosopher and educator who was a leading exponent of
philosophical pragmatism and rejected traditional methods of teaching
by rote in favor of a broad-based system of practical experience.
• Father of Modern Experiential Education
• An early proponent of progressive education, maintained that schools
should reflect the life of the society.
• “Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”
• John Dewey attempted to combine both peirce and James's
philosophies of pragmatism.
9. Biological Pragmatism
• According to this the capacity of a human being is valuable and
important which enables him to adjust with the environment or makes
him able to change his environment according to his needs and
requirements.
• Experimentalism of John Dewey is based upon this biological
pragmatism according to which the ultimate aim of all knowledge is
harmony of the man with the environment. Education develops social
skill which facilitates one’s life. The school is a miniature society
which prepares the child for future life
10. Humanistic Pragmatism
• According to this ‘whatever fulfils one’s purpose, satisfies one’s
desire, develops one’s life, and is true’. It maintains what satisfies the
human nature is only true and real.
• This type of pragmatism is particularly found in social sciences.
According to it the satisfaction of human nature is the criterion of
utility. In philosophy, in religion and even in science man is the aim of
all thinking and everything else is a means to achieve human
satisfaction.
• Those things or principles are true which satisfy the needs
requirements aspirations and objectives of human beings and cater the
welfare of man kind
11. Experimental Pragmatism
• Modern science is based upon experimental method. The fact that can
be ascertained by experiment is true. No truth is final, truth is known
only to the extent it is useful in practice. The pragmatists use this
criterion of truth in every field of life. The human problems can be
solved only through experiment
• According to this what can be experimentally verified is true. The
principle is true which can be verified as true by experiment.
• According to this ideology that thing or principle is true which can be
verified as true by experiment.
12. Principles
PLURALISM
• Philosophically, the pragmatists are pluralists. According to them there are
as many words as human beings. The ultimate reality is not one but many.
Everyone searches truth and aim of life according to his experiences.
EMPHASIS ON CHANGE
• The pragmatists emphasize change. The world is a process, a constant
flux. Truth is always in the making. The world is ever progressing and
evolving. Therefore, everything here is changing.
UTILITARIANISM
• Pragmatists are utility is the test of all truth and reality. A useful principle is
true. Utility means fulfillment of human purposes. The results decide the
good and evil of anything, idea, beliefs and acts. Utility means satisfaction
of human needs.
13. Principles
CHANGING AIM AND VALUES
• The aim and values of life change in different times and climes. The old aims and values,
therefore, cannot be accepted as they are. Human life and the world is a laboratory in
which the aims and values are developed.
INDIVIDUALISM
• Pragmatists are individualists. They put maximum premium upon freedom in human life.
Liberty goes with equality and fraternity. Everyone should adjust to his environment.
EMPHASIS ON SOCIAL ASPECTS
• Since man is a social animal therefore, he develops in social circumstances. His success
is success in society. The aim of education is to make him successful by developing his
social personality.
EXPERIMENTALISM
• Pragmatists are experimentalists. They give more importance to action than ideas. Activity
is the means to attain the end of knowledge. Therefore, one should learn by doing
constant experimentation which is required in every field of life.
14. Principles in a nutshell
• Experience is the central idea in pragmatism.
• There are no absolute values of life.
• Action is real and ideas are tools.
• Man is an active being.
• Man has the ability to solve his problems.
• Utilitarian aspect is supreme.
• Past has little value.
• Present and future are more important.
15. PRAGMATISM AND EDUCATIVE PROCESS
• "Pragmatism is an educational
philosophy that says that education
should be about life and growth. John
Dewey (1894)
• “Education is living through a
continuous reconstruction of
experiences. It is the development of
all those capacities in the individual
which will enable him to control his
emotion and fulfil his possibilities.” -
John Dewey
16. • Does not believe in setting predetermined
fixed, ultimate and general aims of
education.
• The only aim is more and more growth and
creation of new values. One can create
values through activities and experience.
• Aims of education given by John Dewey in
his ‘Democracy and education’ : --Natural
development. --Development of social
efficiency
17. Criticism
• Opposition of pre determined ideals
and values
• Opposition of ideal truths
• Negation of spiritual values
• Negation of past
• Condemnation of formal education
• Difficulty in the construction of
curriculum
• Pragmatism is a method only
18. Jean Jacques Rousseau
• The belief that man, by nature, is good was espoused by the French
philosopher, Rousseau (1712-1778). He believed that people in the state of nature
were innocent and at their best and that they were corrupted by the unnaturalness of
civilization.
• He worked on political philosophy.
• Rousseau proposed that the dogmas of civil religion ought to be simple: they
should affirm the afterlife, a God with divine perfection, the notion that the
just will be happy and the wicked punished, and the sanctity of the social contract
and the polity's laws.
• Rousseau 's philosophy combined between the realistic and ideal, and he aspired
to a better world. Rousseau introduced one of the principles that later on would be
a major characteristic of Romanticism, that is: in art, the free expression of
creativity is more important than following formal rules and traditions.
