An introduction to - Philosophical Foundations of Education

1. BY
SUPRIYA PRATHAPAN

2.  WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?
 BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
 WHAT IS EDUCATION?
 EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
 FEATURES OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
 METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHILOSOPHY AND
EDUCATION
 A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF:
a) WESTERN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY
b) INDIAN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY

3.  Philosophy is the study of
general and fundamental
problems, such as those
connected with
existence, knowledge,
values, reason, mind and
language.
 It is distinguished from
other ways of addressing
problems by its critical
and generally systematic
approach and its reliance
on rational argument.
 The word "philosophy"
comes from the Greek
word “philosophia”,
which literally means
"love of wisdom.
 The main areas of study
in philosophy today
include epistemology,
logic, metaphysics,
ethics and aesthetics.

4. EPISTEMOLOGY
 Epistemology is the study of knowledge
and justified belief. As the study of
knowledge, epistemology is concerned
with the following questions:
 What are the necessary and sufficient
conditions of knowledge?
 What are its sources?
 What is its structure, and what are its
limits?

5. LOGIC
Logic is the study of the
principles of valid inference
and correct reasoning. It
includes:
1) Deductive reasoning wherein
an argument is constructed
by showing that a conclusion
necessarily follows from a
certain set of premises. Such
an argument is called a
syllogism.
2) Inductive reasoning : It
involves constructing or
evaluating propositions that
are abstractions of
observations of individual
instances of members of the
same class.

6. METAPHYSICS
 Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with
explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world.
As Aristotle explains, Metaphysics is the study of a
Substance and its properties which exist and cause all
things, and is therefore the necessary foundation for all
human knowledge. He called it the study of the first
principles of things. He said it was the science of
existence in general, or of 'being as such‘. Metaphysics,
then, is a comprehensive study of what is fundamental to
all existence, all knowledge and all explanation.
Metaphysics has two branches:
 Ontology: It investigates the basic categories of being and
how they relate to each other.
 Cosmology: It is the study of the totality of all phenomena
within the universe.

7. ETHICS
 Ethics, also known as moral
philosophy, is a branch of
philosophy that involves
systematizing, defending, and
recommending concepts of
right and wrong behavior. The
major areas of study in ethics
include:
 Meta-ethics: It deals with the
theoretical meaning and
reference of moral propositions
and how their truth values may
be determined.
 Normative ethics: It deals with
the practical means of
determining a moral course of
action.
 Applied ethics: It deals with the
ways moral outcomes can be
achieved in specific situations.

8. BRANCHES OF PHILOSOPHY
AESTHETICS
 Aesthetics is a branch of
philosophy dealing with the
nature of beauty, art and
taste, and with the creation
and appreciation of beauty.
 It is the study of sensory-
emotional values,
sometimes called judgment
of sentiment and taste.
 Aesthetics involves "critical
reflection on art, culture and
nature.

9. EDUCATION
 Education is a dynamic process, which involves the interplay
of the educator, educand and the social forces to make an
individual socially adjustable and responsible.
 The term ‘education’ means to plunge a man’s body, mind
and soul from ignorance .
 It enhances an individual’s personality and provides him
confidence to reach out to the world.
 It involves the growth and development of the individual in
relation to his environment.
 Education is the means through which the aims and habits
of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next.
 Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a
formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts.
 In its narrow, technical sense, education is the formal
process by which society deliberately transmits its
accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one
generation to another.
 These days education is seen not only as an instrument of
social change but is also viewed as the best investment for
the future.

10. Philosophy of education refers to the academic field of applied
philosophy which examines the definition, goals and meaning of
education.
 As an academic field, 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.
 The philosophy of education may be either the philosophy of the
process of education or the philosophy of the discipline of education.
 It is a part of the discipline in the sense of being concerned with the
aims, forms, methods or results of the process of educating or being
educated.
 It is both a part of the field of education and the field of applied
philosophy drawing from the fields of metaphysics, epistemology and
axiology (which is the study of values-ethics and aesthetics)
 It also relies upon the philosophical approaches i.e. speculative,
prescriptive and analytic, to address questions in and about
pedagogy, educational policy, curriculum and the process of learning.
 It defines the limits of education as an academic discipline and
establishes the relation between educational theory and practice.

11. EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AS
SPECULATIVE
a) Educational philosophy makes an
endeavour to be synoptic.
b) It includes an overview of the areas of
sciences and social sciences.
c) Derives a meaningful whole out of
varied data.
d) It makes tentative inferences where
there are gaps in data.

12.  EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AS NORMATIVE
a) Educational philosophy has traditionally assumed the
burden of formulating goals, norms or standards by
which to conduct the educative process.
b) Norms should not lead educational practice but must
follow it.
c) Educational Philosophy rationalizes the usages already
in practice.
d) The philosopher formulates a common theory out of
diverse practices.
e) At the normative stage, philosophy is retrospective and
conservative rather than prospective and progressive.
f) Science might aid in determining the aims or values of a
community but philosophy determines its
appropriateness.

13.  EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AS ANALYTIC
a) Educational philosophy subjects the terms and
propositions underlying educational thought and
practice to rigorous scrutiny.
b) An educational philosopher needs assurance not
only about the substance of the program of schools
but also of its validity.
c) Philosophy examines the logical premises on which
educational conclusions rest.
d) Philosophy also makes use of the discipline of
‘Semantics’ to closely examine the language used
in educational theory to ensure that its meaning is
clear and unambiguous.

14. THE DIDACTIC METHOD
 According to the classical tradition the word ‘didactic’,
referred to a form of instruction in which the active teacher
presented information to the passive student. However, the
truth is that, didactic instruction engages the student’s mind
and makes him an active learner.
 When a teacher engages in didactic instruction, she presents
models to the students for mutual contemplation.
 In this approach to didactic instruction the teacher and the
student are engaged in a mutual contemplation. Both are
actively thinking about the models placed before them. As a
result, both move toward a more accurate understanding of
the ideas contained in the object.
 This method is very effective when a teacher wants the
student to understand an idea or interpret an artifact (e.g. a
painting, musical composition, text, etc.).
 It can be used effectively in science, art, music, math, and
languages. It is also a wonderful way to approach children’s
reading, which should be dominated by Bible stories, myths,
fables, folk tales, and fairytales.

15. METHODS OF EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
THE DIALECTIC METHOD
 The dialectic method is often called the Socratic Method.
 Dialectic Method is a relentless pursuit of truth through
unceasing questions.
 Socrates’ questioning usually fell into two stages, the ironic
and the maieutic(ma-yoo-tic). In the ironic stage, the teacher
asks questions to probe her student’s understanding–to find
the inadequacies in his thoughts. These inadequacies might
include contradictions, insufficient definitions of terms,
faulty logic and other common mistakes. The purpose of the
ironic stage is to weaken the individual’s confidence in an
inadequate understanding of reality.
 In the maieutic stage the teacher will make more suggestions
than she did in the ironic stage, but will continue asking
questions. In the end, the student and the teacher both
understand an idea better. The purpose of the maieutic stage
is to give birth to this more accurate understanding of
reality.

16.  Philosophy Determines The Real
Destination Towards Which Education
Has To Go: It determines the goals of life
and also provides suitable and effective
guidance and supervision for education to
achieve those goals.
 Philosophy Determines The Various
Aspects of Education: According to Ross,
“Philosophy and education are like the sides
of the same coin, present views of the same
thing and one is implied by the other”.

17.  Great Philosophers Have Been Great
Educationists: For example-Plato,
Socrates, Locke, Gandhi,Tagore,
Aurobindo Ghosh etc.
 Education is the Dynamic Side of
Philosophy : Philosophy is the plan and
education is its application. It determines
the aims of education and lays down
principles to achieve them.

18. Aims of education are related to the
aims of life which are the creation of
contemporary philosophical beliefs.
Different philosophers in view of their
own thinking, keeping in mind the
demands of society, formulated
different aims of life and education.
As aims of life change, aims of
education also change.

19.  By means of curriculum
desired behavioural
changes are sought to be
achieved through the goal
of life which is determined
by a particular philosophy.
 The philosophy of a country
at a particular time
determines the curriculum.
 Those subjects, activities
and experiences are
included in the curriculum
which are expected to meet
the emerging demands of
the society.

20.  Pedagogy is based on
the philosophical
design of action.
 The solutions of
Educational
philosophy can only
be achieved through
the action of
teaching.
 The classroom is a
kind of a laboratory
where philosophical
distinctions can be
empirically tested.

21.  Philosophy determines the
nature and form of discipline,
whether strict and rigid or
flexible and free
 Philosophical beliefs of a
country determines the nature
of discipline. John Adams in his
famous book “Modern
Development in Educational
Practice” has discussed the
following forms of discipline:
a) Repressionistic Discipline: It is
based on despotic and
authoritarian ideologies.
Children are kept under rigid
control and unquestioning
obedience is enforced through
physical punishment.

22. b) Impressionistic Discipline: It
is based on the philosophy of
idealism. Here teacher is
considered to be the role
model who develops a sense
self discipline among the
students.
c) Emancipatory Discipline: It is
based on the philosophy of
Naturalism. Naturalists
believe in the inherent
goodness of the nature of a
child and hence advocate full
freedom for the child to think
and behave as he likes.

23.  To achieve the aims of life
and of education,
textbooks are of great
importance.
 Textbooks are affected by
the prevailing philosophy
of the society and
country.
 Textbooks contain matter
which reflects the
ideology, ideals and
values of society.
 Government should keep
an eye on the production
and circulation of books
to avoid the dissemination
of extremist ideologies

24.  Philosophy has a great
influence on a teacher’s
thoughts and behaviour.
 Ordinarily a teacher’s
philosophy of life affects
his teaching.
 A teacher should uphold
high moral and spiritual
values in order to
inculcate the same
among students.
 He/she must be aware
of his/her national
responsibility and the
needs and aspirations of
the society.

25. IDEALISM
REALISM
NATURALISM
PRAGMATISM
EXISTENTIALISM

26.  Idealism, as a
philosophical doctrine
considers ideas,
feelings and ideals more
important than material
objects and emphasizes
that human
development should be
according to moral,
ethical and spiritual
values so that a person
acquires knowledge of
unity in diversity. Some
idealist philosophers
are: Socrates, Plato,
Descartes, Kant,
Froebel, Mahatma
Gandhi, Tagore,
Aurobindo Ghosh etc.

27. REALISM
 Realism is the doctrine that
objective reality or the
material universe exists
independently of the
conscious mind, its nature
and properties are being
affected by being known.
Realists firmly believe that
knowledge acquired
through senses is real in
nature and the only true
entity in this world. Some
famous realists are: Irasmus,
Milton, John Locke, Bacon,
Bertrand Russel etc.
John Locke

28. NATURALISM
 According to this philosophy the
basis of the world is Nature or
matter. Hence , man should
investigate the truths of Nature by
scientific methods with all his
capacities and resourcefulness.
Naturalists believe that if man will
come near Nature, his development
will be natural and normal.
 Famous Naturalists are: Aristotle,
Comte, Hobbes, Darwin, Rousseau
Huxley etc.
Rousseau
Hobbes

29. PRAGMATISM
 In the words of Ross, “Pragmatism
is essentially a humanistic
philosophy, maintaining that man
creates his own values in the
course of activity that reality is still
in the making and awaits its part of
completion from the future, that to
an unascertainable extent our truth
are man-made products. “ Hence,
only those things are true which
can be experimented. Pragmatists
firmly believe that through various
activities a human being creates
his own values and ideals. Some
famous pragmatists are: William
James, C.B. Pearce and John
Dewey
William James
John Dewey

30. EXISTENTIALISM
 According to existentialism, to understand what a human being is, it is
not enough to know all the truths that natural science—including the
science of psychology—could tell us. The dualist who holds that human
beings are composed of independent substances—“mind” and “body”—
is no better off in this regard than is the physicist, who holds that
human existence can be adequately explained in terms of the
fundamental physical constituents of the universe. Existentialism
claims that human beings cannot be fully understood in terms of
science. Nor can such an understanding be gained by supplementing
our scientific picture with a moral one. Categories of moral theory such
as intention, blame, responsibility, character, duty, virtue, and the like
do capture important aspects of the human condition, but neither
moral thinking nor scientific thinking suffices. “Existentialism”,
therefore, may be defined as the philosophical theory which holds that a
further set of categories, governed by the norm of authenticity, is
necessary to grasp human existence. The idea that philosophy cannot be
practiced in the disinterested manner of an objective science is indeed
central to existentialism. Some famous existentialists are:
 Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger ,Jean-Paul
Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and Albert Camus.
 ALBERT CAMUS
 SIMONE de BEAUVOIR
 SOREN KIERKEGAARD

31. INDIAN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY
 JAINISM
 Jainism traces its philosophy from teachings of
Mahavira and other Tirthankaras .Jain philosophy deals
extensively with the problems of metaphysics, reality,
cosmology, ontology, epistemology and divinity. The
distinguishing features of Jain philosophy are its belief
on independent existence of soul and matter, absence
of a supreme divine creator, owner, preserver or
destroyer, potency of karma, eternal and uncreated
universe, a strong emphasis on non-violence, accent on
relativity and multiple facets of truth, and morality and
ethics based on liberation of soul. Jain philosophy
attempts to explain the rationale of being and
existence, the nature of the Universe and its
constituents, the nature of bondage and the means to
achieve liberation. It has often been described as an
ascetic movement for its strong emphasis on self-
control, austerities and renunciation. It has also been
called a model of philosophical liberalism for its
insistence that truth is relative and multifaceted
.Jainism strongly upholds the individualistic nature of
soul and personal responsibility for one's decisions; and
that self-reliance and individual efforts alone are
responsible for one's liberation

32.  BUDDHISM
 Buddhist philosophy is a system of
beliefs based on the teachings of
Siddhartha Gautama, a Nepalese
prince later known as the Buddha.
Buddha criticized all concepts of
metaphysical being and non-being as
misleading views caused by
reification.Buddhism shares many
philosophical views with other Indian
systems, such as belief in karma, a
cause-and-effect relationship
between all that has been done and
all that will be done. Events that
occur are held to be the direct result
of previous events. However, a major
difference is the Buddhist rejection
of a permanent, self-existent soul
(atma). This view is a central one in
Hindu thought but is rejected by all
Buddhists.

33. INDIAN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY
 VEDANTIC PHILOSOPHY
 The Vedanta, or later Mimamsa school,
concentrates on the philosophical
teachings of the Upanishads rather than
the ritualistic injunctions of the
Brahmanas.
 While the traditional Vedic rituals
continued to be practised as meditative
rites, a more knowledge-centered
understanding began to emerge. These
were mystical aspects of Vedic religion
that focused on meditation, self-
discipline, and spiritual connectivity,
more than traditional ritualism.
 The more abstruse Vedanta is the
essence of the Vedas, as encapsulated in
the Upanishads. Vedantic thought drew
on Vedic cosmology, hymns and
philosophy. The most significant
contribution of Vedantic thought is the
idea that self-consciousness is
continuous with and indistinguishable
from consciousness of Brahman.
 The aphorisms of the Vedanta sutras are
presented in a cryptic, poetic style, which
allows for a variety of interpretations. The
most famous Vedantist was Swami
Vivekananda.
 SĀMKHYA PHILOSOPHY
 Sāmkhya is an enumerationist
philosophy that is apparently
dualist.Samkhya does not mention the
existence of Ishvara (God). It regards
the universe as consisting of two
realities: Purusha (consciousness) and
Prakriti (phenomenal realm of matter).
They are the experiencer and the
experienced. Prakriti further bifurcates
into sensor and sensed realms : on the
other hand, Puruṣa separates out into
countless souls or individual units of
consciousness which fuse into the mind
and body of the sensor branch of Prakriti
consisting of 13 karanas
(instruments) Jiva is that state of Puruṣa
in which Puruṣa lies bonded to Prakriti
through the glue of desire, and end of
this bondage is Moksha. Samkhya does
not describe what happens after
Moksha. Chitta is merely a two sided
mirror : on the one hand it reflects the
external physical world through senses
to the inner perceiver, and on the other
hand it reflects one's self identity
sometimes wrongly due to false self-
identification with Ego. Due to
attachment to desires, this false self
(ego) is strengthened and the soul gets
alienated from its real identity. That is
why Saamkhya stresses the need of self
knowledge for getting rid of this
delusion.

34. ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY
The word Islam defined by the Quran itself means submission to the Supreme
Being and compliance with His laws, which constitutes Nature. Islam lays
special emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge is of two
types, revealed knowledge and acquired knowledge. Revealed knowledge has
been given to human beings, through prophets by Allah. Acquired knowledge
is that which is being acquired by the human beings though the study of
natural phenomena, attitude of man and through the study of society. Quran
says that for the prosperous life on earth both kinds of knowledge, revealed
and acquired is necessary. It shows the basis of the educational set-up in
Islam where the children are not only equipped with religious knowledge but
also with acquired that is scientific knowledge so that they can live a
righteous and prosperous life. That is why the knowledge in Islam is
considered as the greatest gift of Allah to Man. It helps man to attain
righteous and prosperous life. Islamic philosophy derives its origin from the
teachings of the Quran and Hadith (the saying of the Holy Prophet). The
Qayas and Fiqqah, are also the crucial components. Islamic education system
comprises of the following principles:
1. Belief in the oneness, immateriality, absolute power, mercy and supreme
compassionateness of the Creator.
1) Charity and brotherhood among mankind.
2) Subjugation of passion.
3) The outpouring of a grateful heart to the Giver of all good.
4) Accountability of human actions in another existence.
5) Developing a sense of social consciousness i.e. enjoining what is right and
forbidding what is wrong.

35. CONCLUSION
I hope that by now you understand that how intricately
philosophy and education are related. Philosophy is the
foundation stone of Education. Every nation, culture,
religion, community has its own set of philosophical
beliefs which are propagated through the medium of
education. Accepted philosophical beliefs help in the
formulation of educational goals, based on which the
curriculum is designed. Philosophy also defines the role
of a teacher and the pedagogical practices. Thus, the
educational policies and practices of a country are
determined by and large by the philosophy of life upheld
by its people.

36. REFERENCES
WEBSITES:
1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy
2) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy#Epistemolog
y
3) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy#Logic
4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy#Aesthetics
5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_educatio
n
6) http://www.articlesbase.com/education-
articles/existentialism-in-education-1233391.html

37. REFERENCES
 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/epistemology/
 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism/
 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaphysics/
 http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato-ethics/