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1. Idealism
by:
V.G. L. Aspirin

2. Join the Game
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3. Objectives:
At the end of the topic, everybody can:
Recall the history of idealism;
Illustrate idealism relevant to education; and
Share the importance of idealism in education.

4. What’s Inside?
I. Definition of Idealism
II. Development of Idealism
(ancient to modern)
III. Idealism as a Philosophy of Education
(aims, methods, curriculum, & roles of teachers)
IV. Systematic Synthesis of the Philosophy of Idealism
(Key Concepts & Implications)

5. Definition of Idealism

6. DEFINITION
Idealism – (read as idea-ism)
- any of various systems of thought in which the
objects of knowledge are held to be in some way
dependent on the activity of mind
- the philosophy that believes the ultimate nature
of reality is ideal, or based upon ideas, values, or
essences

7. DEFINITION
- Idealist believe that ideas are the only true
reality.
- concerned primarily with the search for truth.
Since truth is perfect and eternal, it cannot be found
in the world of matter that is both imperfect and
constantly changing
- the oldest philosophy

8. Development of Idealism

9. Platonic Idealism
Plato (427 – 347 B.C.E.)
 A Greek philosopher who opened a school and
expounded his doctrines as a teacher.
 He was a disciple of Socrates.
 Importance and use of dialectic (or critical
discussion)
 “People do not create knowledge, but
rather they discover it.”

10. Religious Idealism
Saint Augustine (354 – 430 C.E.)
 Religion: God as the Universal Good
Idealism: Truth as the Universal Good
 “We must first believe, In order that we may know.”
 He is the first Christian philosopher to formulate the
doctrines of his religion in the most comprehensive
and enduring manner.
 Intuitive Approach to Education:
Learning must come from within, and all true
knowledge comes from God.

11. Modern Idealism
René Descartes (1596 – 1650 C.E.)
 A French philosopher, mathematician and
scientist who became famous of his Cartesian
Philosophy.
 He thought the world consisted of two kinds
of substances: thinking substance (mind) and
extended substance (matter).
 His basic proposition:
“Cogito, ergo sum.” which means
“Ithink, therefore I am.”

12. Modern Idealism
George Berkeley (1685 - 1753 C.E.)
 He spent most of his professional life as a
minister.
 Things exist even when nobody is perceiving
them because they are being thought about by
God.
 His prime doctrine:
“Esse Est Percipi.” or “To be is to be perceived.”

13. Modern Idealism
Immanuel Kant (1724 - 1804 C.E.)
 Synthetic a Priori Judgments is a system Kant
worked out based on a posteriori (synthetic)
and a priori (analytic) logical judgments.
 He believed that the essence of education
should not be simply training; the important
thing was enlightenment or teaching a child
to think according to principles as opposed to
mere random behavior.

14. Modern Idealism
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770 - 1831 C.E.)
 Three major aspects of his system are logic,
nature, and spirit.
 Spirit is the final stage or synthesis of Idea
and Nature.
 The all-inclusive Hegelian triad:
1. Thesis – ideas
2. Antithesis – otherness of the ideas
3. Synthesis – Mind or Spirit

15. Idealism as a Philosophy of Education

16. Aims of Education
 Search for Truth (highest aim)
- philosophical wisdom or the conception of true ideas is the
highest aim of education
 Self-Realization (ultimate aim)
- Idealism has exerted so much influence on educational views
about individual mind and self
 Character Development (proper aim)
- many idealists are concerned with moral character as an
outgrowth of thinking and thoughtful actions

17. Methods of Education
 Dialectic
 Intuitive Approach
 Great Books (Modern idealists)
 Lecture Method
 Other idealists’ methodology:
Projects, Supplemental Activities, Library Research and Artwork
 Self-directed Activity

18. Curriculum
 Teach the students to think.
 Idealists think that humans can become more noble and rational
by developing the ability to think.
 Idealists believed that mind, which can conceptualize, create and
can accumulate facts, need to be nourished and developed.
 Teacher should encourage/help students to explore.
 Suggested seven major studies: physics, biology, psychology,
mathematics, grammar, literature and history.

19. Roles of Teachers
Socratic characteristics (analyzing, discussing with others)
– encourage their students to better their thinking.
Infuses them with a desire to improve their thinking in the
deepest possible way.
Teachers are expected to encourage students to ask questions
and to provide a suitable environment for learning.

20. Roles of Teachers
Serve as exemplary models.
Assist students in choosing important material.
Role of the teacher is to bring out what is already in
student’s mind: reminiscence.

21. Systematic Synthesis of the Philosophy of Idealism

22. METAPHYSICS
The ultimate reality is self.
The self is the prime reality of individual experience.
The individual self has all the freedom essential to self-
determination.
Ultimate reality may be oneself or many.

23. EPISTEMOLOGY
Idealism and critical realism are alike in their treatment of
perception except that idealism holds that the qualities we
perceive in the world are rooted in existence.
The character of the world as we experience it depends so
much upon the mind, that there is no such thing that exists
without someone perceiving it.
Ideas that make up reality have always existed in the mind
of the absolute or God.

24. LOGIC
 Idealist teachers would use deductive logic to organize lessons.
 The material of logic comes from our social experience. Two main
sources of such truths are the everyday knowledge of men and the
accurate knowledge by the various sciences.
 They believe that the truths we believe in must support and reinforce
one another.
 The growth and development of knowledge is a matter of extending
vision.

25. AXIOLOGY
Values are real existents.
An individual person can realize value is by precisely relating
parts and wholes.
The values of human life are what they are largely because
there are the ones to possess and enjoy them.

26. IMPLICATIONS
Idealism seeks to create schools that are intellectual centers of
teaching and learning.
Individuals are to be educated according to their social level
and intellectual ability.
It sees teacher as vital agents in guiding students to realize
their fullest potential intellectual.
Education is transformation: Ideas can change lives.

27. IMPLICATIONS
The self gives meaning and unity into the objective world.
Encourages teachers and the students to encounter and
appreciate the finest and most enduring achievement of the
culture.
Idealists recognize internet that can make great book
accessible to students, however they insist that technology
should be used as a means of education and not as an end.

29. It is not enough to have a good
mind; the main thing is to use it
well.
- René Descartes

30. σας ευχαριστώ
THANK YOU.

31. • Idealism (2012)
by: Cariza Arguta and Pia Catalan
References:
• Idealism in Education (2013)
by: Marco Claridad
• Exponents of Idealism in Philosophy (2013)
by: Levi S. Obias
• Philosophy of Idealism and Its Application in Education (2014)
by: Rathi K. N.