Famous Philosophers

This PowerPoint Emphasizes Their Philosophies of Education

Socrates469-399 B.C.

• Born in Athens Mother – midwife Father – stonecutter• Executed for being seen as a threat to existing institutions• Convinced of the universality of right/wrong, good/evil• Essential relationship between knowledge and virtue• Created the Socratic Method for questioning:

– Focus on an ill-considered statement/concept– Questioning that points out inconsistencies– Redefining the original statement/concept– New definition is again critically examined

Socrates469-399 B.C.

• Believed in a universal body of knowledge that was a gift from God

• Education’s goal is to help students uncover knowledge that already exists

• “Real world” was one of ideas that were universal and absolute

• Curriculum should be centered around the classic body of knowledge

• Instruction should let students make intellectual discoveries; teachers should not just lecture

• Socratic Method promotes critical thinking in the classroom

Francis Bacon1561 -1626

• Born in London – lived very political life• Introduced the systematic study of science• Aimed at practice rather than theory• Laid the foundation for pragmatism• Didn’t believe that humankind already possessed a body

of truth• Believed most knowledge of his time to be false because

it was not based on sufficient examination of the concrete world

Francis Bacon1561 -1626

• Believed that knowledge could be attained through amassing data, carefully interpreting the data, and conducting experiments founded on organized observations

• Reality/Truth is found in nature, not beyond nature• Believed in the power of inductive reasoning – focusing

on the acquisition of knowledge through a process of going from specific to general

• Endless and persistent uncovering of facts and principles that are not already known

• Teacher assists students in generating/observing specifics and then moves them toward general statements or conclusions

Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712 - 1778

• Born in Geneva, Switzerland• Believed human beings are individually good from birth• Education should be founded on personal exploration of

and contact with nature, people, and things• Saw society as superficial with weak human

relationships• Believed if a person became bad , it was due to the

influence of corrupt social institutions

Jean-Jacques Rousseau1712 - 1778

• Believed in simplicity, personalized education, and a just society founded on individual responsibility

• Believed that all knowledge reaches the mind through the senses

• Strongly promoted experiential learning – to grow toward goodness we must be in harmony with nature

• Believed the world was made up of verifiable constants/order which were established by a Supreme Being

• A proponent of naturalism – believing that human beings learn gradually and constantly throughout their lives

• Education should involve the development of capacities rather than the imposition of ideas

• Theory of what should/ought to be, not what already exists

Karl Marx1818 - 1881

• Born in Trier, Germany• Believed that class struggle and economic conditions were

the sole causal determinants of history and thought• Believed in a philosophy of action which could change laws,

institutions, and enable men• Schools should provide students with empowering

knowledge and skills that will allow them to transform society

• Schools should focus on the needs of the individual, so that each would gain the knowledge needed to change society

Karl Marx1818 - 1881

• Emphasized a technologically grounded curriculum• Interested in having students understand the economic

system in which they would be living• Schools should provide insights and critical inquiry skills that

would enable them to transform the dominant culture• Followed Hegel’s use of the dialectic (assumption –

contradiction – new understanding) but thought the end result should include practical action that would change society

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi1746 - 1827

• Born in Zurich, Switzerland• Created several schools to help educate poor children• Believed successful education depended on the security and

support of the home and genuine affection in the classroom• Teaching process involved

– Numbers – careful observation and experience with an object in the natural world

– Forms – incorporating the five senses to be able to describe objects and ideas orally

– Names – developing and using a vocabulary to describe the object or idea

Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi1746 - 1827

• Wanted to break away from lecture and memorization• Believed that true education will produce economically self-

sufficient individuals• Helped form the Doctrine of Self-Activity – the idea that a child

is born with the power to receive impressions and react to them• Instruction must be connected to a certain need or want of the

student• Education should contribute to the growth of the physical body,

the mind, and the morality of the individual• Believed in hands-on learning with actual objects and field trips• School should be hands-on, practical, and student-centered

Herbert Spencer1820-1903

• Born in Derby, England• Believed in the freedom to develop naturally through the

employment of sensory data and empirical knowledge• Believed all human activity was the result of an

evolutionary process – actually coined the phrase “survival of the fittest” referring to society as opposed to biology

• Emphasized empiricism as the primary source of knowledge, but conceded that not everything can be observed so not everything can be known

Herbert Spencer1820-1903

• Development of knowledge is a process of moving from simplicity to complexity, so evolutionary in nature

• Primarily concerned with applying principles of evolution, accumulation of scientific data, and inductive reasoning

• Education should include a curriculum that is focused on the worth and relative use of the knowledge to the individual during his/her life

• Believed SCIENCE was the essence of the modern curriculum

• Believed the laboratory method was most valuable due to its student centeredness and promotion of self-discipline and control

• Classrooms should promote self-development through interesting and fun activities

John Dewey1859 - 1952

• Born on a farm in Burlington, Vermont• Believed reality is a “liquid process” which is constantly

changing• A school should be a microcosm of the community or the

society• Believed society must transmit the habits of doing, thinking,

and feeling from the older to the younger• Gaining new knowledge should result in further inquiry and

eventual action which he called “making” - instrumentalism

John Dewey1859 - 1952

• Believed strongly in the use of reflective thinking – active, persistent and careful consideration of a belief or idea

• School should provide students with the processes and behaviors that will sustain a democratic way of life

• Education should not have any preconceived, fixed, or determined ends

• Student centered, activity-oriented curriculum which promotes reflective thinking

• Teacher is responsible for providing problems or situations that will be interesting and challenging, and worthwhile in promoting social growth

• Education is life, not a preparation for life – a dynamic, ongoing, never-ending experience

• Desired to bring the real world into the classroom

Jean-Paul Sartre1905-1980

• Born in Paris• Viewed the world as composed of ignorant and imperfect

individuals living in an uncertain universe in which nothing is rational or right

• Believed that society could be made better• Subjective human experience provides truth• These experiences should involve reflection, freedom of

choice, decision making and responsibility

Jean-Paul Sartre1905-1980

• “Man is nothing else but what he makes of himself (was an atheist)

• Felt that free choice in the classroom promotes teacher-student partnerships and student empowerment

• Believed that although free choice should be given, these experiences should be well planned and not entirely devoid of constraints or limitations