By: Richard S. MarceloMEE-CpE

Critical ThinkingAnalytical Thinking Individual differenceAppreciation of the whole personUnderstanding of human thoughts and behaviourProfessional ethics and conductSkills in presentation and persuasion

Part I. Philosophy of Education and its meaning

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind and language. The Ancient Greek  (philosophia) was probably coined by Pythagoras and literally means "love of wisdom" or "friend of wisdom. Philosophy has been divided into many sub-fields. It has been divided chronologically (e.g., ancient and modern); by topic (the major topics being epistemology, logic, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics); and by style (e.g., analytic philosophy).

What is a philosophy of education, and why should it be important to you?

Behind every school and every teacher is a set of related beliefs--a philosophy of education--that influences what and how students are taught. A philosophy of education represents answers to questions about the purpose of schooling, a teacher's role, and what should be taught and by what methods.

Philosophy of education can refer to either the academic field of applied philosophy or to one of any educational philosophies that promote a specific type or vision of education, and/or which examine 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. That is, it may be 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; or it may be metadisciplinary in the sense of being concerned with the concepts, aims, and methods of the discipline.

! Important: Philosophy of education should not be confused with philosophy education, which is the practice of teaching and learning the subject of philosophy.

Glossary of TermsPhilosophy: Love of wisdom.Aesthetics: The study of beauty, ugliness,

and maybe even the sublime. The question, What is art?, is an aesthetical one.

Epistemology: The study of belief, truth, knowledge, and rationality.

Ethics: The study of good and evil, right and wrong, rules and virtues, character and vice, success and happiness.

Ethics has lots of sub-areas, including:Business ethics: What is it okay to do?Legal ethics: Who is it okay to sue?Medical ethics: When is it okay to clone?Techno ethics: Why is it okay to tap a

phone?

Metaphysics: The study of being, or what really exists. All the 'ultimate stuff' questions are metaphysical ones. Meta means after or transcending.

Wisdom: Practical insight for living.

Part II. History, Nature and ScopeA. SOCRATES- Socrates was the big-city

philosopher in ancient Athens. Accused and convicted of corrupting the youth, his only real crime was embarrassing and irritating a number of important people. His punishment was death.

Famous quote: "The unexamined life is not worth living."

“There is only one good -- knowledge; and only one evil -- ignorance.”

Socrates didn't write books; he just liked to ask probing and sometimes humiliating questions, which gave rise to the famous Socratic Method of Teaching.

B. Plato -Plato became an enthusiastic and talented student of Socrates and wrote famous dialogues featuring his teacher verbally grappling with opponents. Our wrestler believed in the pre-existence and immortality of the soul, holding that life is nothing more than the imprisonment of the soul in a body. In addition to the physical world, there is a heavenly realm of greater reality consisting in Forms, Ideals, or Ideas (such as Equality, Justice, Humanity, and so on).

As his crowning achievement: He wrote a famous treatise (The Republic) on the ideal society, in which he expressed the thought that a philosopher, of all people, who should be king

C. Aristotle-Aristotle was Plato's best student. He went on to become the very well-paid tutor of Alexander the Great — probably the highest paid philosopher in history. Aristotle started his own philosophical school when he was 50 years old. Although he lived only ten more years, he produced nearly a thousand books and pamphlets, only a few of which have survived.

This great thinker was called a peripatetic philosopher (peripateo ="to walk around") because he liked to lecture to his students while taking a walk. Another group of philosophers were called stoicsbecause they preferred sitting around on porches (stoa) when they shot the breeze.

A key theme in Aristotle's thought is that happiness is the goal of life. Aristotle was a good deal less other-worldly than Plato. He voluntarily went into exile from Athens when conditions became a bit politically dangerous for him, in his words, "lest Athens sin twice against philosophy."

The founder of logical theory, Aristotle believed that the greatest human endeavor is the use of reason in theoretical activity. One of his best known ideas was his conception of "The Golden Mean" — "avoid extremes," the counsel of moderation in all things.

Confucius- Confucius’ philosophical system reveals the influence of the Chinese tradition such ancestor worship, loyalty to the family, respect of the elders, etc.. It was Confucius who introduced the concepts of benevolence (jen), ritual (li) and proprietary (yi). He is also remembered for the so-called Golden Rule that is based on the principle “Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself

The philosopher’s political thought was centred around a strong central government and the Mandate of Heaven which, however, also included his moral concepts. According to Confucius, the principle of succession should not be based on blood line but on moral merits instead. He argued that the society can progress only if it is led by virtue and as a result, the rulers should be an example of virtue to their people.

Ancient Indian Philosophy-The term Indian philosophy refers to any of several schools of philosophical thought that originated in the Indian subcontinent, including Hindu philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, and Jain philosophy. Having the same or rather intertwined origins, all of these philosophies have a common underlying themes of Dharma and Karma, and similarly attempt to explain the attainment of emancipation. They have been formalized and promulgated chiefly between 1000 BC to a few centuries AD

Jose Rizal-Having been a victim of Spanish brutality, Rizal had already formed the nucleus of an unfavourable opinion of imperialistic administration of his country and people. Social evils like inferiority complex, cowardice, timidity and false pride pervaded nationality and contributed to the decay of social life.

Famous Quote: “The youth is the hope of our nation”

There should be proper motivation in order to boost the great social forces that make education a success. There should be proper motivation in order to create in the youth an innate desire to cultivate intelligence. The primary reason of education is to elevate the country to the highest seat of glory and develop the people’s mentality.

Rizal’s social philosophy dealt with;

1. man in society;2. influential factors in human life;3. racial problems;4. social constant;5. social justice;6. social ideal;7. poverty and wealth;8. reforms;9. youth and greatness;10. history and progress;11. future Philippines.

Nature and Scope of Philosophy What philosophy talks about

Philosophy talks about universals and general realities. It sees things from the widest perspective. It perceives things as a whole. It considers the entirety of being as a vast interconnected system. This is why philosophy is regarded as a universal discipline. For example; if philosophy were to talk about man, it would do so in connection with those elements that are globally and objectively present in all men.

What philosophy does not talk aboutPhilosophy, due to its nature does not talk about particulars or individual entities. It is not concerned with specifics. It would never consider reality in isolation from the whole. For example; considering the problem of democracy, philosophy is not concerned with the democracy of a particular country alone (like Myanmar) but the concept of democracy on a global scale.

The Love of Wisdom A philosopher is someone who is obsessed with wisdom. He is an advocate of knowledge and truth. He desires to understand what it means to know and what it takes to consistently and constantly apply knowledge rightly. Thus, he cherishes wisdom (the right application of knowledge). From this, we can deduce that everyone is and can be a philosopher. As long as one is curious to know the what, why, where and how of occurrences around him, one is definitely demonstrating an important virtue in philosophy. However, there remains a difference between “learned” philosophers and “lay-men” philosophers. A few scholars belong to the former group, while everyone and anyone with a sound mind belongs to the latter group.   

 ii.        The asking of fundamental questions Philosophy is the practical act and habit of asking fundamental questions about reality. These are those basic and objective questions that strike at the very heart of any issue that is concerned with existence as a whole. In order to properly fulfil this role, a philosopher has to become annoyingly inquisitive. This is not to foster irritation or to prove intellectual power, but mainly to dive deep into salient issues in order to discover what they are really about.  

Here's a sampling of some of the questions always under consideration in philosophy:

Can we really ever know anything?What is the good in life?Are we actually free, as we seem to be, or are we

just robots programmed by nature or God?Are we just bodies, or do we have souls?Do we survive death?Is there a God?Does life have meaning?What are we like and what should we do? (ethics)Is the world such that we can do it? (metaphysics)How do we know all this? (epistemology)How much faith can we place in this knowledge?

(logic)

iii.        A critically rational enquiry Philosophy as it were actually began in “wonder”; wonder about the usual and unusual occurrences in the universe. These “wonder” sprung out of leisure of the Greeks, whom were the original proponents of philosophy. Pioneered by “Thales” the first philosopher, these ancient Greek thinkers wondered about what the ultimate and unifying principle of the universe could be. This dimension influenced the growth of philosophy out of “religion and mythology” which were based on pseudo-beliefs about the gods. Hence, there was a need to be rational, sensible and intellectual about sensitive issues on human existence. This led to the birth of philosophy “a rational enquiry that is critical”.  

 iv.        Subjectivity and Objectivity Man (subjectivity) and the universe (objectivity) are the dual beings that philosophy is generally concerned with. The ontological issue of what man is and how he relates interactively with the universe around him is deeply grounded in the very presupposition of philosophy. In relation to this, the concept of “change but basic continuity” is synonymous with the nature of man and the universe as philosophical issues. For example, man is born today and dies tomorrow (change); but, as some men die, some others are born automatically (basic continuity). Likewise, we have dry seasons now, and then rainy seasons next (change); but this is a cyclical process which goes on continually unending. Thus, philosophy seeks to analyse the relationship between these beings and their usual occurrences.    

 v.        Dialectical Argumentation The art of “dialectics” entails the verbal communication between a subject and an interlocutor, of which there is a systematic pattern of “question and answer” in order to dive deep into issues, and reach for its underlying truth. In doing this, there entails some level of argumentation and logical reasoning, which asserts a very unique quality of philosophy. 

Philosophy vs ScienceBoth philosophy and science are intellectual

enterprises, but they differ in their essential nature and methodology. Science is an objective study of the world supposedly existing independently of any thinking mind. Hence nature it is realistic. But philosophy does not have any compulsion to be realistic-though there are realists among philosophers. There are idealists too, who declare that the world outside the thinking that the world outside the thinking mind depends on human experience.

Philosophy vs Common SenseCommon sense thrives on what is given by

senses. It does not go deeper into our beliefs and understanding. It rests contented with the prima facie- based on the first impression; accepted as correct until proved otherwise or disprove. Philosophy is a deep inquiry and asks for the reason for making any statement about any phenomenon.

Core Scope of PhilosophyEpistemology- is the philosophy of

knowledge. It is often called theory of knowledge also. We have the experience or concept or phenomenon of knowledge. Philosophy explains that concept. And that is called epistemology. It is not knowledge of any other thing, but discussion on the problem of knowledge itself.

Metaphysics is the philosophy or theory of the ‘real’. Knowledge that is studied in epistemology automatically leads us to the question of the ‘known’. Knowledge is different from mere thought or imagination

Ethics. Any consideration that you will bring to bear on your choices will have what is commonly called the ‘moral’ implication. The sense of goodness or propriety or duty is central to all human thought and behaviour. Ethics is the study of human conduct based on moral impulses and wisdom. 

Logic is concerned with proper reasoning. The study of logic features most prominently in the subjects of philosophy, mathematics, and computer science. Logic is generally considered formal when it analyzes and represents the form of any valid argument type

Aesthetics and theology are also important branches of philosophy. The first is concerned with the inquiry into the nature of beauty and the second investigates the nature of religious experiences. In fact aesthetics is concerned with the creation and appreciation of all arts. Theology, which constitutes a deep inquiry into religious phenomena, is more commonly called philosophy of religion.

Aim of EducationThe aim of education in the fullest and

deepest sense of the word is to foster natural human psychological growth and development for personal maturity of moral consciousness or 'conscience' in conjunction with the unfolding of human potential in conditions of personal freedom as inner freedom.

The primary aim of education is to enable the child to be resourceful in the solution of the problems connected with his own needs.

Critical Thinking and its importanceCritical thinking is the ability to think clearly and

rationally. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. Someone with critical thinking skills is able to do the following :

understand the logical connections between ideasidentify, construct and evaluate argumentsdetect inconsistencies and common mistakes in

reasoningsolve problems systematicallyidentify the relevance and importance of ideasreflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and

values

Critical Thinking is evaluating information and evaluating our thoughts in a disciplined way. It is also the act of analyzing, conceptualizing, defining, examining, inferring, listening, reasoning, questioning, and synthesizing. It helps us refine our thought processes so that we can think and assess information more comprehensively. It helps us identify and reject false ideas and ideologies

Analytical Thinking and its importance