PHILOSOPHICAL AND SOCIOLOGICAL

FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION

EDU-HC-2016
 Unit 1:Philosophy and Education

• Philosophy: Meaning, Nature and Scope

• Philosophy of Education: Meaning and Scope
• Relationship between education and
philosophy
• Impact of philosophy on education
 Philosophy: Meaning, Nature and Scope

• The term philosophy came from Greek 'philo’, Love, and

'Sophia’, wisdom,
• Philosophy is, literally defined, “the love of wisdom”.
• it is the study of the most basic and the most profound
matters of human existence.
• Philosophy, in the West, began in the Greek colony of
Miletus with Thales (c. 624/623 – c. 548/545 BC, who,
according to ancient sources, was the first to ask “What is
the basic stuff of the universe from which all else
comes?”)
• The mathematician and mystic Pythagoras was the first to
call himself a philosopher.
 Origin of Philosophy:
• Wonder is said to be the origin of philosophy. The Greek thinkers,
wondered at the phenomena of the world and tried to explain them
by principles.
• Thales (600 B. C.) looked upon water as the primary stuff of the
world.
• Anaximander regarded the infinite atmosphere or air as the
fundamental reality.
• Heraclitus conceived of fire as the only reality.
• Empedocles (450 B. C.) thought of earth, water fire, and air as the
permanent substances. Thus the Greek philosophy originated in
wonder.
• The Vedic thinkers also wondered at the grand and sublime aspects
of nature, and conceived of the sun, the moon, the sky, the wind or
storm, the rain, and the like as animated by spirits.
• They thought of a large number of nature-Gods, who gave men rich
crops, cattle, health, wealth and victory in battles.
• They gradually conceived of the world-architect who created the
world.
• Then they conceived of Brahman or the infinite Spirit pervading the
universe and guiding the human souls.
• Thus Indian philosophy also sprang from wonder. Later
philosophical speculation in India sprang from a deeper craving for
the attainment of the highest good.
• Modern western philosophy sprang from doubt. Rene Descartes, the
father of modern western philosophy, started with doubt.
• Sense-perception may be illusory.
• Reason may be so constituted that it may lead to error.
• Authority is unreliable.
• Experience, reason, and authority or traditions are doubtful. But the
fact of doubting is undoubted.
• To doubt is to think. To think is to exist.
• Descartes :“I think, therefore I am”(Latin: Cogito, ergo sum,)
• The present age also is one of doubt and perplexity. Tradition and
authority have lost their hold on the human, mind. Religion is
dissolving and losing its grip on the human mind. Fundamental
notions of science are being revolutionized.
• The concepts of matter, time and space have been profoundly
altered. The deepest layers of the mind are being discovered.
Political, economic, social, and religious theories are breaking
down.
• Unfathomable mysteries of matter, life, and mind are being
revealed. Man has become the master of the forces of nature; yet he
is unhappy and discontented. He has lost faith and vision. He has
lost sense of moral values. He is a prisoner in the prison of his
scientific inventions. Man has mastered nature but enslaved himself.
He has become sceptical, cynical, selfish, and greedy.
• Some definitions:

• the discipline concerned with questions of how one should live

(ethics); what sorts of things exist and what are their essential
natures (metaphysics); what counts as genuine knowledge
(epistemology); and what are the correct principles of reasoning
(logic) (Wikipedia)
• investigation of the nature, causes, or principles of reality,
knowledge, or values, based on logical reasoning rather than
empirical methods (American Heritage Dictionary)
• the study of the ultimate nature of existence, reality, knowledge
and goodness, as discoverable by human reasoning (Penguin
English Dictionary)
• the rational investigation of questions about existence and
knowledge and ethics (WordNet)
• the search for knowledge and truth, especially about the
nature of man and his behavior and beliefs (Kernerman
English Multilingual Dictionary)
• the rational and critical inquiry into basic principles
(Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia)
• the study of the most general and abstract features of the
world and categories with which we think: mind, matter,
reason, proof, truth, etc. (Oxford Dictionary of
Philosophy)
• careful thought about the fundamental nature of the
world, the grounds for human knowledge, and the
evaluation of human conduct (The Philosophy Pages)
• Philosophy has three major parts:
• Epistemology, Ontology and Axiology,
• Epistemology is the theory of knowledge.
• Ontology is the theory of reality. Ontology deals with matter, life, mind, and God.
It deals with their essences and qualities and activities.
• Axiology is the theory of values.
• Different philosophers provide different definitions emphasizing the different
branches of philosophy.
• The following definitions identify philosophy with epistemology, and ignore
ontology and axiology:
• “Philosophy is the science and criticism of cognition” (Kant).
• “Philosophy is the science of knowledge” (Fichte).
• These definitions regard epistemology or theory of knowledge as philosophy.
Epistemology enquires into the nature, origin, validity, and extent of knowledge. It
enquires into the conditions of valid knowledge. It is a preliminary step to
metaphysical investigation into the nature of the reality.
• Kant was the founder of epistemology. Fichte was his successor who laid great
stress on epistemology.
• The following definitions identify philosophy
with ontology or metaphysics, and ignore
epistemology and axiology:
• “Philosophy aims at the knowledge of the
eternal, of the essential nature of things” (Plato).
• “Philosophy is the science which investigates
the nature of Being as it is in itself, and the
attributes which belong to it in virtue of its
own nature” (Aristotle).
• The following definitions identify philosophy with sciences:
• “Philosophy is the science of sciences” (Gomte).
• “Philosophy is the sum total of all scientific knowledge” (Paulsen).
• “Philosophy is the unification of all knowledge obtained by the special sciences in a
consistent whole” (Wundt).
• “Philosophy is completely unified knowledge—the generalizations of philosophy
comprehending and consolidating the widest generalizations of science” (Herbert Spencer).
• These definitions identify philosophy with completely unified scientific knowledge.
Philosophy systematizes, organizes, and unites them into a unified system. However, to
unify all the sciences into a unified system is too ambitious/difficult. Moreover, sciences
hover over the surface of reality.
• Even if they adequately explain all, physical, biological, and mental phenomena, yet
unexplained residues remain, which is beyond their grasp.
• Besides, philosophy is, concerned with intellectual, moral, aesthetic, and religious values.
Sciences are not concerned with values but with facts, events, or phenomena only.
• Therefore, philosophy cannot be defined as the sum total of sciences or as the completely
unified scientific knowledge. Philosophy goes beyond facts and values, and seeks to
explain them, and interrelate them by an all-comprehending reality, which is impenetrable
to the sciences.
• It estimates their value, worth, meaning and significance. It evaluates facts, and probes into
the meaning of the universe.
 Nature of Philosophy:
• Philosophy literally means ‘love of wisdom’. It is an attempt to arrive at a
rational conception of the reality as a whole. It enquires into the nature of the
universe in which we live, the nature of the human soul, and its destiny, and the
nature of God or the Absolute, and their relation to one another.
• It enquires into the nature of matter, time, space, causality, evolution, life, and
mind, and their relation to one another.
• It is the art of thinking all things logically, systematically, and persistently. It is
the art of thinking rationally and systematically of the reality as a whole.
• Plato rightly conceived of philosophy as the persistent attempt to seek clear
notions. It examines, clarifies, and explains popular and scientific concepts of
matter, space, time, causality, evolution, mechanism, teleology, life, mind or soul,
God or the Absolute, right and wrong, good and evil, beauty and ugliness, and the
like, and arrives at a rational conception of the reality.
• It systematizes our scientific knowledge, and moral, aesthetic and religious
experiences. It analyses the popular and scientific concepts, examines their
validity in the light of reason, and interrelates them to one another. Its method is
logical and rational. Its chief instrument is logic. Its method is rational
speculation—logical analysis and synthesis.
• Philosophy is the rational attempt to have a world-view. It
endeavors to reach a conception of the entire universe with
all its elements and aspects and their interrelations to one
another. It is not contented with a partial view of the world.
• Sciences give us a sectional view of the world. But
philosophy harmonizes the highest conclusions of the
different sciences, co-ordinates them with one another, and
gives a rational conception of the whole world.
• It investigates the nature of the fundamental concepts of
matter, time, space, life, mind, and the like and interrelates
them to one another. It enquires into the nature of the
universe, its stuff or material, its creator or God, its
purpose, and its relation to man and his soul.
• Is the universe material or spiritual?
• Is it made of mind or spirit?
• Is it mechanical or teleological?
• Or is it governed by mechanical laws of nature, without any
purpose?
• Is it made of matter and energy?
• Or is it created and sustained by God?
• Is life a by-product of matter?
• Or is it a new entity different from matter?
• Is mind or soul a function, or a by-product of the brain?
• Or is it something different from matter?
• Is it free or determined by heredity and environment?
• Is it mortal or immortal?
• Are Truth, Good and Beauty mere subjective creations of the
human mind?
• Are they mere projections of the human heart with no
counterparts in reality?
• Are they mere hopes and aspirations of man?
• Are they merely subjective ideals with no foothold in reality?
• Or are they real and objective?
• Are they firmly rooted in reality?
• Philosophy seeks to answer these questions by logical thought
and rational reflection. Philosophy is the criticism of life. It
enquires into the nature, meaning, purpose, origin, and destiny
of human life. It is the interpretation of life, its value, and
meaning.
• It is an enquiry into its source and destiny. It investigates the
nature of the supreme norms, ideals, or values of life. It
investigates the relation of values to reality. In this sense,
philosophy is the interpretation of life.
• Man, as a rational being, cannot but philosophize. Philosophy is
a rational reflection on life; it is a criticism of life and
experience.
• Man is a rational animal. He lives and reflects upon his life. He
thinks how he lives and why he lives. He reflects upon the
nature, meaning and destiny of life. He unconsciously forms a
world-view. This unconscious world-view is the germ of
philosophy.
 Scope of philosophy
• Metaphysics – The Study of Existence (so named for
Aristotle’s work on the subject. Far from being a definitive
term in Aristotle’s day, the word 'metaphysics’ was given to
the book by his editor who placed it after his work 'Physics’.
In Greek, 'meta’ simply means 'after’ and the title was
originally only meant to mean the one piece came after the
first).
• This branch of philosophy is concerned with explaining the
fundamental nature of being and the world. Cosmology and
ontology are the two traditional branches of
metaphysics. Cosmology seeks to understand the origin,
evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the universe at large,
as well as the natural laws that keep it in order. Ontology is the
investigation into what types of things there are in the world
and what relations these things bear to one another.
• Epistemology – The Study of Knowledge (from the Greek 'episteme’,
Knowledge, and 'logos’, word. Epistemology asks how we know what we
know, what exactly is 'knowledge’, why do we have it. Plato attempts, in
his dialogue of Meno, and elsewhere, to answer these questions by claiming
we do not 'learn’ but, rather, 'remember’ what was learned in a previous
existence).
• Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and
scope (including limitations) of knowledge. It addresses four main
questions. 1) What is knowledge? 2) How is knowledge acquired? 3) What
do people know? 4) How do we know what we know?
• Ethics – The Study of Behaviour/Action (from the Greek 'ta ethika’, on
character, popularized by Aristotle in his Nichomachean Ethics which he
wrote for his son, Nichomachus, as a guide to living well. Ethics is
concerned with morality, how one should live and upon what basis to make
decisions).
Politics – The Study of Governance (from the Greek 'Polis’, city, Politikos meant
'that which has to do with the city’. Far from simply being concerned with
running a government, however, Politikos also has to do with how to be a good
citizen and neighbour and what one should contribute to one’s community. This
branch, like all the others, was first definitively examined and popularized in
the work by Aristotle).
Aesthetics – The Study of Art (from the Greek 'aisthetikos’, sense/sentience, or
'aisthanomai’, to perceive or feel, Aesthetics concerns itself with the study of
beauty, perception of beauty, culture and even nature, asking the fundamental
question, “What makes something that is beautiful or meaningful 'beautiful’ or
'meaningful’?” Both Plato and Aristotle give answers to this question
attempting to standardize objectively what is 'beautiful’ while the famous
Sophist Protagoras argued that if one believes something to be 'beautiful’ then
it is beautiful, and that all judgements are entirely subjective).
Logic – is the study of reasoning. Logic is often divided into two parts, inductive
reasoning and deductive reasoning. The first is drawing general conclusions
from specific examples, the second is drawing logical conclusions from
definitions and axioms.
•
 
In addition to these, there are other branches concerned with philosophical
questions arising from other disciplines, including:
• Philosophy of Mind : (the study of the nature of mind, consciousness, etc)
• Philosophy of Religion: (the study of the nature of religion, God, evil, prayer, etc)
• Philosophy of Language: (the study of the nature, origins, and usage of language)
• Philosophy of Education : (the study of the purpose, process, nature and ideals of
education)
• Philosophy of History : (the study of the eventual significance, if any, of human
history)
• Philosophy of Science : (the study of the assumptions, foundations, and implications
of science)
• Many others could be added to this list such as Philosophy of Law, Philosophy of
Sociology, Philosophy of Mathematics, Philosophy of Ethnology (also known as
Ethnophilosophy), Philosophy of Psychology, even Philosophy of Philosophy
(also known as Meta-Philosophy).
Philosophy of Education: Meaning and Scope
• Love of wisdom of education
• Philosophy of education is the branch of applied or practical
philosophy
• concerned with the nature and aims of education and the
philosophical problems arising from educational theory and
practice.
• the subject is wide-ranging, involving issues in ethics and
social/political philosophy, epistemology, metaphysics,
philosophy of mind and language, and other areas of
philosophy.
• it looks both inward to the parent discipline and outward to
educational practice and the social, legal, and institutional
contexts in which it takes place, philosophy of education
concerns itself with both sides of the traditional theory/practice
divide.
• Its subject matter includes both basic philosophical issues
(e.g., the nature of the knowledge worth teaching, the
character of educational equality and justice, etc.) and
problems concerning specific educational policies and
practices (e.g., the desirability of standardized curricula and
testing, the social, economic, legal and moral dimensions of
specific funding arrangements, the justification of curriculum
decisions, etc.).
• In all this the philosopher of education emphasizes
conceptual clarity, argumentative rigour, the fair-minded
consideration of the interests of all involved in or affected by
educational efforts and arrangements, and informed and well-
reasoned valuation of educational aims and interventions.
• A philosophy of education is a statement (or set of statements)
that identifies and clarifies the beliefs, values and
understandings of an individual or group with respect to
education. Defined in this sense, it may be thought of as a more-
or-less organised body of knowledge and opinion on education,
both as it is conceptualised and as it is practiced.
• A philosophy of this sort is critical in defining and directing the
purposes, objectives and focus of a school. 
• It also serve to inspire and direct educational planning,
programs and processes in any given setting.
• A philosophy of education may influence what subjects or
topics are taught, how they are taught, and perhaps more
importantly, the supporting beliefs and values that are taught,
both implicitly and explicitly, within and around the core
curriculum.  
• However, Philosophy is generally regarded as a great
synthesizing and speculative discipline.
• The philosophy of education is, thus, also
philosophising of educational experience rather than
a body of conclusion.
• It is a philosophical process of solving educational
problems through the philosophical method, from a
philosophical attitude to arrive at philosophical
conclusions and results.
• It is the criticism of the general theory of education. It
is a synthesis of educational facts with educational
values.
 Definitions:
• Philosophy of education is a fundamental basic skill
formation, concerning to the power of thought
(intellectual), the power of feeling (emotional), and
human nature (John Dewey, 1957).
• Educational philosophy is a science that is essentially
the answer to the questions in the field of education.
Philosophy of education is an application of
philosophical analysis to the field of education. (Imam
Barnadit, 1993)
• D J O’Connor defines the philosophy of education as
“those problems of philosophy that are of direct
relevance to educational theory.’
• Frankena defined, “When we speak of the philosophy
of education, we do not mean simply philosophy, we
mean doing the thinking that philosophers do, but
doing it about education”.

• According to Bertrand Russell, philosophy of

education is a new branch or a new subject which
discusses educational problems from a philosophical
point of view. It is a branch of applied philosophy. Of
the three divisions of philosophy viz., epistemology,
metaphysics and axiology, philosophy of education
comes under the division of axiology. Therefore it is
generally concerned with the value of education.
 Scope of Philosophy of Education
• The philosophy of education as an
independent study has its own scope and
function.
• The scope of the philosophy of education
includes the critical evaluation of aims, ideas
and education, analysis of human nature,
educational values, the theory of knowledge
and the relationship of education and social
progress.
• Thus, it seems to perform three functions: 1)
speculative, 2) normative, and 3) critical.
• The speculative function of philosophy of
education consists in pursuing and enquiry,
forming theory about education, its causes and
nature. While doing so it tries to make a
survey of the whole field.
• Normative functions are related to the
formation of goals, norms and standards.
• The Critical function consists in scrutinizing
rigorously the terms and propositions involved
in educational thought and practice.
• On the basis of the three functions of
philosophy of education, it may be understood
that it analyzes the following problems of
education within its scope or which form its
subject matter:
• What is the nature of education?
• Why should education be imparted?
• What is the need of education?
• For what objectives should education be
imparted?
• What is the relationship between Education
and Philosophy?
• What is the impact of philosophical thoughts
on education?
• How to theorize or philosophize the
educational practices?
• How can the excellence of education be
brought about?
• What are educational values?
• To what extent can the values be taught?
 Relationship between education and philosophy
• Education is modification of behaviour, philosophy
points out the direction of this modification
• It gives meaning to all aspects of education which go to
complete the training of the child
• Philosopher contemplates on the real nature of universe
and man and accordingly lays down certain ultimate
aims. Education is the means to realize these aims.
• Philosophy clarifies the conflicting problems in the
field of education. It provides us with a frame of
reference for evaluating the aims and methods of
education.
• The great philosophers of all the times have also been great
educators.
• Philosophy determines all the Broad Aspects of Education
• Gentile: “the process of education cannot go along right
lines without the help of philosophy.”
• Ross says, “Philosophy and education are two sides of the
same coins where the former is the contemplative while the
latter is the active side.”
• Sir John Adam said, “Education is the dynamic side of
philosophy.”
• Dewey.“Philosophy is the theory of education in its most
general phase”.
• Fichte.“The art of education will never attain complete
clearness without philosophy”.
 Impact of philosophy on education

• Philosophy and Aims of Education: It is the

philosophy of the time /place, which
determines whether the aim of education,
should be moral, vocational, intellectual,
spiritual or liberal. Rusk, therefore, says,
“Every system of education must have an aim
and the aims of education are related to the
aims of life. Philosophy formulates what
should be the end of life while education offers
suggestions how this end is to be achieved.
• Philosophy and curriculum: When aims are
set, the next step is to find means to achieve
those aims. Curriculum is the means through
which educator realizes his goal.
• Philosophy and Text Book: The choice of
textbooks also involves philosophy.
• Philosophy and the methods: Methods are
means through which goals of education can be
realized. pragmatists advocate project method.
Naturalists, learning by doing and for the
idealist, the school is a garden and teacher a
gardener, Gandhiji advocated basic education.
• Philosophy and discipline: repression,
impression, emancipation
• Philosophy and the role of teachers:
 UNIT 2: Various Indian Schools of Philosophy
and Education

• Vedic Philosophy: Different concepts of Vedic

philosophy, Implication in education
• Yoga and Philosophy: Different types,
Astangika Yoga, Implication in education
• Buddhist Philosophy: Four principles,
Implication in education
Vedic Philosophy: Different concepts of Vedic
philosophy, Implication in education
 Yoga and Philosophy: Different types,
Astangika Yoga, Implication in education
Buddhist Philosophy: Four principles,
Implication in education