EDF 211-01/14

COURSE OUTLINE

MASINDE MULIRO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION: DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATIONS

EDF 211: PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

COURSE OUTLINE

COURSE OBJECTIVES

i)         Enable students to understand the nature and purpose of philosophy as an intellectual discipline.

ii)       Introduce students to philosophy of education as an educational discipline.

iii)      Enable students to understand the implications of philosophy to education.

GENERAL OUTLINE

Philosophy of Education is both philosophical and educational in character. That it is to say, while the method used in the course is that of philosophy, the problem/issues discussed are within the field of Education….

DETAILED OUTLINE

Part One: Introduction

1.1. An introduction to philosophy

1.2. The content and methods of philosophy

1.3. Educational thought in Africa

1.4. An introduction to philosophy of Education

1.5. The concept of Education

1.6. The concept of teaching and learning.

Part Two: Education and Knowledge; the Cognitive Dimension of Education

2.1. What is knowing?( condition of knowledge)

2.2.How do human beings acquire knowledge?

2.3.Various forms of knowledge

2.4.Relevance of Epistemology to Education

2.5. Human knowledge and curriculum

Part Thee: Education and Values: The Normative Dimension of Education

3.1.General introduction to Axiology (theory of values)

3.2. Approaches to the study of Ethics

3.3. Ethics and Education

3.4.The teaching of social education and Ethics

3.5. The Goals and objectives of Education in Kenya

Part Four: Education as individual human development: Creative dimension of Education

4.1. The uniqueness of man. Education as a human phenomenon

4.2.Education and human consciousness

4.3. Creativity and Education

Part Five: Education as Social phenomenon: the dialogical dimension of education

5.1. Education  and dialogue

Part Six: contemporary themes in philosophy of education

6.1.Education and democracy

6.2.Education and human rights

6.3.Study of the Education in the 21^st century and beyond. A future perspective

COURSE EVALUATION

The evaluation of the course will be composed of two main parts

i.  Continuous assessment Test (CAT)= 30%   ii. Final examination = 70%

READING LIST

1. Akinpelu J.A (1981) An introduction to philosophy of Education. London and basing stoke.O.U. P.
2. Bennaars,et al (eds) (1994) Theory and practice of Education. Nairobi. East Africa education publ.
3. Bennaars, G.A (1994) Ethics, Education and Development. Nairobi: EAEP.
4. Bennaars, G.A  ( 1998) School in need of education Nairobi: Lecturn  Publishers.       
5. Njoroge, R.J. Bennaars (1986) Philosophy of education in Africa. Nairobi Trans Africa
6. Peters R.E (ed). (1973) Philosophy of Education. Oxford university press

APPROVAL AND CIRCULATION

                                                                                          i.      LECTURER                                                 C.O.D                                  CLASS REP

SIGN:E.O.K                                                 ____________________          ____________________     -__________________

NAME: Elvis O. Kauka                               ____________________     ____________________           ________________

                 DATE: 14/04/2020                                         _____________________      ______________________         -_______________


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PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1. An introduction to philosophy

1.1.1. Etymological Definition of Philosophy

The term philosophy is derived from two Greek words Philia-meaning love(loving), striving after, searching for; and Sophia meaning wisdom or knowledge. Philosophy can therefore mean the love of knowledge, pursuit of wisdom. The Latin, French and English transliteration and usage go beyond 'Love of wisdom' to systematic investigation.

a. Etymology Table

Greek :  Φιλια(Philia) meaning   Love. Love refereeing to Striving after  ,Search for

            Σοφις(Sophis) meaning Learned  or wise

            Σοφια (Sophia) meaning Wisdom

            Φιλοσοϕια (Philosophia) therefore means wisdom the Love of Wisdom (Emphasis on applying             knowledge to daily living)

Latin: Philosophia- 'Love of wisdom' + Systematic investigation(Emphasis on Reasoning) .

French: Philosophie-  'Love of wisdom' +   systematic investigation. (Emphasis on Reasoning) .

English : Philosophy-. Love of Wisdom+ Systematic investigation(Emphasis on Reasoning) .

 b. Pertinent Questions- Philosophy?-Philosopher?

What is Love?

 i). Love is the affectionate Feeling/ attraction towards someone/ something/or an activity (Emotive, Psychological, general conception of Love)

ii). A commitment, An act of pursuing that which is ultimately good regardless of  by time, place, feelings, or other variables( constant, rational, logical, volitional view of love).

What is Wisdom?

 i). Ability to subsequently distinguish between what is ultimately good/right, to avoid  what is ultimately bad/wrong wrong  and to choose what is ultimately right/good so as to live a meaningful life.(Normative aspect of love)

 ii). Commitment to pursuit of Truth (Epistemological view-poinbt) .

Who is a Philosopher?

 i) General Definition: Any person who is able to distinguish between what is ultimately good/right, avoid             what is ultimately[1] bad/wrong wrong and to choose what is ultimately right/good so as to live a             meaningful life.

  ii) Strict definition: Any person who is committed to the pursuit of Truth through a systematic             investigation.  

NB: Philosophy can thus be redefined either as the desire to and actual living of a good (normative) life or as a committed pursuit for truth (Research aspect of Philosophy)

1.1.2.  Operational definition of Philosophy

Working definition of Philosophy can take various dimensions

a. Material Definition:The  Systematic study of the general and fundamental  nature of Reality,  knowledge and   values.[2]

Who is a Philosopher? (Part 2)

Philosophers are persons who ponder such concepts as existence or being, morality or goodness, knowledge, truth and beauty.

b. Formal Definition:  Philosophy can mean the academic exploration or  Analytical , Creative and/or Critical way of thinking about assumptions, beliefs or fundamental problems of life[3]

Who is a Philosopher? (Part 3)[4]

A philosopher is a person who has biased, critical and reflective thinking that can generate principles and theories.

1.1.3.  General vs Technological Definition

ü  Sapientia/ Sapiens/ Homo(Wisdom/ Wise/ Man): The beginning of philosophy coincides with the beginnings of man /homo sapiens ( meaning Wise man or Philosopher man).

ü  Philosophy is therefore  universal(but also Particular) Universality of philosophy means that philosophy as a human/ homo sapiential response can be found in every period of history in every culture/society on earth.

ü  Philosophy is not a preoccupation of scholars only but all humanity because they all question their  humanity, human condition and experiences of life.

ü  Africans expressing their traditional thought through stories, riddles and proverbs is as much part of philosophy as books by renown philosophers like Plato in The Republic

ü  One’s philosophy of life e.g. to be a farmer, teacher, carpenter etc is as much philosophy as national philosophies like  Kenya’s Nyayo Philosophy, Tanzania’s Ujamaa.

ü  Philosophy in general sense also refers principles that govern  a person's life or an institution

ü  Particularity of General Philosophy implies its variance from time to time (traditional or modern), from place to place (European, African, Asian  etc). Particular means that, a human being facing different situations in different places at different times is likely to respond differently to these situations because of authenticity of thought[5].

Who is a Philosopher? (Part 5)[6]: A thinker who is independent, genuine, original, critical and sincere, giving a personal answer to a personal questions through a personal struggle.[7]

1.1.4. Technical Philosophy

Also referred to as formal/academic philosophy.

An academic discipline comprising of specialized content, methods and specialists known as Technical/academic/Formal philosophers.

It is both a process (activity of vigorous thinking concerning perplexing questions/issues of life) and a product( the outcome of the process thinking i.e. established systems of thought, views and ideas).

Meant for  few people; individuals who are committed to scrutinizing issues, problems going beyond the surface common sense aspects to their logical composition.

Chracteristics of Technical Philosophy

            (i) Formalization

ü  It is a process whereby a definite form is given to a variety of human activities; form refers to the presence of a structure, pattern or system. Formalization in our context in philosophy refers to formalization of thought.

ü  Initially, philosophy consisted of the general amorphous sense. With the advent of writing, the various philosophical thought began to be expressed in a more definite, systematic and lasting form.

ü  Today the world of technical philosophy is a world of books, scholarly writings, formal language and systematic thought because it is an exclusive domain for academic scholars leaving no room for oral traditions of the past and common philosophies of life.

ü  Writing also allowed for debate and as long as debate continued, philosophy continued to thrive.

(ii) Westernization

ü  Western civilization has greatly influenced the field of learning to an extent that philosophy is attributed to Western philosophers.

ü  It is believed that philosophy originated from ancient Greece and was further developed in Europe and America. Philosophy is closely associated with Western civilization to an extend that anyone interested in it must be familiar with the various systems like realism (emphasizes that there is a world of real existence which exists independently  of human mind), idealism (stresses the idea that reality is an expression of the mind: knowledge is based on recognition/remembrance of latent/inborn ideas  already present in the mind), pragmatism (views reality as a changing phenomenon: man sees reality differently as he interacts with it), as well as the philosophical language that is associated with it.

ü  As a result of this, Western philosophy is assumed to be the standard of technical philosophy. For instance, ancient Egypt played a very big role in the field of learning such as medicine and philosophy. Ancient Greece and anyone who had studied in Egypt was highly regarded as an authority.

           

            iii. Specialization

ü  Refers to the acquisition of exceptional knowledge of, or skills in a given discipline/subject as a result of constant and intensive study.

ü  In ancient Greece, a philosopher was a scholar who specialized in the exploration of the nature of man and the world. The knowledge was not dichotomized into rational and empirical domains. A philosopher was thus a Master of Arts and Science.

ü  Due to westernization, western specialists started at one time to dominate the field of formal philosophy and subsequently imposed their language, interests and methods upon others making formal philosophy highly technical and a matter for experts; always within the Western context.

ü  Aristotle, an ancient Greek philosopher wrote widely on ethics, politics, fine art, logic, biology and physics.

ü  Philosophy was referred to as the mother of all sciences, the most distinguished science ‘scientia eminentia’. With the advent of scientific evolution, the empirical sciences were detached from philosophy. Later on, other disciplines like sociology, psychology and anthropology developed as independent disciplines from philosophy. These developments led to a  situation where philosophy acquired its own methods, content and terminologies.[8]

1.1.5.  Brief History of Philosophy in the West

1.      Pre-philosophical times.

ü  Dominated by poets and mythologies

ü  Myths and poems were like the modern bible

ü  gods were immoral but people followed them due to dogmatism

ü  Reasoning was non-rational and no room for divergent thinking

ü  People were captive in thinking

ü  Key figures include Homer and Hesiod

2. Ancient greek philosophy( 6th century b.c.)

            I. Pre-Socratic philosophical schools

A. The Milesians

ü  Also:  Monist Materialists/ Cosmologists

ü  Philosophers: Thales, Anaximenes, Anaximander

ü  Description: Materialists -they believed that all things are composed of matter and nothing else Deviated from supernatural or mythological explanations.

ü  Philosophical Problem: What is the single underlying substance the world is made up of?

ü  Responses to the Problem:

ü  Thales of Miletus[9] ; the whole universe composed of  water(in its different forms)

ü  Anaximenes : was made of air

ü  Heraclitus Later on :  fire

ü  Anaximander :Apeiron/ the infinite/ the boundless( unexplainable substance)

B. Pythagoreanism:

ü  Pythagoras of Samos (582-496 BC) introduced the practical side of philosophy

ü  Regarding the world as perfect harmony, dependent on number,

ü  Aimed at inducing humankind likewise to lead a harmonious life.

ü  His doctrine was adopted and extended by Pythagoreans

ü  Followers included Philolaus (470-380 BC), Alcmaeon of Croton, and Archytas (428-347 BC).

C.Ephesian school

ü  Heraclitus: on-going process of perpetual change is  a constant interplay of opposites

ü  Xenophenes:...........

ü  The Ephesian philosophers were interested in the natural world and the properties by which it is was ordered.

ü  Xenophanes and Heraclitus were able to push philosophical inquiry further than the Milesian school by examining the nature of philosophical inquiry itself.

ü  In addition, they were also invested in furthering observations and explanations regarding natural and physical process and also the functions and processes of the human subjective experience.

ü  Hereclitus and Xenophenes both shared interests in analyzing philosophical inquiry as they contemplated morality and religious belief.

D. Eleatic School

ü  Philosophers:  Heraclitus, Parmenides, Zeno

ü  Philosophical Problem: The Problem of change- Is change real or is it an illusion?.

ü  Responses to the Problem:

ü  Parmenides: No such thing as change at all. Everything that exists is permanent, indestructible and unchanging

ü  Zeno of Elea (a student of Parmenides) all belief in plurality and change is mistaken, motion is nothing but an illusion

E. Pluralists

ü  Philosophers: Empedocles, Anaxagoras

ü   

ü  Philosophical Problem : Whether reality is reducible to simple elements or it is the case that  its plural?

ü  1.Empedocles:  the four classical elements (earth, air, fire and water)

ü  Anaxagoras:  No coming to be :  All things were together, After separation,  in everything there is a share of everything.

F. Atomists

ü  Philosophers: Leuccippus, Democritus

ü  Philosophical Problem:  What is the simplest, tiniest microcosmic component of Physical reality?

ü  Response to the Problem:

ü  Leucippus :  the universe consists of two different elements, which he called ‘the full’ or ‘solid,’ and ‘the empty’ or ‘void’. Both the void and the solid atoms within it are thought to be infinite, and between them to constitute the elements of everything

ü  Democritus: Developed the idea of Atomism that all of reality is actually composed of tiny, indivisible and indestructible building blocks known as atoms, which form different combinations and shapes within the surrounding void.[10]

E. Sophists

Sophist from (sophists- from the Greek words for wisdom (sophia) and wise (sophos).

They were itinerant professional teachers and intellectuals who frequented Athens and other Greek cities in the second half of the fifth century B.C.E.

They offered young wealthy Greek men an education in arête (virtue or excellence).

Philosophers: Protagoras, Gorgias, Antiphon, Hippias, Prodicus, Thrasymachus.

Philosophical problems:

Nature and Convention: Distinction between Physis and Nomos.

Relativism: Man is the measure of all things that are, that they are and that are not that they are not (Protagoras):

Language and Reality

The sophists were interested in particular with the role of human discourse in the shaping of reality.  Given their educational program, the sophists placed great emphasis upon the power of speech (logos)

QN. What is the distinction between Philosophy and Sophistry?

II.  Classical : Greek Philosophy

A.    Socrates of Athens

ü  Philosophy really took off, though, with Socrates and Plato in the 5th - 4th Century B.C. (often referred to as the Classical or Socratic period of philosophy).

ü  Unlike most of the Pre-Socratic philosophers before him, Socrates was more concerned with how people should behave, and so was perhaps the first major philosopher of Ethics.

ü  He developed a system of critical reasoning in order to work out how to live properly and to tell the difference between right and wrong.

ü  His system, sometimes referred to as the Socratic Method, was to break problems down into a series of questions, the answers to which would gradually distill a solution.

ü  Although he was careful to claim not to have all the answers himself, his constant questioning made him many enemies among the authorities of Athens who eventually had him put to death.

ü  Socrates himself never wrote anything down, and what we know of his views comes from the "Dialogues" of his student Plato.

B. Plato: Politics, Education(To be covered in Philosophy of Education Section)

     C. Aristotle:  Natural Philosophy, Metaphysics

3. MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY.

ü  Turning to Christian philosophy concerned with nature of God.

ü  Augustine argued that’’ it is better to try to achieve truth and fail than not try at all’’.

ü  He wanted to proof the existence of God through reasoning (logic)

ü  Thomas Aquinas- cosmological argument that ‘’ everything that exists has a cause, but since there could not be an infinite chain of causes back into the past, there must have been un uncaused first cause’’ this is God

Everything has some goodness and the cause of each thing is better than the thing caused. Therefore, the first cause is the best possible thing.

ü  St. Anselm came up with Ontological argument that ‘’God has all possible good features. Existence is good and therefore God has it and therefore exist’’

4. RENAISSANCE

ü  Rebirth- transition between theological philosophy and modern thought.

ü  Characterized by scientific revolution physics, astronomy, biology, chemistry led to rejection of rationalist doctrines and laid the foundation of modern science.

ü  Religion, superstition and fear were replaced by reason and knowledge despite challenges to Roman Catholic dogma.

ü  Notable figures of scientific revolution were Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Galileo Galile

5. MODERN PHILOSOPHY

ü  Revival of skepticism and centered between experience and reality.

ü  Rene Descartes- concerned with mind-body problem and doubted his own existence.

Other notable figures include

ü  Emmanuel Kant,

ü  William James- pragmatism

ü  Kierkegaard- existentialism

ü  Karl mark-social materialist philosophy

6. CONTEMPORARY.

ü  Philosophy of 20^th century to present day

ü  The 21^st century philosophers continues to carry with it much of the philosophical debate seen in the former century

ü  Variety of new topics has risen to the stage resurrecting ethics into the modern philosophical discussion e.g. internet has brought back interest in the philosophy of technology and science.

7. ASSORTED AUDIO VISUALS AND OTHER TEACHCING AIDS

       a. Video 1:Click here    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A_CAkYt3GY&t=112s

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[1] Ultimately: Points to the fact that some  good or bad things can be appear to be good/bad but in the final analysis they are otherwise. For example waking up in the morning to study may be apparently bad but ultimately good.

[2] Material Definition is Precursor to Content of Philosophy: Systematic Study =Logic, Reality=Metaphysics,  Knowledge=Epistemology, Values= Axiology

[3] Formal Definition alludes to Philosophical Approaches(Analysis, Assessment(Critical) and Synthesis(Creative)

[4]  Who is a Philosopher Part 1, Deals with the disposition  of a Philosopher Part 2 Deals with Material content of  Philosopher and Part 3 Deals with the modus operandi of A Philosopher

[5] The  term authenticity comes from Greek ‘authentes’ meaning one who does things himself (autos).

[6]  Who is a Philosopher Part 1, Deals with the disposition  of a Philosopher Part 2 Deals with Material content of  Philosopher and Part 3 Deals with the modus operandi of A Philosopher

[7] People however call such thinkers Mwalimu, guru, sage but reserve the term philosopher for recognized academic scholars mostly of Western or European origin.

[8]A student  of education May not necessarily require technical philosophy specialization but an introduction in order to understand the meaning and significance of educational philosophy as an academic discipline.

[9]Considered the first proper philosopher

      [10]Cynicism, Skepticism, Epicureanism ,Hedonism, Stoicism , Neo-Platonism