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‫‪PHILOSOPHY OF‬‬
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Q. 1 What is meant by philosophy? Explain its definitions provided by the different philosophers. (20)
Ans. Progress of human civilization is the product of education, but the answer to every educational question is
ultimately influenced by our philosophy of life. Philosophy wants to understand man in relation to the whole
universe nature and God. Philosophy deals with the nature of human mind and personality, and with the
ways in which man and his institutions can be under stood. It endeavors to understand all that comes with
in the bound of human experience. It aims set fundamental understanding of things the problem of human
conduct, the assumptions that under lie religious or scientific beliefs, the tool sand methods of thinking, or
any issue that arises in any field of human activity. Thus philosophy seeks to provide a complete account of
the man’s world. It is reflective and critical in nature. It is concerned with critical examination of the fund
a men talnotions and assumptions of any field that falls within human experience. From the above we may
conclude that philosophy is a" search for a comprehensive view of nature, an attempt at universal
explanation of the nature of things."
DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF PHILOSOPHY
A beginner in philosophy is perturbed to find that different philosophers have given different definitions of
philosophy. While some philosophers have laid emphasis on psychological facts, others have given more
importance to values. According to John Dewey, "Whenever philosophy has been taken seriously, it has
always been assumed that it signified achieving a wisdom that would influence the conduct of life." On the
other hand, according to Windelband, philosophy is" the critical science of universal values."However, some
important definitions of philosophy are as follows:
Philosophy is a Critical Method of Approaching Experience
Examples of this type of definitions are as follows: 1. "Philosophy is essentially a spirit or method of
approaching experience rather than a body of conclusions about experience." Edgar S. Brightman 2. "If is
not the specific content of the conclusions, but the spirit and method by which they are reached, which
entitles them to be described as philosophical..." Clifford Barrat.
"Were I limited to one line for my answer to it, I should say that philosophy is general theory of criticism."C.
J. Ducasse 2. Philosophy is Comprehensive Synthetic Science The following definitions of philosophy
emphasize its synthetic aspect: 1. "Philosophy, like science, consists of theories of insights arrived at as a
result of systematic reflection." —Joseph A. Leighton 2. "Philosophy is concerned with everything as a
universal science." Herbert Spencer 3. "Our subject is a collection of science, such as theory of knowledge,
logic, cosmology, ethics and aesthetics, as well as a unified survey." Roy Wood Sellars 4. The above
mentioned definitions of philosophy show that while some philosophers have mainly emphasized critical
philosophy, others have defined it as a synthetic discipline.
In fact, both these view-points are one-sided because philosophy is both critical as well as synthetic.
Literally speaking, the word 'philosophy' involves two Greek words Phil meaning love and Sophia meaning
knowledge. Thus literally speaking, philosophy means love of wisdom. The literal meaning of philosophy
shows that the philosopher is constantly and everywhere engaged in the search for truth. He does not bother
so much to arrive at final conclusions and continues with his search for truth throughout his life. Hisaim is
the pursuit of truth rather than its possession (Sharma, 2002).
According to Aristotle - "Philosophy is a science which discovers the real nature of supernatural elements".
According to Levison - "Philosophy is mental activity".
According to Karl Marks - "Philosophy is the interpretation of the world in order to change it".
According to Hegel - "Philosophy is that which grasps its won era in thought."
Kant Immanuel Regards philosophy as "the science and criticism of cognition."
According to Russel - "Philosophy proper deals with matters of interest to the general educated public, and
loses much of its value if only a few professionals can understand it."
According to Henderson - "Philosophy is a rigorous, disciplined, guarded analysis of some of the most
difficult problems which men have ever faced."
According to John Dewey - "Philosophy is not a panacea (remedy for all kinds of diseases/troubles) for the
problems of men, but is that which emerges out of the methods employed by them to solve their problems."
Aristippus thinks that philosophy is "the ability to feel at ease in any society."
According to Socrates - "Philosophy is a daily activity".
According to Phenix - "Science attempts only at the discovery of facts. Philosophy is not interested in the
discovery of facts. Rather, it is interested in facts insofar as to provide an attitude towards them. It tries to
organize, interpret, clarify and criticize the already discovered facts of science."
D.J. Connar defines philosophy "as an activity of criticism or clarification."
According to Plato "He who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and who is curious to learn and is never
satisfied may be justly termed as a philosopher."
According to G.T.W Patreck - "Between science and philosophy the very closest relationship exists. They
spring from the same root, the love of knowledge and they aspire to the same end, the knowledge of reality.
While science describes the facts, philosophy interprets them."
According to Brubacher - "Science is interested in the proximate or efficient causes of the facts, while
philosophy is concerned with its ultimate or final causes."
Henderson thinks that philosophy is a research for "a comprehensive view of nature, an attempt at a
universal explanation of the nature of things."
Millard and Bectrocci defined philosophy as the presistent, critical and systematic attempt to discover and
consistently formulate in relation to each other the basic characteristics, meanings and values of our
experience in its widest perspectives."
According to Ludwig Wittgenstein - "The object of philosophy is the logical clarification of thoughts.
Philosophy is not a theory, but an activity. A philosophical work consists essentially of elucidations. The
result of philosophy is not a number of ‘philosophical propositions’, but to make propositions clear.
Philosophy should make clear and delimit sharply the thoughts which otherwise are, as it were, opaque and
blurred."
According to Raymont - "Philosophy is an unceasing effort to discover the general truth that lies behind the
particular fact, to discover also the realities that lies behind appearance."
According to Carlies Lamont - "philosophy is the tenacious attempts of reasoning men to think through the
most fundamental issues of life, to reach reasonable conclusions on first and last things to suggest
worthwhile goals that can command the loyalty of individuals and groups."
According to Kilpatric - "Philosophy is a point of view, outlook on life."
According to Dr.Radhakrishnan - "Philosophy is a view of life. It gives a direction to life, offers a design
for living."
According to Existentialists - "Philosophy is not a search for truth, but a trail of truth".
According to Hiryana - "Philosophy is a emerged as a result of reflection over the experiences and problems
of everyday living."
According to Cicero, Marcus Tullius - "Philosophy is the mother of all arts and "the true medicine of the
mind."
According to George Berkeley - "Philosophy, being nothing but the study of wisdom and truth..."
According to Brightman - "Philosophy may be defined as an attempt to think truly about human experience
or a whole or to make out whole experience intelligible."
Kant regards philosophy as - "the science and criticism of cognition."
According to Fichte - "Philosophy is the science of knowledge."
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor defined it as the "Science of science."
According to John Armstrong - "Philosophy is the successful love of thinking."
According to Marilyn Adams - "Philosophy is thinking really hard about the most important questions and
trying to bring analytic clarity both to the questions and the answers."
According to Edger S. Brightman - "Philosophy is essentially a spirit or method of approaching experiential
rather than a body of conclusions about the experience."
According to Richard Bradley - "Philosophy is 99 per cent about critical reflection on anything you care to
be interested in.”
According to Bramold - "Philosophy is a persistent effort of both ordinary and persistent people to make
life as intelligible and meaningful as possible."
According to Herbert Spencer - "Philosophy is concerned with everything as a universal science."
Q. 2 Define the term ‘Idealism’. Which aims does idealism achieves through education? (20)
Ans. Ever since knowledge dawned in human mind man has been thinking about problems ontological,
epistemological, eschatological and axiological. The questions of philosophy in the beginning of human
knowledge were everywhere mixed with psychological problems. Thus, psychology in the beginning was
concerned with the nature of the mind and the processes of consciousness. As men lived in small groups
and the society was generally confined to a particular village, city or group of villages, the solutions offered
were simple. There was hardly any distinction between social and political problems as the political
institutions were developed as a means to social welfare. Therefore, most of the ancient thinkers did not
distinguish between social philosophy and political philosophy. As the life was simple and social
stratification and differentiation was not complex the thinkers offered solutions working in more than one
field of knowledge.
Most of the thinkers were teachers and men of education who used to pass their life completely free from
worldly affairs. The state and the society generally extended support to these scholars and they were
generally respected and followed. The job of instruction and education of the younger generation was
generally entrusted to these men of letters. The state supported finance but not interfered in the process of
education. These great teachers formed their own personal institutions where their disciples collected to
hear their learned discourses and learn through their lives. In this way, society was generally governed by
the teachings of these great scholars though the administrative machinery was almost everywhere in the
hands of the state.
Aims and Ideals of Education
Idealism has influenced every sphere of education. In the first place we will glance at the impact of idealism
on the aims of education. Since idealism believes human personality to be the most important, it wants
education to aim at the development of human personality culminating in self-realization. In the words of
Home, "The end of ends, the goal of goals, according to Idealism, is the increasing realization of the
Absolute Idea for the individual, society and the race". Further explaining this aim of education, Rusk has
commented, "We may accept that the aim of education is the enhancement or enrichment of personality, the
differentiating feature of which is the embodiment of universal values".1 These universal values are
expressed as the beauty, goodness and truth, and the aim of education is to concretise these values in the
child's life. Thus the idealists cherish the following aims and ideals of education: 1. Development of
personality.
As has been already pointed out, the most important aim of education, according to the idealist thinkers,
both ancient and modern, Eastern and Western, is the development of personality. This has been called
manmaking by Vivekananda. Explaining this ideal of education, Herman Harell Home says, "The forces
that make men and women I find to be heredity, environment and will. Education is not a fourth elemental
force, but it does its work in cooperation with these three. Education, through public-opinion influences and
may come to control, the force of heredity, it is itself a part of the physical and social environment; it assists
in the formation of will. By consciously directing, through education and otherwise, these forces shall in
time have the true superman of our modern dreams, as well as the ideal people of Plato's Republic. But
unlike Plato and Shaw, we shall have to work through, not without, the family as an institution." 2. The
idealists believe that man is God's finest and ultimate creation.
That is why development of the human personality has been accepted as the aim of education, and stress
has been laid on the teaching of humanitarian subjects such a literature, art, religion, ethics, etc. Through
education the cultural and social heritage of the community must be maintained and transmitted to the
following generations. Some other idealists believe that the aim of education is to guide the individual to
selfrealization, for this also includes the development of the personality. Such development, in fact, is the
development of those divine qualities which are inherent in human beings but which are dormant at his
birth. The educator's task is to manifest these qualities. In addition, for this reason every human being has
an equal right to education.
Idealism and Curriculum
Explaining the idealist bases of curriculum as the imparting of spiritual and cultural heritage to the child
along with his self and personality development, Herman H. Horne writes, "It is better to centre education
in ideals for children and the race rather than in children themselves. After all children are immature,
 dependent and plastic members of the race. They are often irrational in their individuality." As Socrates said
in effect to the sophists, "Not man but reason is the measure of all things, not individuality but universality,
not percepts, but concepts. Ideals are the norms for all human experience, including that of children. After
all, it is still true that obedience to just law is a virtue, that following physical laws leads to health, that truth
is something to be discovered, rather than made, that conformity is a large element even in creativity, that
repression is a necessary phase of expression. Under the influence of paidocentrism (what a hybrid), self-
expression may easily become self-explosion."
Q. 3 Compare the curriculum based on idealism with that of pragmatism. (20)
Ans. One of the most important schools of philosophy of education is pragmatism. The term pragmatism has
been derived from the Greek term pragma which means use. Thus pragmatism is an ism according to which
use is the criteria of reality. Pragmatism as a philosophical tradition began in the United States around 1870.
Charles Sanders Peirce, generally considered to be its founder. Pragmatism rejects the idea that the function
of thought is to describe, represent, or mirror reality. Instead, pragmatists consider thought an instrument or
tool for prediction, problem solving and action. Pragmatists contend that most philosophical topics—such
as the nature of knowledge, language, concepts, meaning, belief, and science—are all best viewed in terms
of their practical uses and successes. The philosophy of pragmatism emphasizes the practical application of
ideas by acting on them to actually test them in human experiences.
Pragmatism and idealism are two opposing philosophical approaches. Pragmatism is a philosophical
approach that evaluates theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their practical application. Idealism, on
the other hand, refers to any philosophy that asserts that reality is mentally constructed or immaterial.
The key difference between pragmatism and idealism is that pragmatism considers practical consequences
of an action as its main component whereas idealism considers mental entities or thoughts and ideas as its
main component.
What is the difference between Pragmatism and Idealism?
Definition:
Pragmatism is a philosophical doctrine that evaluates theories or beliefs in terms of the success of their
practical application.
Idealism refers to any philosophy that asserts that reality, or reality as we can know it, is mentally
constructed or immaterial.
Major Components:
Pragmatism considers practical consequences of an action as its main component.
Idealism considers mental entities or thoughts and ideas as its main component.
Thought:
Pragmatism considers thought as a guide to prediction, problem-solving and action.
Idealism considers thoughts and ideas as the only real entities.
Idealism and pragmatism are very much needed in any startup. Well, there is an obvious difference between
idealism and pragmatism, especially in the business world. Idealism and pragmatism can hold different
perspectives as well. Idealism is what you need as motivation to start a business to change the world, but
pragmatism is what will keep your startup into becoming a part of the world to drive sustainable change.
Therefore, in this article, we will discuss what actually idealism and pragmatism is and what are the major
differences between these philosophies.
Differences between Idealists and Pragmatics:
Idealism follows long-term visions and goals and pragmatism focus on short-term goals.
Idealists are rigid and would fight for the ideal situation for their work, whereas Pragmatics go with whatever
is in their hands.
Idealists could be pretty similar to extremists as they follow all or nothing. They could have a rigid way of
getting things done. Pragmatics considers going with the flow and are pretty accommodating.
Conclusion:
Idealism and pragmatism could be opposites but they could both be applied in a startup. If you are an idealist
and your cofounder is a pragmatic kind of guy, instead of coming up with conflicts, you should find a
solution to work together. We cannot ignore practicality as well as morality in our companies as they are
both important.
Q. 4 Explain the different forms of naturalism? (20)
Ans. Naturalism explains all the natural phenomena on the basis of natural laws. According to this view, Nature
itself is the ultimate reality. Nature has been explained by means of motion and energy. The different
phenomena in nature occur due to the motion and waves of electricity. Naturalism also accepts the principle
of motion. It is also known as energism because of its acceptance of energy. According to energism, all the
natural things are only different forms of energy. Naturalism is also known as positivism. Positivism means
that the natural phenomena come within the scope of some or the other positive sciences and can be
explained by means of scientific laws. In modern times, positivism was established by a French thinker
August Comte. According to naturalism, the natural laws are universal and necessary. Thus, the naturalists
believe in the principle of uniformity of nature. According to it the different natural phenomena occur
mechanically without any purpose (Goetz & Taliaferro, 2008).
Forms of Naturalism
From the standpoint of philosophical principles, the following three forms of naturalism are distinguished:
(i) Naturalism of physical world.
This principle seeks to explain human actions, individual experiences, emotions and feelings on the basis
of physical sciences. It seeks to explain the entire universe in the light of the principles of physical sciences.
It has little or no influence in the sphere of education, because all that it has done is to place knowledge of
science above every kind of knowledge. It points out that not only is science one form of knowledge, but
that it is the only form of valid knowledge. It is a concept of positivism, and it holds that even philosophical
knowledge is worthless.
(ii) Mechanical positivism.
According to this principle, the entire universe is a machine made of matter and is possessed of a self-driving
energy that ensures its functioning. This is materialism, for it suggests that matter is the only reality, and
anything that exists is a form of matter. The human being is conceived of as nothing more than an active
machine which is activated by certain environmental influences. The impact of this kind of positivism led
to the emergence of the behavioural school in psychology which explained all human behaviour in terms of
stimulus and response. Behaviourists do not believe in the existence of any consciousness distinguished
from the material element. All processes of the mental faculty such as imagination, memory, winking, etc.,
are explained in physiological terms. This school also makes no distinction between human and animal,
because both can be explained in terms of stimulus and response. Behaviourism thus seeks to explain the
entire range of human activity as a mechanical process. As naturalism it has had a tremendous impact on
education.
(iii) Biological naturalism.
It is naturalism in this form, as biological naturalism, which has had the greatest impact upon education. It
has elaborated the theory of the natural man, and has explained that the evolution of man and animal is a
single process. It refuses to admit the spiritual nature of man and expounds that his nature is the heritage he
has received from his ancestors. That is why it traces many similarities between human and animal
behaviour. Biological naturalism contends that all the processes of Nature and the entire existence of the
universe cannot be explained in terms of mechanical and physical processes, because in the biological world,
evolution is a more important phenomenon. All living beings have an instinct to live and for this reason life
evolves from lower forms to higher and more complex ones. One can find all the characteristics of evolution
in man's life. The principles underlying evolution can explain the form that a human being will ultimately
assume and the manner in which he will progress. At the animal level, the process of evolution stops at the
material or physical level, but in the case of human beings it is also manifested in the mental, moral and
spiritual levels. This instinctive evolution is found not only in individual human beings but also in groups
of human beings, because these groups also evolve to a stage of greater complexity. But this evolution is
also governed by the same principles which govern the individual's evolution. In this process of evolution,
the principles of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest have been considered the most important
by Charles Darwin, because in his opinion the principle of selfpreservation is the strongest law of nature.
Q. 5 What are the limitations of natural knowledge? It is of any use to Muslims today? (20)
Ans. The limitations of human knowledge
Al-Isra (the Night Journey) of the Quran there is a verse which concerns the art of thinking. The translation
of this verse is as follows: "They question you about the Spirit. Say, 'The Spirit is at my Lord's command,
and you have been granted but little knowledge'" (17:85). This Quranic verse enshrines a very important
principle regarding the theory of knowledge: that man was created with certain limitations, due to which he
cannot apprehend everything. To accept this limitation is the greatest wisdom, for it opens the door to all
possible knowledge.
Philosophy has a long history, but it has failed to provide any clear-cut knowledge about human life. In fact,
all the philosophers of the past and present have been purveyors of confusion. On the contrary, scientists
have been able to provide us with fruitful knowledge. Indeed, modern civilization is a gift of the scientific
community. Why is there this difference between the two disciplines? The reason is that philosophers have
failed to accept human limitations, while scientists have accepted them. Acceptance of limitations opens the
door to all kinds of genuine knowledge.
The wise man tries to gain knowledge about the things around him, but he refrains from jumping into those
fields where it is impossible to draw conclusions due to a lack of data. To differentiate between the two
kinds of disciplines is an important principle of knowledge. If you want to know about the physical world,
that is something which is comprehensible with the aid of telescopes and microscopes. However, there is a
world, which is beyond all telescopes and microscopes. Taking a leap into the realm of these inaccessible
phenomena is characterized by the well-known saying: "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
Natural Knowledge Has Limitations
It's true that the first philosophers to use the term "natural law" were pagans, but the biblical testimony to
knowledge in the sense that the capacity and organization of the human understanding is simply not
sufficient to answer all the questions that can be posed, nor to Define the term ‘Idealism’. Through natural
knowledge we can know that God exists, and we can come to a know the end of things, scientific processes,
and we are to relate to each other. One of the most basic themes of Locke's epistemology is that since we
cannot know everything, we would be well advised to observe and respect the extent and limitations of
human knowledge. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own
knowledge or, That is to say, there is potentiality for anything that is possible. She defines education as ‘a
constellation of encounters, both planned and unplanned, that promote growth through the acquisition of
knowledge, skills, understanding and appreciation.
It is, moreover, true that scientific consensus is often fleeting and regularly overturned, and that, in any case,
consensus is neither unanimity nor a marker of infallibility. You both are natural knowledge seekers and I
hope you too will continue a love of learning for your whole lives. The Limitations of Constructivism 1.
Limitations of Naturalism: (i) It is absolutely based on matter but there is no supremacy of man. Man always
creates new values and education should help him in doing so. As discussed above, over-reliance on a single
way of knowing can almost never lead us to a wholesome and unbiased rendition of the truth. Constructivism
in education has roots in Epistemology. The learner has prior knowledge and experiences, which is often
determined by their social and cultural environment. It is essentially a set of laws, which we trust to define
the universe and everything within it. The only problem is that we keep changing them, and this brings us
to the strengths and limitations of natural science as an area of knowledge. That is how computers imitate
people, to some extent; however, we have to admit that the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence in education
are still limited.