CHAPTER 2

PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION

1.1. Definition of Philosophy:
The philosophy is a combination of two Greek words “ philo” which means love and
“sophy” means wisdom. It means philosophy is defined as love for wisdom.
 According to Cisero “The mother of all art and true medicine of mind.”
 According to Coleridge “Philosophy is science of all sciences.”

Philosophy deals with the basic questions of how something is happened and why
something is happened. It is only based on the logical reasoning and answer the question
of “how” and “why”. The difference between an ordinary person and a philosopher is that
the philosophers thinks and questions about the basic problems of life whereas the
ordinary person only thinks about the ordinary problems. Philosophy is the basically the
indepth study of life using mind. It studies on the basics of things and issues such as
existence, morality, knowledge and truth. There are two types of philosophy:

1. Eastern philosophy:
It believes on the three main aspects God, universe and human beings. It
questions about How universe and why universe is created? How Man and Why
Man is made? Is there a supreme reality above the God?. And they think that the
human beings are the supreme creature.
2. Western philosophy:
It believes and question about the Universe and Human beings. The philosopher
thinks that there is no existence of God. There is only the universe is created and
the human beings. There is no ultimate reality in existence of God.
1.2. Nature of Philosophy of Education:
 The philosophy of education comes from the merge thinking of
philosophy and pedagogy.
 It deals with the philosophical questions that are related to the educational
issues and answer those questions.
  Education philosophy is a subject that is based on logic. It addresses the
educational issues in a logical way.
 It is subjective in nature, not objective.
 Education philosophy is an informative science. Its aim is to give the
direction of a path.
 It is both the philosophical and scientific in nature, because the way of
education is taken both as an art and science.
 It only provide only the logical and possible solutions to educational
issues.
 Education philosophy is the logical study of education and life.
1.3. Branches of Philosophy:
The four main branches of philosophy are:
 Metaphysics
 Epistemology
 Axiology
 Logic
1. Metaphysics:
Metaphysics is the study of the supreme reality of world. Reality means the actuality of
the things like how and why of things. How it is originated? Why is it all made? Basically
the metaphysics deals with the issues, problems and questions that are:
 What is the nature of world where we live?
 What is truth of universe?

It gives the solution of the problems about the world that are undefined by the nature
sciences. It includes laws of the world, mind/body etc. Aristotle is a philosopher who
gave the concept of metaphysics after the physics. The metaphysics is basically the study
of the truths that are outside the world which are outside the range of human experiences
and observations.

2. Epistemology:
It is branch of philosophy that deals with the study of knowledge. It answers the problems
related to knowledge. It find outs the difference between right or wrong knowledge. it is
 based on how we know and what we know. In education, it answers how teaching,
learning understanding and knowledge about it comes in the classroom.
Some epistemological questions are:
1. From where the knowledge originate?
2. What is difference between true or false knowledge?
3. What is essence of reality of knowledge?
4. What is essence of meaning?
5. What is essence of experience?
6. How does the knowledge is different from the knowledge of word that we think?
7. What is difference between the knowledge and assumptions?
1. Sources of knowledge:
1. Perception
2. Introspection
3. Memory
4. Primary or secondary sources
3. Axiology:
Axiology is defined as the study of the values and the laws or principles. Axiology is
basically “ theory of Value “. It answers the questions and issues about the values and
laws. Axiology has two main kinds that are ethics and asthetics. Ethics is the study of
moral values that what is morally right or wrong. Asthetics is finding what beautiful,
ugly, tasty etc. Some philosophical questions in axiology are:
1. What laws one should live by?
2. Is morality found by action or by heart?
3. What values should taught in education?
4. How these values change the personality of individual in classroom?
5. What is good or bad?
6. Why these values are important in education?
4. Logic:
Logic is branch of philosophy which arranged the reasoning in systematic order. As we
know that the nature of philosophy is that it is logical in nature. Philosophy is based on
 logical reasons about the life. As it answers the question “why” and gives us the logical
reasoning about all the aspects. Logic is of two types: inductive and deductive reasoning.
Deductive reasoning is general to specific. From general conclusions, we take them and
applied on specific cases. Inductive reasoning is drawing general conclusions from a
specific knowledge. Some philosophical questions are:
1. What are the principles of life?
2. How do the support the views of truth?
3. What is value and how it originate?

1.4 Relationship of Philosophy with other Social Sciences:

The philosophy has a significant relationship with the other social science but it has the strongest
relationship with the education and psychology. Philosophy is closely linked with the science. A
person must study both science and philosophy to know the truth of the world and human
conditions.

1.4.1. Philosophy and Psychology:

Both psychology and philosophy are related to each other. As psychology is

defined as the study of the mind and it is the way of thinking about the human
behaviour and things. The philosophy is concerned with the love for knowledge
about the things. Both these sciences have the same scope in terms of content.
Both studies the nature of a thing and the human behaviour. They both share the
same basis as both study the basis of human beings. Although the philosophy is
concerned with what the human is and the psychology is concerned with why the
human condition is. Philosophy makes the human to look at the universe around
them where as the psychology makes the human to look inside themselves.

1.4.2. Philosophy and Education:

Interpreting philosophy and education alone, it is clear that two together aim to
give information of the realities and existences of growth and cultivate the
teenager therefore. Both knowledge and instruction are integrally and
interdependently had connection with each one.
Education is dependent on philosophy due to following reasons:
1. Philosophy determines the real destination towards where education has
to go:
Education is a intentional vital process that needs decent supervision and
administration. Without correct teaching and administration, it cannot solve
allure aim. Philosophy decides the aim of growth and likewise supports
appropriate and direct supervision and guidance for instruction to obtain that
aim. Without the help of philosophy, education cannot be a profitable process
of growth and success.
2. Great philosophers had been great educationist also:
History bears eloquent proof to the case that excellent philosophes have
happened excellent educationists more of their periods. Plato, Socrates,
Lucke, Commenius, Rousseau, Froebel, Dewey, Gandhi, Tagore, Aurobindo
Ghosh and all the one were excellent philosophers of their periods have still
discuss education. Their metaphysical treatises have existed main guide books
for educational preparation and perseverance of educational aims for kids of
the world.

Philosophy is dependent to Education due to following reasons:

1. Education is the dynamic side of philosophy:

Two things are essential for doing some task- (1) Thought or plan and (2)
Application or feasibility. Philosophy the utilization or is the understanding or
plan side and education is effective side. Philosophy decides the aim of
existence and by study lay down the law to be understood for attaining the set
aims. Education changes these standard and plans practice, into because the
purpose of education is to mould human behaviour.
2. Education is means to achieve goal:
Education adds to new thinking and new philosophy can built-in out of his
thinking and analysing. So close are these two, the philosophy and the
education, that it well be better to examine this connection in better analyses
as Philosophy and aims of education, Philosophy and Curriculum, Philosophy
 and systems of learning, philosophy and training, philosophy and Text-books
and so forth.

1.5 Application of philosophy to Education: (Value theory of Education)

Axiology is defined as the study of the values and the laws or principles. Axiology is basically “
theory of Value “. It answers the questions and issues about the values and laws. Axiology has
two main kinds that are ethics and asthetics. Ethics is the study of moral values that what is
morally right or wrong. Asthetics is finding what beautiful, ugly, tasty etc. Some philosophical
questions in axiology are:

1. What laws one should live by?

2. Is morality found by action or by heart?

3. What values should taught in education?

4. How these values change the personality of individual in classroom?

5. What is good or bad?

6. Why these values are important in education?

The development and growth of axiological capacity in the educational process provides not only
to increase students’ information of the subject, the skill to assess the educational system and
think the education process in it, but likewise skills to sufficiently evaluate entirety occurrence in
the world. In the process of learning students form important plans not only about the education
process but more about the realm usually, that admits to form a completely grown traits of the
graduate the one has a extreme level of information of the profession and a set of appropriate
abilities.