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BIBOY Social Science Reviewer
BIBOY Social Science Reviewer
BIBOY Social Science Reviewer
Concept of Anthropology
A. Definition of Anthropology
Comes from the Greek words; anthropos (man) and logos (study).
Concerns explicitly and directly with all varieties of people throughout the world and it traces human
evolution and cultural development from millions of years ago to present (Ember, 1993).
It looks into the attributes of a particular human population.
B.1 Physical Anthropology "concerns with human evolution and human variation (Paleontology or
paleoanthropology)
B.2 Cultural Anthropology - deals with the study of culture consists’ of three areas as follows:
1. Linguistics- focuses on historical and descriptive or structural linguistics. It looks into the
emergence of language and variations of language over time.
2. Archaeology-deals with cultural history
3. Ethnology (cultural anthropology)-studies cultural variation
Early Evolutionism (Edward B. Taylor and Lewis Henry Morgan) - states that most societies were
believed to pass through the same series of stages, to arrive ultimately at a common end
Historical Particularism - Franz Boas. the proponent, believed that it was premature to formulate
universal law since there is a need to study the context of society in which they appeared.
Diffusionism (British, German and Austrian Anthropologists) spread the idea that most aspects of
civilization had emerged in culture centers and later diffused outward.
Functionalism (Bronislaw Malinowski). It holds that all culture traits serve the needs of individuals in a
society; the function of culture traits is the ability to satisfy some basic or derived need.
Structural-functionalist approach (Arthur Reginald Radcliffe-Brown) assumes that the various aspects of
social behavior maintain a society's social structure- its total network of social relationships - rather
than satisfying individual needs. It works in the following assumption: stability, harmony, equilibrium
and evolution.
Psychological Approaches (Edward Sapir, Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead) seek to understand how
psychological factors and processes may help us explain cultural practices.
Later Evolutionism (Leslie White) states that culture evolves as the amount of energy harnessed per
capita per year is increased or as the efficiency of the instrumental means of putting the energy to
work increased.
Structuralism- Claude Levi-Strauss sees culture as it is expressed in art, ritual, and the patterns of daily
life, as a surface representation of the underlying patterns of the human mind.
Ethno science (ethnography) explains culture from the way people used to describe their activities.
Cultural Ecology seeks to understand the relationship between culture and social environments
Political economy centers on the impact of external political and economic processes, particularly as
connected to colonialism and imperialism, on local events and cultures in the underdeveloped
countries.
Sociobiology involves the application of biological evolutionary principles to the social behavior of
animals, including humans.
Interpretive approaches consider cultures as texts to be analyzed for their meanings.
Feminist Anthropology includes women's issues in the study of culture and society.
Conflict Theory-advocates of this theory ask this question: "Who controls the scarce resources of a
given society"? It assumes that society can be explained based on the following assumptions:
economic determinism, dialectism and social action.
Broad spectrum
Mesolithic food collecting;
increasing
sedimentary
communities; many
kinds of microliths
14,000 Pleistocene Earliest humans in New
(12,000 B.C.) World
Upper Cave paintings;
Paleolithic female figurines;
many kinds of
blades tools
40,000 Modem humans
Homo sapiens
200,000 Neanderthal Homo sapiens
Earliest Homo sapiens (?) Middle Religious beliefs(?)
Paleolithic burials; Moustenan
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tools
700,000
1,500,000 Homo Habilis
1.800,000 Earliest hominids Lower
Pliocene Australopithe-cus Paleolithic Hunting/scavenging;
seasonal campsites;
Oldowan tools
2,000,000
Diversification of Apes
Sivapithecus
Dryopithecus Earliest stone tools
Proconsu
5,000,000 Miocene Earliest apes (?)
Propliopithe-cus
e.g. Aegyptopithe-cus
22,500,000 Earliest anthropoids
29,000,000 Parapithecids
e.g. Apldium
32,000.000 Oligocene Ampipithecus tetonius
Earliest Primates
Purgaforius
38,000,000 Eocene
50,000,000 Paleocene
53,500,000 Late
Cretaceous
70,000.000
Ember: 1996
- Homo erectus begun to evolve into Homo sapiens after about 500,000 years ago.
- Pro-modem Homo sapiens have been found in Africa, Asia and Europe.
- The oldest fossil remains of a modem looking human have been found in South Africa.
- Two theories about the origins of modem humans:
1. Single-origin theory- modem humans emerged in just one part of the Old World (the
near east and recently South Africa.
2. Continuous Evolution Theory-modem humans emerged gradually in various parts of
the Old World
J. Broad spectrum collection (Mesolithic Period) was associated with the development of sedentary
life
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Cultural configurations- the Idea that cultures possess internal coherence and consistency.
Culture is not just the sum of individuals who adhere to them, because it also includes
developed and elaborated traits with greater intensity and richness. This is our cultural
heritage.
Cultural Relativism is the attitude that a society's customs and ideas should be described
objectively and understood in the context of that society's problems and opportunities.
Ethnocentrism is the tendency to regard ones culture as superior
B. The Ability of Human Beings to Produce and Acquire Culture Can be attributed to the
Following Biological Characteristics:
Large brain
Bipedal
Opposable thumb
Well developed vocal chords
Long period of dependency
Reproduction is not seasonal; human beings can reproduce during fertile period
V. Social Stratification
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A. Definition
Social Stratification pertains to division in society due to access or right to certain advantages. The
advantages may be in the form of economic resources, power and prestige
B. Type of Societies
1. Egalitarian societies are societies in which many positions of prestige in any given age-sex grade could
be filled by those who are capable.
2. Rank societies are characterized by social groups having unequal access to prestige or status but not
significantly unequal access to economic resources or power
3. Class societies are characterized by having unequal access to economic resources and power. Class
society ranges from open class system to close class system.
E. Incest Taboo - is the prohibition of sexual intercourse or marriage between mother and son, father and
daughter, and brother and sister, Incest taboo is universal, however, the Incan and Hawaiian royal families
allow incest.
D. Resolution of conflict: community action, informal adjudication without power, ritual reconciliation -
apology, oaths and ordeals, codified laws and courts, feuding, raiding, large - scale confrontation
E. Filipino Indigenous ethnic communities may be grouped into five general types (Jocano, 1998):
Pisan (campsite) - Agta term for small exogamous local groups consisting mostly of kinsmen
Puro (settlement) - Sulod term for semi-sedentary, amorphous aggregate of persons who live in a
particular and named settlement (Swidden or Kaingin)
Ili (village) - Bontoc in origin which corresponds to village type organization
4 Magani (district) - Agusan Manobo, Sodat organization of dry crop farmers whose social organization
corresponds rank organization
Banwa (domain) - Manuvu term for self-contained villages
A. Definition of Religion
Religion is any set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices pertaining to supernatural power
D. Ways of Communicating with the supernatural include prayer, doing things to the body and the mind,
simulation, feast and sacrifices
E. Magic is the belief that actions can compel the supernatural to act in a particular and intended way.
Sorcery and witchcraft are attempts to make the spirits work harm against people.
B. Visual Art
Artistic Differences in Egalitarian and Stratified Societies
Egalitarian Society Stratified Society
Repetition of simple elements Much empty Integration of unlike elements Little empty
or "irrelevant" space Symmetrical design space Asymmetrical design Enclosed
Unenclosed figures figures
C. Music
D. Folklore
X. Culture Changes
A. Discovery and Invention
B. Diffusion
C. Acculturation
D. Revolution
Social Philosophy
Philosophy
- From two Greek words: Philein which means "to love", and Sophia which means "wisdom".
According to Manuel Velasquez, philosophy is "the pursuit of wisdom about what it means to be a
human being, what the fundamental nature of God and reality is. what the sources and limits of our
knowledge are, and what is good and right In our lives and in our societies,
- Traditionally defined as the sciences of all things studied from the viewpoint of their ultimate causes
under the light of human reason alone. (According to Bertram/ Russel, philosophy is the no man's
land between theology and science.)
1. Epistemology - literally means "the study of knowledge". It deals with questions of knowledge
(including the structure, reliability, extent, and kinds of knowledge); truth, validity, and logic; and a
variety of linguistic concerns, (e.g. the question of whether truth is relative)
2. Metaphysics ~ addresses questions of reality (including the meaning and nature of being); the
nature of mind, self, and human freedom; and some topics that overlap with religion, such as the
existence of God, the destiny of the universe, and the immortality of the soul. (E.g. question of
whether human behavior is free or determined)
3. Ethics - study of values and moral principles and how they relate to human conduct to our social and
political institutions, (e.g. question of whether human beings have the moral obligation to love and
serve others, or obligation only to themselves)
Social Philosophy – is the study of society and its processes and activities with particular emphasis on the
basic principles underlying social structures and functions. It is the study of the rightness or wrongness of
societal orders, institutions, structures, systems, functions, and processes.
(Thomas Hobbes first used the term "social philosophy". He is also widely considered as the father of social
philosophy.)
Prerequisite to an understanding of social philosophy are the following six basic factors or concerns:
First: An understanding of nature of associative life (the person existing in correlation with
society).
Second: Associative life requiring a set of values towards which all social processes and
activities are directed.
Third: The means to the set of values essential in the associative life
Fourth: The law.
Fifth: The obligation of the individuals to the state and the state to the individuals.
Sixth: The ideal of social and individual justice.
To sum up, the study of social philosophy revolves around these six lectors: associations, values, power,
rights, obligations and justice.
SOCIAL PHILSOPHIES
A. Classical Realism
Realism is the philosophy that regards the universe as composed of beings existing independently but
related and forming a hierarchical structure called cosmos or totality.
Classical Realism distinguishes a person from other living substances as endowed with two natures:
animal and rational. Animal nature with its various appetites and sensual desires is perfected by the practice
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of the habits of the "golden mean" between the two extremes of excess and deficiency. These habits enable
a person to develop the moral virtues of temperance and courage. These moral virtues, in turn, enable a
person to perfect the rational nature by achieving the intellectual virtues of wisdom, prudence, and art.
However, full human nature is not only achieved by the development of virtues atone.
Full human nature enables a person to achieve the ultimate goal of happiness by transcending self-
realization with the acceptance that one is not self-sufficient when isolated from others. Aristotle
emphasized that a person is a part in relation to the whole which is society, and that anyone who is not able
to live in society or who does not need it is either a beast or a god, but not a human being. Society,
therefore, is the external support of a person's self-realization. It follows, therefore, that the state, which is a
form of organized society, has the moral purpose of maintaining proper order and exercising justice for the
good of the whole or the common good.
B. Positivism
Positivism as a philosophy is based primarily on science and scientific discoveries. Auguste Comte came
up with the term when he developed his philosophical idea regarding the laws of societal growth. He
maintains that there are three ascending levels of explanation of natural phenomena:
Theological level - explains natural phenomena by involving spiritual or anthromorphic beings.
Metaphysical level- depersonalizes these beings into forces and essences
Positive level - relies mainly on sciences and scientific descriptions.
Comte contends that as the new society develops in the positive level (or positivist society);
performing one's duties to society and of serving the interests of humanity will prevail over the
concept of society as existing to serve the interests of individuals. In other words, he maintains that
the development of industrial society based on sciences and industry, when properly organized, will
be accompanied by a moral regeneration involving the substitution of concern with the welfare of
humanity for concern with the individual's private interests.
Intellectual Material Phase Type of Social Type of Order Prevailing Sentiment
Phase Unit
Theological Military Family Domestic Attachment
Metaphysical Legalistic State Collective Veneration (Awe or
respect)
Positive Industrial Race (Humanity) Universal Benevolence
* Comte framed the term sociology.
C. Pragmatism
Pragmatism is the acknowledged contribution of America to philosophy. Three American thinkers figured
prominently in the development of pragmatism:
- Charles Sanders Peirce (pronounced as "purse")
- William James
- John Dewey
Dewey defined pragmatism as the "theory that the processes and the materials of knowledge are
determined by practical or purposive consideration". According to Peirce the pragmatists' view is supported
by the practices of experimental sciences specifically the laboratory method in which the hypotheses are
ideas or proposed solutions to felt problems. These are tested and either rejected or confirmed. Truth,
therefore, is that which works and is successful in solving problems.
The pragmatists' focus on consequences and how they are controlled through intelligence is the foundation
of their concepts of person and society. A person is a social animal because association rather than
isolation is the taw that governs everything that exists.
Almost every other kind of achievable value is acquired because of social process in which each
value individual valuer is when he is normally fitted to his sphere. In essence, for pragmatism
society is not just a conglomeration of individuals but an organic process upon which individuals
depend and by which they live. As the soil is to plants and trees, so society is to the individual
which nurtures human life in its individual forms and makes possible of all the flowerings of personality.
The pragmatists also claim that human society is much more commonly the context in which concepts are
formed.
The ends of associative life such as survival, habits of action and thought, and, choice of consequences are
served by numerous social groups To the pragmatists, society is pluralistic, not an entity in itself, but a
collection of interacting primary groups. These smaller groups however produce consequences on persons
other than those who directly participate in these primary groups.
Pragmatism views a person as a problem solver In an environment of pluralism of groups, interests, and
consequences.
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D. Naturalism
Naturalism is a philosophy that denies anything as having supematurality. It contends, especially its earlier
versions, that the common context in which concepts are formed is the physical universe (unlike
pragmatism which maintains that the human society is the common context where ideas are formed). A
human being is a transitory product of physical processes. Thus, human beings and society are dependent
on the natural order. Society therefore is received as less organic. It is an aspect or portion of nature, not so
much an organism that has rhythms and patterns. The individual is therefore considered as nature's
offspring, not a child of society or a segment whose very being depends upon the social organism. Although
dependent upon nature, he stands on his own feet, more or less, as far as his relations to society are
concerned. There are what might be called certain necessities which make it expedient for him to relate
himself somewhat effectively socially; but these are not necessities arising from the operation of society as
an organism, so much as they are accidents or exigencies to be avoided by working out some kind of social
organization to correct them.
Thomas Hobbes viewed the individual and his native state as at war with himself. He is competitive, he
grasps for honor and dignity, he is troublesome, and he is hungry for power. Human beings left to them
selves without some kind of control will kill themselves in the chaos and anarchy of selfish struggle. The
only way that man can be saved from himself sociologically is for individual man to surrender his freedom to
some superior social power or organization to which he must give absolute obedience as to a moral god.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau's naturalism rooted man in nature rather than in society. He contends that the
individual is a child of nature so much so that he proposed in his "Emile" to keep Emile away from society
until adolescence. Through his Social Contract, he reveals how the problem of social organization is
complicated by the importance of maintaining the human being's freedom. The individual, he maintains, is
not a human being unless he is free, if he is in bondage, then he is a human being. However, unrestricted
freedom is neither in harmony with his welfare nor with the welfare of the society. Apparently some social
organization is required, one that preserves the freedom of the individual.
It seems that for naturalism social values are synthetic values, which result from agreements in
which human beings bind themselves together. Such are inferior goods, not so much preferred as
individual goods, which result indirectly as a consequence of the desire to avoid the greater evils
which accompany anarchy. They are not organic values which are determined in part by the very
nature of society and which would never be possessed by humans separately, even if they did not
need to be saved from conflict and chaos by some kind of social groupings.
E. Liberalism
Liberalism is a philosophy or movement that has as its aim the development of individual freedom and
adheres to the idea that the society is one in which individuals are left free to pursue their own interests and
fulfillment as each chooses. As Mill argued, the only restraints to which adult individuals should be
subjected are those necessary to keep an individual from harming others. However, because the concepts
of liberty or freedom change in different historical periods its specific programs also change. The final aim of
liberalism, though, remains fixed, as does its characteristic belief not only in essential human goodness but
also in human rationality. Liberalism assumes that people, having a rational intellect, have the ability to
recognize problems and solve them and thus can achieve systematic improvement in the human condition.
Often opposed to liberalism is the doctrine of conservatism, which simply states, supports the maintenance
of the status quo. Liberalism, which seeks what it considers to be improvement or progress, necessarily
desires to change the existing order.
It is in the works of John Locke that the soul of philosophical liberalism is found. Locke claims that freedom
and equality of all human beings are governed by a (aw of nature that necessitates everyone to respect the
freedom of self-determination in others and to treat others as equals. Reason defines the rights and duties
that constitute and sustain everyone's freedom.
However, people find it necessary to give up their natural freedom in order to form a society. They enter into
a societal contract where they give up their power of self preservation in exchange for the collective and
stronger action of society and government. Through this social compact people agree to live in the bonds of
civil society. The contract creates one body that acts by the consent of the majority, and by agreeing to the
contract, individuals place themselves under the obligation to submit to the determinations of the majority.
Thus, the existence of society and the authority of government arise out of people's freely given consent as
emphasized by Locke, and not out of people's needs as asserted by Hobbes.
Contemporary Liberalism has retained the fundamental commitment to individual liberty but has added to
it an awareness of the extent to which economic relations can indirectly limit an individual's liberty. The
choice of a poor person is very much restricted compared to a rich man. Contemporary liberalism has
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tended to incorporate the view that individuals can be constrained to provide economic support for the poor
through welfare programs. It has also tended to incorporate the view that individuals should be given some
protection against the economic power of the wealthy through laws that protect the worker.
One of the representatives of contemporary liberalism is John Rawls. Rawls also acknowledges that social
relationships have a deep and profound effect on the individual's sense of fulfillment. A society's institutions
are what primarily determine what we can do and what our lives as individuals will be like,
Rawls claims that the most important question about society is whether it is just or not. According to Rawls,
the laws and institutions of a society must embody justice and be based on these two principles of justice:
first, that everyone in society must have political rights and duties, and second, that the only justifiable
economic inequalities are those required to make everyone better off by serving as incentives. If this will not
be the case, then it must be reformed.
F. Idealism
Idealism grew out as a reaction to naturalism. According to naturalism, truth or reality exists in Ideas or in
the spirit or in the mind. Material objects are merely representations of the idea. While idealism emphasizes
that the will governs one's conduct, naturalism says that impulse, instincts, and experience govern one's
conduct. While idealism judges behavior in terms of motives, naturalism judges behavior on the basis of
results. Naturalism would say that the end justifies the means. Idealism would say that the knowledge is
obtained by speculation and reasoning, naturalism regards scientific observation. Naturalism regards
scientific knowledge as final.
The idealist notion of society is not an aggregation or collection of individuals; it is an organism in which
individuals participate. Individual selfhood is not something which can grow in isolation; it is given birth
through the social process and comes into actual self-realization only in relation with society as its medium
of nature and development. This is not to say that the individual is subordinate to society. With the society
providing the matrix for the development of the individual, the individual progresses and slowly proceed in
the process of self-realization and at the same time, society develops in a process of realizing the ultimately
good society.
G. Communism
Karl Marx believed that the human being, apart from some obvious biological factors, has no essential
human nature — that is, something that it is true of every human being at all times everywhere. However,
he believes that human beings are social beings, that to speak of human nature is really to speak about the
totality of social relations. Accordingly, whatever any of us does is a social act. which presupposes the
existence of other people standing in certain relations to us. In short, everything is socially (earned. He
further claims that it is not the consciousness of individuals that defines their beings, but it is their social
being that determines their consciousness.
Marx also claimed that the history of the world should be viewed as a history of class struggles. He believed
that the universal laws operating in history are economic in nature. Moreover, he saw a causal connection
between the economic structure and everything in society such that the mode of production of material life
determines the general character of the social, political and spiritual processes of life.
Marx claims that eventually, capitalism will become increasing unstable economically. The class struggle
between the bourgeoisie (ownership class) and proletariat (working class) will increase. The poor will be
poorer, and increasing in number. The upshot will be a social revolution. The workers will initiate the new
communist phase of history.
H. Communitariansm
Communitarianism is the view that the actual community in which we live should be at the center of our
analysis of society and government. Communitarians emphasize the social nature of human beings. They
argue that our very identity - who we are ~ depends on our relationships to others in our communities. We
are embedded in our community and its cultural practices. Thus, we cannot understand our selves apart
from our community and its cultural practices.
According to communitarians, the state is natural. It is, like the family and the tribe, the natural outgrowth of
the human beings' natural tendency to live together. They also believe that the human being can only fully
develop within the state. Thus, it is obvious that communitarians do not claim that the state is an artificial
construct. They also do not claim that the individual is prior to the development of the state. But they do
claim that the state and its cultural practices are the source of the identity of all human beings. That is, it is
in the state that human beings acquire the cultures and traditions that they use to define themselves.
I. Fascism
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The term fascism was first used by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1919. The term comes from the Italian
word fascio, which means "union".
Fascism is a totalitarian philosophy of government that seeks to regenerate the social, economic, and
cultural life of a country by basing it on a heightened sense of national belonging or ethnic identity, (t rejects
liberal ideas such as freedom and individual rights, and often presses for the destruction of elections,
legislatures, and other elements of democracy.
J. Stoicism
Stoicism is a philosophy that flourished in Greek and Roman antiquity. The goal of all inquiry is to provide
man with a mode of conduct characterized by tranquility of mind and certainty of moral growth. They also
believed that some matters were within a person's power to control and others were not. Within a person's
power to control is the will to act or not to act, to do or to avoid. Not within a person's power is the nature of
things and the laws that govern them. People should therefore obey the rules of nature and respect the
natural order of things. Stoicism also preached the equality of all people since all of them are rational
beings.
The stoics developed the idea of cosmopolitanism, the idea that all persons are citizens of the same human
community. Human relations for them have the greatest significance, for human beings shared a common
element. That is, since Logos (God) is in everything, then the Logos (reason). Is also the same saying the
reason is common to both God and person
K. Existentialism
Existentialism is a philosophical doctrine that focuses on the existing[individual person.
It is concerned with the authentic concerns of concrete existing individuals as they face choices and
decisions in daily life. It emphasizes the freedom of all persons to make choices in a universe where there
are no absolute values outside man himself. Soren Kierkegaard, who argued that human existence was
marked off from all other kinds ofn man's power to choose, founded it. The decision that man makes will
make him the kind of person that he will and will make him distinct totally from every other person. Thus,
every value is always dependent upon the free choices of every man.
I. Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism - theory of what is good and lit^
1. Theory of what is right
Utilitarianism's theory of what is right is known as consequentalism. It claims that what is a morally
right option on any circumstance is that option, which brings about the most good, or the best
consequences,
2. Theory of what is good
Utilitarian agree that what is good is utility - human well-being or welfare. However, they disagree as
to how well-being or welfare is defined.
EASTERN SOCIAL PHILOSOPHIES
A. Buddhism
.
Buddhism originates from the experience of the misery of life. Life, for the Buddhist, is caught in a labyrinth
of changes so much so that there is no peace to be found in this world. There is an endless cycle of
change, of birth and death and therefore, the only way for man to attain peace is the state of "nirvana," or
the fading out of suffering. Thus Buddhism has a morality that is characterized as egocentric and
Individualistic and gives very little positive value to society. Buddhism teaches the Eightfold Way (The right
view, the right aspiration, the right speech, the right action, the right livelihood/the right effort, the right
concentration, the right contemplation) and also the Four Noble Truths. The four noble truths are the
following:
The universal fact of pain
The origin of suffering
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The cessation of suffering
The path, which leads to the cessation of suffering
B. Confucianism
Confucianism aims for the restoration of political order and social harmony and such will be possible if only
people would observe the following formula:
Also, according to this philosophy the way to attain virtues is through natural means: (a) being true to one's
nature, and (2) applying those principles in relationship. The objective is central harmony. Confucianism is
founded on the experience of the all-embracing harmony between man and nature and is highly
conservative. Confucius teaches that man is the ruler since ft constitutes a social morality. Confucianism
outlawed speculation and emphasized practical ethics. Man's obligation is to preserve right human
relationships.
Founded by Kung Fu Tzu, which means the Grand Master, also called "Ch'iu" (hill), Confucianism strongly
emphasizes the individual's place in society. It is interested in reforming soda. Life to rid government of its
repressive tendencies.
Confucius propagated the idea of democracy. According to him, rulers must serve the people's interests. He
contends that the rulers and officials should make the people affluent and then educate them. He also
provides primarily moral reasons for caring for the masses. The majority of the masses is simple and thus
will be loyal as long as they are treated with authoritative humanity and live in material prosperity. That is,
as long as the government works to promote their interests, the masses will be peaceful and do their work.
C. Taoism
Taoism is a philosophical system strongly emphasizing man's place in nature. In contrast to Confucianism,
it is not concerned with society, except as something to move away from.
Lao Tzu taught that the Tao is most fully revealed in tranquility neither through action nor religious living.
Virtue is attained by quiet submission to the power of the Tao. The Tao cannot be defined.
Taoism stresses man's passive role in nature. Founded on the experience of the dynamic force immanent in
the universe, which gives order and life and meaning to the totality of reality it adhered to the vision of the
human being's harmony with nature. However, it viewed man as essentially passive called upon to
harmonize himself with the natural rhythms of things.
According to Chuang Tzu, humankind is composed of two types: one is the ordinary mass of people; and
the other, the Perfect Man. The masses are the concrete manifestation of humanity. The Perfect Man is its
ideal form.
The social man is a microcosm, a miniaturized version of the universe that contains all the elements
necessary to make up Heaven and Earth. The body is made up of all the physical elements. The mind is
composed of human nature, the spirit, and virtue. Its environment and the classes of people around itself
limit the human. Man's anguish is caused by unfulfilled desires. Therefore, desire causes man's sinfulness.
Each person thinks, acts, and behaves as if his own mind were the standard. THE reality of human and
social existence is characterized by limitations given by the environment, dependency on external objects
and events and anguish. There are four limits of human existence:
Man's insignificant size
Bondage
Death
Delusion
D. Islam
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The word Islam means submission or surrender — to the will of God, and the word Muslim means "given to
God." Islam is a community, a way of life, a culture and a civilization. Central to its teaching is the belief that
there Is only one alt-powerful, alt-knowing God, and this God created the universe. Islam also emphasizes
that all Muslims are equal before God thus providing a basis for a collective sense of loyalty to God that
transcends class, race, nationality, and even differences in religious practice. Also, unlike most Christian
sects, Islam dings to the idea of faith plus good works.
Islam is centered on the Five Pillars of Truth: (1) profession of faith (shahada), prayer (salat), alms giving
(zakat), fasting (sawm), and pilgrimage (hajj).
Islam gives importance to social life. It considers it a duty to attend to social problems and to struggle for the
benefit for all human beings. Being indifferent to such problem is considered in Islam to be a grave sin
Islam believes that no society can survive without rules and social regulations. It also believes that the goal
of law Is not only to bring about social order and discipline, but to maintain social justice because without
justice the order would not be durable and the masses of the people would not tolerate injustice and
oppression for ever, and in a society not governed by justice most people would not have the opportunity for
desired growth and development and hence, the goal of man's creation and social life would not be realized.
Also, from the Islamic viewpoint, social laws should be such as to prepare the ground and context for the
spiritual growth and eternal felicity of the people. At the very least they should not be inconsistent with
spiritual development, for, in the view of Islam, the life of this world is but a passing phase of the entire
human life, which despite its short duration, has a fundamental role in human destiny.
E. Hinduism
The word Hindu was derived from the Sanskrit word sindhu ("river"), the Persians called the Hindus by that
name, identifying them as the people of the land of the Indus. The Hindus define their community as "those
who believe in the Vedas" or "those who follow the way (dharma) of the four classes (varnas) and stages of
life (ashramas)”.
World History
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Place (Geography) - location, topography, etc. affect economic development, scientific advancement,
political and social systems are belief system evolved by men
Time - people's achievement and failures are judged in the context of the period in which they live in.
Man - the dynamic factor in History. The chief cause of the human actions is due to the nature of human
being itself.
Ancient Period
Persians - established the first world empire whose territory is presently known as
Iran; adopted the teaching of Zoroaster
2) Egypt
Built the great pyramids; invented a form of writing known as hieroglyphics; known for
mummification; devised a calendar of 365 days
3) India
Earliest inhabitants were Dravidians who had an organized system of settlements in Harappa
and Mohenjo-Daro. Aryan invasion and their settlement along the Indus River valley later gave them
identity as Hindus.
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Hinduism evolved from the merging of Dravidian and Aryan manner of worship, main
features of which are reincarnation and a rigid social class known as Caste System.
4) China
Name derived from Chin dynasty founded by Shih Huang Ti who was also responsible for the
construction of the Great Walls. China is also credited for the invention of printing press; for requiring
civil service exams for government officials; invented gun powder; produced silk and was known for
its great philosophers, Confucius (golden rule); Lao Tzu (Taoism) and Mencius.
b. Western World
1) Greece
A. Hellas - early name and its civilization was termed Hellenic
B. Athens and Sparta - famous city states (polis)
C. Homer - famous author of (Iliad and Odyssey)
D. Solon, Cleisthenes and Pericles - famous Athenian reformers who laid the foundation of a
democratic system of government
E. Famous / Significant events:
- Persian war - Athens led the Greeks in repulsing Persia
- Petoponnesian War" was fought between rival Greek states Athens and Sparta. Sparta
prevailed
- Macedonian invasion - invasion of "barbaric" Macedonians led by Philip II who eventually
became Master of Greece. His son Alexander the Great succeeded him.
F. Golden Age of Greece - 5th to 4th Century BC) - attained by Athens after the Persian War.
Famous personalities: Pericles, statesman, Demosthenes, orator, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle,
philosophers; Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanes (dramatists); Herodotus (Father of History),
Thycydides and Xenophon - historians; Colonium, architect of the famous Parthenon
G. Alexander the Great - Successor of Philip of Macedonia, tutored by Aristotle and extended Greek
empire to the East. He was responsible in blending Hellenic culture with the East and such
combination was referred to as Hellenistic culture. After his death, the empire broke up into
Egypt, Syria and Macedonia and by 150 BC the Romans conquered Greece.
2) Rome
A. Romulus - legendary founder of Rome in 753 BC
B. Etruscans - established a strong monarchy in the 6th century but their autocratic rule led to their
downfall when the Romans overthrew them
C. Romany established a Republic
D. Two classes of people: Patricians and Plebeians
E. Senate - the ruling body in the Republic but dominated by Patricians (upper class)
F. Twelve Tables -a legislation which gave Plebeians (lower class) equal participation in government
G. Punic Wars-fought by Rome against Carthage and resulted in Rome's acquisition of Spain a group
of continued the
H. First Triumvirate (Julius Caesar, Pompey, Cassius) military leaders responsible for the expansion of
Rome
I. Second Triumvirate (Anthony, Lepidus, Octavius) work started by the First Triumvirate
J. Octavius (later known as Augustus Caesar) - was responsible for further expansion of Rome;
bestowed the title "Prince?" (First citizen); crowned the first emperor of the Roman Empire under
whose reign. PAX ROMANA prevailed
K. Weak successors later split the empire into two: Western Roman Empire and Eastern Roman
Empire (later known as Byzantine Empire.
L. Fall of Rome (476 A.D.) was due to the attack of Teutonic Germanic tribes. Only the Western
Empire fell. Eastern Roman Empire gained strength and later on flourished as the Byzantine Empire.
Medieval Period
1. Dark Ages - ushered in the Middle Ages. Barbarians from Germany dominated the Western Roman
Empire after Its fall thus the grandeur of Rome was lost.
2. Franks - barbaric tribe that settled in Gaul (presently France). Their conversion to Christianity inspired
them to restore Europe into a civilized world again. Charles Martel defended Europe from being dominated
by the Moslems, Under Charlemagne; France expanded its territory at the same time spreading the
Christian faith. In recognition of his work for the Church, he was crowned by the Pope and was given the
title Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
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b. Church was responsible in reviving education because monasteries had kept literary works
and works of arts
c. The Church through its officials received material favors from monarchs and noblemen such
that the Church became wealthy.
4. Feudalism
social, economic and political system
characterized by strong lord and vassal relationship where the lord gave protection to the vassal and the
vassal rendered services to the lord (act of fealty)
Chivalry - in reference to the trait expected of a Knight where he had to manifest refinement in manners
and courage and commitment in the defense of his lord.
Manorial system - where economic activities revolve around agriculture to generate income for the lord.
5 Crusades
A series of military expeditions by the Christians of Western Europe during the 11th and 13th
century to take back the Holy Land (Jerusalem) from the Muslims.
6. Guild System
Modem Period
1. Renaissance - this movement to revive the study of Graeco-Roman classics ushered in the modern
times. Humanism of the Greeks and Romans was revived such that liberalism characterized this period.
2. Age of Revolutions
a. Intellectual Revolution
• started with the age of enlightenment or age of reason
b. Scientific Revolution
• where discovery and inventions took place This ushered in the Age of Discovery and
exploration of territories.
c. Industrial Revolution
• marked by change in economic life. Hard labor was replaced by machineries. Industrial
Revolution started in England and it is still in progress today. Commercial Revolution was an
offshoot of Industrial Revolution.
d. Political Revolution
• This revolution is aimed at changing government. This was an offshoot of the spread of
liberal ideas. Two Famous revolutions; French Revolution (1789-1799); American Revolution
(1775-1783).
e. Religious Revolution
• Reformation - a move started by Wycliffe and Hus and pursued by Martin Luther aimed at
reforming some practices of the Christian Church.
• Counter-reformation - a movement undertaken by the Catholic Church to reform its own
ranks.
GLOBAL WARS
World War I - immediate cause was the assassination of Archduke Frances Ferdinand of Austria on
June 28, 1914. Warring groups: Triple Entete (Allied Powers) composed of England, France and
Russia; Triple Alliance (Central Powers) composed of Germany, Austria and Turkey. United States
declared neutrality but joined the Allied Powers when Germany torpedoed the British ship
"Lusitanian" where several Americans were on board.
World War II (1939-1945) - war of ideology (Democracy vs. Totalitarianism). Immediate cause was
invasion of Poland by Hitler on September 1, 1939. Warring groups were: Allied Powers (England,
France and Russia) and Axis Powers (Germany, Italy and Japan). Axis powers advocated
Totalitarianism (Hitler's Nazism; Mussolini's Fascism and Hirohito's Totalitarianism). United States
entered the war in 1941 when Japan bombed its biggest military base in the Pacific on December 8,
1941. US entry turned the tide of the war in favor of the Allied Powers to where US sided. Germany
and Italy readily surrendered in early 1945- War finally ended after US decided to drop atomic
bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 when Japan refused to peacefully surrender.
Postwar Period - characterized by cold war between US (democracy) and USSR (communism). Cold War
is a state of diplomatic tension or war of nerves without resulting to actual fighting. Struggles for supremacy
between US and USSR were manifested in Korean War (North and South Korea). Benin Crisis (East and
West Germany); Vietnam War (North and South Vietnam); Space race; Arms Race.
In 1949 Mainland China came under communist rule when Mao TseTung successfully entrenched himself
in power, President Chang Kai-Shek was forced to go in exile in Taiwan (Formosa) and continued to
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administer the nationalist government there. This conflict between Mainland China and Taiwan raised the
issue of "One China or Two China policy".
1991 saw the disintegration of USSR when Mikhail Gorbachev advocated the "glasnost and "perestroika".
East and West Germany also united.
As the world moved towards the 21st century, globalization was pursued. The five areas emphasized are:
1. Globalization of markets
2. Globalization of communication
3. Globalization of culture
4. Globalization of ideology
5. Political globalization
September 11, 2001 - the world was shaken when the World Trade Center in New York City US was
destroyed where thousand of people died. Suspected brain of such terrorist attack was Osama Bin Laden
who to this day is still being hunted.
Asian Studies
Geographical Features
World's largest continent (17,139,000 sq. miles – nearly1/3 or the earth’s land).
Geographically it is compact and unified
Boundaries: Ural mountains from Europe; Red Sea and Suez Canal from Africa
It is a continent of physical contrast Mt. Everest, world's highest mountain (29,028 ft); Dead Sea (1,292
ft. below sea level) as the lowest
Term Asia was derived from an early Aegean term ASER which meant "sunrise". ASIA was first used by
Pindar, a Greek poet.
C. Pre-historic Asia
1. Earliest man
- Asia is said to be the place which has yielded the greatest number of fossils of simian
species. Ramapithecus fossils were discovered in Pakistan and in the Yunnan Province in
China. Ramapithecus fossils is said to be the closest to man.
- Earliest man's capacity for production was Shown through the development of tools.
Technology divides the evolutionary period of culture into:
Stone Age
Bronze Age
Iron Age
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- Activities engaged in during Stone Age: food gathering, hunting. Mastery of fire was a great
step in man's emancipation from the environment
2. Peopling of the Pacific was the greatest feat of colonization. Migration took place in Southeast
Asia, Australia and its island neighbors in the great Oceans (Melanesia, Polynesia, Micronesia)
D. Birth of Civilization
Bronze Age (3,000 BC - 1800 BC) saw the birth of civilization
Early civilization started in the river valleys
Tigris-Euphrates - Mesopotamia
Nile - Egypt
Indus - India
Yellow River - China
Characteristics / Indicators of Civilization
existence of political system
division of labor / occupation became specialized
system of writing
organized trade
existence of class structure
monumental architecture
representational art
Development of religions
a. Hinduism - India
b. Buddhism - India
c. Christianity - Israel
d. Islamism - Saudi Arabia
e. Judaism - Israel
f. Zoroastrianism - Persia (presently Iran)
g. Shintoism - Japan
Horse riding people, semi-nomadic who attempted to move towards the fertile lands of China. They
were based in Mongolia then extended to Manchuria, Central Asia and even reached as far as the
Slavic territories to Germany and Spain in the 5th century.
Greatest leader was Attila who upon reaching Rome was persuaded by Pope Leo the Great to give
up his plans to take Rome.
2. MONGOLS
Based in Central Asia (near Lake Baal), they lived in small groups of few families. Basic social and
political units were patriarchal dans: spiritual life was focused on loyalty to cian. Polygamy necessitated the
acquisition of wives outside of the clan and in most cases, wives were obtained through seizure.
Genghis Khan (or Chinggis Khan) was formerly known as Temujen. He acquired the name Genghis
or Chinggis (meaning "universal ruler") after successful conquest were made by him. His empire extended
as far as Middle East and Europe. They were noted for espionage and psychological warfare
F. Development of Empires
1. Persian Empire (West Asia)
Recognized as the first biggest empire, especially during the time of Cyrus, Captivity of Babylon, the
capital of the Chaldean empire in 539 BC signified the ascendancy of this Aryan race over the older
cultures. The empire included the Iranian Plateau, the Fertile Crescent, Anatolia, Sogdania, Egypt
(conquered by Cambyses). Darius moved westward through the Balkans only to be repulsed by the Greeks
in the famous Battle of Marathon. Eastward, Persian reached as far as Punjab in India.
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- Persian empire was known for its organized political system where the empire was divided into
political units known as satrapes ruled by satraps. This satrapes could be the equivalent of present
day provinces.
- Zoroastrianism was advocated most especially during the time of Darius, when he declared that
sovereignty was granted to him by Ahura Mazda because he advocated this god's teaching which
was to act righteously and justly to all men.
- Lengua franca was Aramaic, serving as language of official communication
- Persia developed a system of communication by providing road network where messengers of the
Great King rode back and forth from satrapes
G. Development of Trade
- Commerce between Europe and Asia began as early as the first century A.D.
- Trade / Commerce was conducted through land routes and sea routes
- Trade centers between 200 AD to 1500 AD were:
1. Mediterranean - West Asian Trade Complex
2. Central Asia Trade Complex
3. Strait of Malacca - Indo China Trade Complex
4. Indian Ocean Trade Complex
- Effects of the expansion of Trade
1. Spread of sericulture or silk culture (The Chinese were called "Seres" or "Serices" by the
Romans. These two terms may have originated from the Chinese word for silk)
By the 3rd century A.D. Korea and Japan acquired the knowledge of sericulture and by the
6th century Byzantium teamed the secret of sericulture
2. Buddhism spread to China and to the rest of Southeast Asia and Far East
3. Christianity and Islamism found their way to China and other parts of Asia
4. By 7th century centers of power were:
Tang Dynasty - China
Islam - West Asia
Byzantine (Turkey) - West Asia
5. Trade played an important role in defining Asia and Asian civilization to the Western word:
Earliest reference to Asia was made by Herodotus who wrote about the "nomad
synethians who dwelt in Asia"
Western world perceived Asia as the source of silk, spices and various exotic products
Asia and Europe were linked. Goods were exchanged and migration of people took place
Asian religions were spread to different parts of the world
Culture was enriched
II. Asia's Transition
A. Age of Exploration and Discovery in Europe
1. European countries set out to explore lands for economic and military reasons.
2. Territories greatly affected were the Americas, Africa and Asia.
B. Imperialism in Asia
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Most countries in Asia came under colonial rule particularly those in Southeast
Asia, except Thailand
China was under "sphere of influence."
Korea (hermit Kingdom) and Japan went out into isolation to avoid the
influences of western countries but eventually were opened to allow
Western countries to trade with them.
C. Asia's involvement with the West dragged her into 2 global wars. In World War II Japan actively
led the war in the Pacific on the side of the Axis Powers. Japan occupied most of the territories in
Southeast Asia.
D. After World War ft, colonies occupied by Japan came again under Western rule but were
eventually given independence. Korea was divided; so with Vietnam due to ideology (Democracy
advocated by USA and Communism by USSR)
E. Experiences from colonial rule changed the outlook of most people in Asia.
PHILOSOPHY
Nature of Philosophy
Nominal meaning: love of wisdom. (It was derived from the Greek terms Philo, which means love, and
Sophia, which means wisdom.)
Real meaning: The science and art of all things naturally knowable to man's unaided powers in so far as
these things are studied in their deepest causes and reasons The human being's attempt to think
speculatively, reflectively, and systematically about the universe and the human relationship to the universe.
It is the human being's search for the ultimate explanations of the realities of life.
Epistemology- Episteme (knowledge) Logos (science) -deals with human knowledge and the Criteria for
truth.
Fundamental concepts: What is Knowledge? Where does it come from?
How do we Acquire knowledge of right and wrong?, What is truth? Can man's knowledge be true?
Axiology- the area of Philosophy that specifically deals with the problem of human values
Fundamental concepts: What are Values? What are the important values to be desired in living? Are
these values rooted in reality? How can these values be realized in our daily experience?
Philosophy of Man/Philosophy of human person- deals with the nature and purpose of man.
Fundamental concepts: Body-Soul relation, Freedom and Determinism, intellect and will
Social and Political Philosophy - deals with the nature of society and socialization Process.
Fundamental Concepts: Society, State, Governance, Laws and Culture, Social Justice
Theodicy- the study of the nature, essence and existence of God using human reason
Fundamental concepts: Deism, Agnosticism, Theism, Attributes of God
Epistemology
Criteria of truth
1. Native realism (James Me Cosh, Thomas Reid) - believes that reality is precisely what as it appear to be.
Adheres to the belief that "seeing is believing"
2. Feelings - the belief that what one feels is the truth, that the best criterion of truth is a hunch.
3, Custom and tradition - this is used by many as a criterion of truth in matters pertaining to morals, politics,
dress etc.
4. Time - is regarded as an excellent test if not the final test of truth.
5. Intuition - "truth that comes from one knows not where". It is not a test of truth but a source of truth
6. Revelation – “Truth which comes from God". A source of truth and not a test of it
7. Instinct - What is instinctive must by virtue of that fact be true since nature deem it so. But most
knowledge is beyond the bounds of instinct. It is not therefore a test of truth
8. Majority, Plurality, Consensus Gentium - The number of people who believes in the truth determines its
truthfulness, but truth is not necessarily dependent on how many believes it to be true
9. Authority - certain individuals who have mastered a field of study may be a criterion of truth but authority
gives only opinions which could be true or which could be false
10. Correspondence - a belief that when an idea agrees with its object, it is proof of its truth. However, it is a
definition of truth not a criterion
11. Pragmatism - If an idea works then it is true, but not all truths works. It cannot be the ultimate criterion of
truth
12. Consistency - means the absence of contradiction
13. Coherence- a systematic consistent explanation of all the facts of experience. Its technical name is
reason, this is believe to be the ultimate criterion of truth
• The present Philosophy of social sciences education is an admixture of idealist and realist
Philosophy. It has elements of essentialism, perennialism, social traditionalism, social
experimentalism, progressivism, logical positivism and existentialism.
• It focuses on the social function of education, on individual's development and his relationship to
the social structure.
• It is concerned fundamentally with social change, the progressive structuring of the social order,
with insight into the traditions, arousing interest in and sympathy toward social service, and
developing efficiency in adapting the individual to society.
1. Idealism
1.1 Nature
- Idealism is a philosophy that proclaims the spiritual nature of men and the universe, its basic
viewpoint stresses the human spirit, soul, or mind as the most important element in life.
- It holds that the good, true and beautiful are permanently part of the structure of the related
coherent, orderly, and unchanging universe.
- All of reality is reducible to one fundamental substance - Spirit. Matter is not real, only the mind is
real
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1.2 Aim of Idealist Education
- The aim of idealistic education is to contribute to the development of mind and self. The school
should emphasize intellectual abilities, moral judgments, aesthetics, self-realization, individual
freedom, individual responsibility and self-control.
1.3 Curriculum
- The curriculum of Idealism is a body of intellectual subject-matter, which is ideational and conceptual
on subjects, which are essential for the realization of mental and moral development
- Subject matter should be made constant for all. Mathematics, History and Literature rank high in
relevance since they are not only cognitive but value-laden
1.4 Methodology
- Idealists encourage accumulation of knowledge and thinking and must apply criteria for moral
evaluation- Suggested methods are questioning and discussion, lecture and the project, whether
done singly or in group. Although learning is a product of the learner's own activity, the teaming
process is made more efficient by the stimulation, which comes from the teacher and school
environment. The learner is immature and is seeking the perspective into his own personality.
- This is because of the concern for perennial and ultimate truths and the notion that education is
largely a matter of passing on to the young the nation's cultural heritage.
- Idealistic education emphasizes the cognitive side, intellectualism or elitist, to the detriment of the
physical and affective side of development.
- Pupils must have their lessons ready on time, rise and sit at a given signal, learn habits of silence
and cleanliness.
Realism
2.1 Nature
- Realism may be defined as any philosophical position that asserts the objective existence of the
world and beings in it and relations between these beings independent of human knowledge and
desires. The knowability of these objects as they are in themselves and the need for conformity to
the objective reality in man's conduct.
- Realism holds that reality, knowledge and value exist independent of the human mind. For the
realist, matter is real.
- The most important part of realism is the thesis of independence. Sticks, stones, trees exist whether
or not there is a human mind to perceive them.
- Realists refer to those universal elements of man that are unchanging regardless of time, place and
circumstance.
- Realists generally maintain a materialistic concept of human nature biased toward social control and
social order.
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- They tend to see the universe in terms of an independent reality with its internal and systematic
order; therefore, human beings must adopt and adjust to this reality, and dreams and desires have
to be subsumed under its demand.
2.2 Aim
- The aim of a realist education is to provide the students with the essential knowledge that he will
need to survive in the natural world.
2.3 Curriculum
- The curriculum is called the subject-matter approach, which is composed of two basic components,
the body of knowledge, and the appropriate pedagogy to fit the readiness of the learner. The liberal
arts curriculum and the math science disciplines consist of a number of related concepts that
constitute the structure of the discipline.
2.4 Methodology
- The teacher is expected to be skilled in both the subject matter that he teaches and the method of
teaching it to students.
- Formal schooling means, transmission of knowledge from experts to the young and immature.
- The school's task is primarily an intellectual one
- The administrator's role is to see to it that the teachers are not distracted by recreational and social
functions from performing their intellectual task of cultivating and stimulating the teaming of students.
- In the elementary level, emphasis is on the development of skills for reading, writing, arithmetic, and
study habits.
- In the secondary and collegiate level, the body of knowledge regarded as containing the wisdom of
the human race with have to be transmitted in an authoritarian manner.
- Students will be required to recall, explain, compare, interpret, and make inferences. Evaluation is
essential, making use of objective measures.
- Motivation will be in the form of rewards to reinforce what has been learned.
- The teacher is a person who possesses a body of knowledge and who is capable of transmitting it to
students.
- Teaching should not be indoctrinating. Learning should be interactive.
- The teacher utilizes pupil interest by relating subject matter to student experiences.
- The teacher maintains discipline by reward and controls the pupil by activity.
- The universal elements in man make up the elements in the education of man. Education implies
teaching, teaching implies knowledge, knowledge is truth, and truth is the same everywhere. Thus
education should be the same everywhere
- Realists are concerned with the necessity of student measuring up to the standard curriculum or
external criteria of excellence.
- They believe that the" superior" students should be given the arts and sciences while the "slower"
students should be given a narrow technical- vocational training
- Realism favors a fact-based approach to knowledge. This had led to the tradition and problem of
"testing" including the IQ as passport to a college education. The Teachers' board as a minimum
requirement for entry into the profession.
The realist believed that hard work and discipline are considered "good" and the student’s heads should be
filled with "factual truth" so that they do not come to a "bad end”
3. Essentialism
3.1 Nature
- Essentialism, a conservative educational theory rooted in idealism and realism, arose in response to
progressive education. The essentialists were concerned with a revival of efforts in the direction of
teaching the fundamental tools of learning as the most indispensable type of education.
3.2 Aims
- The essentialist have as their ultimate aim " to fit the man to perform justly, skillfully and
magnanimously all the offices, both private and public, of peace and war"'
- The indispensable cultural objectives of humanity, the essentials, are goals that must be achieve -
sometimes incidentally- but more often by direct instruction. Informal learning helps, but this should
only be supplementary and secondary.
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- The essentialist believed that the essential skills, knowledge and attitude needed by the individual in
making has adjustment to the realities of life should be systematically planned so that these
recognized essentials will be recognized.
- The essentialists emphasize the need for a curriculum that transmits significant race experiences
and the need to present this racial experience through organized subject matter courses.
- Thus, reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, history, geography, hygiene, elementary science,
drawing, language, art .manual training, and domestic arts - all traditional subjects of the elementary
school- are given a new justification and emphasis as basic essential in the training of children.
- Among the common themes found in the essentialist point of view are:
1. The elementary school curriculum should aim to cultivate basic tool skills that contribute to
literacy and mastery of arithmetical computation.
2. The secondary curriculum should cultivate competencies in History, Mathematics, Science,
English, and foreign languages. Mastering all these subjects and skills prepare the student to
function as a member of a civilized society
3. Schooling requires discipline and a respect for legitimate authority; and
4. Learning requires hard work and disciplined attention
3.4 Methodology
- The essentialist method emphasizes habituation more than experience, guidance more than
incidentalism, discipline more than freedom, effort more than interest, and self-examination more
than expression.
- Essentialists do not believe In building up generalization by the slow method of induction, but rather
in properly guiding pupils in a few hours or days in the acquisition of general Saws and principles
then using them in the solution of immediate and pressing problems.
- The essentialists are concerned with the most effective method of forming habits and developing
skills; thus, drill has a definite place in the classroom.
- The essentialists emphasize the necessity of teaching pupils how to think systematically and
effectively.
- They believe that effective thinking cannot take place by looking at the world en masse, or by picking
up knowledge piecemeal.
- Methods of systematic analysis and systematic synthesis must be used; the essential elements of
knowledge must be separated from the worthless chaff, and these essentials must be organized into
meaningful wholes, with close attention to the interrelationships of each of these entities.
- The essentialists recognize that interest is a strong motivating force of learning. Learning however,
that is not immediately appealing and interesting to the child should not be totally eliminated from the
child's education.
- The more valuable and more permanent interests may grow out of efforts that are at first
disagreeable and monotonous.
4.1 Nature
- Perennialism is an educational theory that Is greatly influenced by the principles of realism. It has a
conservative/ traditional view of human nature and education.
- Perenniaiists contend that truth is universal and unchanging, and. therefore, a good education is
also universal and constant.
4.2 Aim
- The perennialists have for their aim the education of the rational person. The central aim of
education should be to develop the power of thought.
- They view the universal aim of education as the search for and dissemination of truth. They look up
to the school as an institution designed to develop human intelligence.
4.3 Curriculum
- The perennialist view education as a recurring process based on eternal truths; thus, the school's
curriculum should emphasize the recurrent themes of human life
- It should contain cognitive subjects that cultivate rationality and the study of moral, aesthetics, and
religious principles to develop the attitudinal dimension.
- The perrenialist prefers a subject matter curriculum, which includes history, language, mathematics,
logic, literature, the humanities, and science.
4.4 Methodology
- As for the methods of teaching, the curriculum of a perenniallst education would be subject-
centered, drawing heavily upon the disciplines of literature, mathematics, language, history, and the
humanities.
- The perenniaiists suggest that the best means to attaining this enduring knowledge is through the
study of great books of Western Civilization
- The method of study would be the reading and discussion of these great works which, in turn,
discipline the mind.
5. Sociological Movement
Sociological movement focused on the contribution of education to the preservation and progress of
society; this is called the social function of education. Social educationists were concerned with the
individual's development and his relationship to the social structure.
Types
- Social education, in its broadest sense, covered all types of education that would prepare the
individual for adjustment to society.
- In its narrowest sense, social education referred to the development of social communication skills,
etiquette, and harmonious human relationships.
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- The latter included training in the physical, vocational, civic, domestic, vocational, moral, and
religious, all essential in the development of social efficiency.
Content
- The school curriculum was supposed to teach for real social living.
- School activities were drawn from varied activities in life.
- The lower school level was expected to teach the essentials of social living and the rudiments of
etiquette.
- Drills in arithmetic calculation, oral and written language, hygiene, good manners, and art
appreciation were important.
- The high schools had to give experience in science and math, language and history but emphasis
should be on health, moral conduct, home and leisure and the vocations.
- In college, work travel and study replaced the traditional academic subjects.
- The results of social education brought about extra-curricular activities in the school program. Extra-
curricular activities, when properly controlled and directed, were of value in providing experience in
various phases in life.
- Athletics, dramatics, public speaking activities, musical activities, and assemblies were all sources of
training for the various aspects of social life.
Method
- Social communication, social cooperation, and social science were the methods used in teaching
the child to adjust to life.
- The teacher worked with the social interests of the child in mind to develop social consciousness.
- Student's participations in school activities and school government were effective methods of
teaching leadership and responsibility.
- Students were taught cooperation rather than competition; to face the class rather than the teacher,
and to deal with small groups for cooperative effort.
Content
- The social sciences came to the foreground among the experimentalists because of the emphasis
put on the teaching of controversial issues; the social, economic and political activities of the local
community were used as materials for teaching.
- Extra -curricular activities and field trips were dominant strategies of teaching since they were pupil-
planned, pupil dominated and centered. Their purpose was to prepare students for social planning.
6. Progressivism.
- The educational theory of progressivism is in contrast to the traditional views of essentialism and
perennialism.
- This movement is based largely in the philosophy of pragmatism or as Dewey puts it
instrumentalism.
- It stressed the view that all learning should center on the child's interests and needs.
- Progressive education is based on a philosophy based on experience, the interaction of the person
with his environment.
- The end product of education was growth- an on-going experience which led to the direction and
control of subsequent experience.
- Progressive education must use the past experiences to direct future experiences.
Aim
- The aim of progressive education is to meet the need of a growing child.
- The school should be a pleasant place for learning.
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- It objects to extreme reliance on bookish methods of instruction, memorization of factual data, the
use of fear as a form of discipline and the four -walled philosophy of education that isolated the
school from the realities of life .
Content
- Progressive education was not interested in a prepared, prescribed curriculum to transmit
knowledge to students
- Curriculum must come from the child so that learning would be active, exciting, and varied.
- The contents of the subject are done by the teacher and the students as a group project or a
cooperative effort. The teacher served as facilitator.
- Progressive education is characterized by the following contributions to education:
1. Emphasis on the child as the learner, rather than the subject matter
2. Stress on activities and experiences, rather than on textbook reliance and memorization
3. Cooperative learning, rather than competitive lesson learning
4. Absence of fear and punishment for disciplinary purposes
7. Reconstructionism.
- Reconstructionism is more concerned with social change rather than the individuality of the child.
- It believes that schools should originate policies and progress, which would bring about reform of the
social order. Teachers should use their power to lead the young in the program of social reform.
- Educational philosophies must be culturally based and man can re-shape his culture so that it
promotes optimum possibilities for development.
- Society has to reconstruct its values, and education has a major role to play in bridging the gap
between the values of culture and technology.
- It is the task of the school to encourage the critical examination of the cultural heritage and find the
elements that are to be discarded and those that have to be modified.
Aim
- The aim of Reconstructionism is to awaken the student's consciousness about social problems and
to actively engage them in problem solving.
- Teachers and schools should initiate a critical examination of their own culture and should identify
controversies and inconsistencies and try to solve real life problems.
- The Curriculum should include learning to live in a global milieu.
- Reconstructionism proposes educational policies related to national and international problems as a
means of reducing world conflict.
- The school becomes the center of discussions of controversies
Method
- The methodology employed is problem oriented.
- Students and teachers participate in discussion of issues and in a definite program of social,
educational, political, and economic change as a means to total cultural renewal so that they will
learn to live in a global village.
1. Philosophical Analysis.
- Philosophical analysis is a method of examining the language used in making statements about
knowledge, education and schooling and of seeking to classify it by establishing its meaning with the
formulation of educational goals and policies.
- The aim is to reduce statements about education to empirical terms. The function of philosophy is to
formulate the rules that are the bases of language. For education should be attuned to the logical
complexities of language.
- The analysts prefer to look at what we mean by education in the first place and what advantages
may accrue from the clarified concepts of education.
2. Existentialism
- Existentialism is a way of viewing and thinking about life in the world so that priority is given to
individualism and subjectivity.
- The existentialists believe that the human being is the creator of his own essence; he creates his
own values through freedom of choice or individual preference.
- The most important kind of knowledge is about the realities of human life and the choices that each
person has to make.
- Education is the process of developing awareness about the freedom of choice and the meaning
and responsibility for one's choice.
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Contemporary philosophical themes have direct bearing not only to the social sciences education
but to education as a whole. These are the following:
1. Man as embodied spirit - This concept rejects the definition of man as a rational animal or a composite
of body and soul. The problem with this definition is that it is dualistic and separates the single reality that is
man into two realities; matter and spirit. Rationality is emphasized to the detriment of animality. Yet it is
animality that defines man.
Phenomenologist sees man as an embodied subjectivity - unique core or center, source, depth, wellspring
of initiative and meaning. It involves the rational, the affective, and the emotional - The total man.
Since education is the process of developing man-the embodied subjectivity, Development must be
seen now as the total development of man. Education is not anymore seen as a conglomeration of
disciplines with their own individual tasks of cultivating a specific part of man. Education should not look
down upon material development as merely a steppingstone to rational or spiritual development but an
essential part of it.
2. Man as a being in the world. Each embodied spirit is in his own world, which form a network of
meanings, in and on and around which man organizes his life it is different from environment for this is only
proper to animals. When we speak of man we speak of his world not environment for it is only man that
gives meaning to an environment through intentionality of consciousness.
Social Sciences Education likes to dwell on cumulative justice or injustice yet contemporary man is
more aware of a complex world of social justice or injustice and of unjust structures. We should therefore
address in the social sciences an awareness of unjust structures, of internal change that need to be
situated, of the need to humanize the world we live in by our work.
3. Man as Being - with: the interhuman and the socius. The worid of man is not just a world of things but
also the worid of fellowmen. True education if it is to be different from propaganda is such an unfolding to
bring out in the other, the student, a certain disposition of him to see for himself the true, the good and the
beautiful. Society is not something that one enters into by contract to achieve some common end, as
Rousseau and other social contract theorists put it The social is within each man: man does not live in
society, society lives in man. It is borne out of the historicity of man. Man carves a meaning from his past in
view of some project in the future thus man is a cultural being. Thus social consciousness must have a
bearing in the philosophy of education for education cannot just be based simply on ultimate ends, on
absolute, eternal truths as the perreniatists put it. Neither can we be simply content with a general
formulation of educational objective as preparing the student to become good citizen in a democracy, since
the universal truth exists in the particular. Thus any Philosophy of education must be predicated on a clearly
formulated conception of a way of life in a definite society as Isaac Berkson says.
4. Man as a person and his crowning activity is love, which presupposes justice. The final aim of education,
formal or informal is becoming a person. The individuality of man is one that he has become freely and
consciously in time, in the worid. This task consists in integration, in becoming whole and in the
fundamental option to love. Thus we can no longer conceive of educational objectives in terms of personal
development or self-realization with no end beyond itself. Education must include social aims for self-
realization is no longer possible apart from socialization. Our educational policies must aim at specific
personal and social values: of justice, love, and honesty. Total development is not just the education of the
mind but also the heart and we can educate the heart only by being exemplars of what we teach. The
bearer of moral values is the person himself.
The task of man is man himself. All other tasks, responsibilities and obligations are simply to
support man become the person he has the potential to become. Man is an embodied spirit and thus he is
obligated to develop the total man. His having a body makes him an individual with material needs and
desires. He is a self who relates with other selves in order to satisfy these material needs, in the quest for
things that will satisfy his needs, he develops social relationships for he lives through-the-other and he is not
only a self but a self –in community—a person who transcends materiality. Thus he develops interhuman
relationships, the I-thou or the relationship of a neighbor. This relationship is not limited to the sharing of
material things but the sharing of persons In a genuine dialogue.
Being as opposed to seeming. True interhuman relationship must transcend seemingness. It must
go beyond the mask that we create to make us acceptable to others. We must be true to our being by
relating to others with outmost sincerity and genuine presentation of who really we are. Our relationship
must be characterized by openness and genuine acceptance of our nature and must be devoid of
pretensions. It is only when we are true to each other that we are able to accept each other in an
interhuman realm.
Person making, present. A man must be open and willing to freely give himself in an interhuman
relation. He must b© "there" to the other. The "thereness" may not be physical. It may be empathy or
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sympathy with the other, or simply the willingness to be one with the other - a commitment of unity and
mutual support.
Unfolding as opposed to imposition. Our relationship with our fellowmen must be characterized
by mutual unfolding of oneself. A free personal relation of one's true being. A mutual actualization of one's
true potentials. The interhuman relations should never and cannot be imposed because imposition is a mark
of Individuality and selfishness. We should not force the other to reveal himself to us or to become what we
want them to become for they are the end in themselves and not the means. They are persons not things.
The decision to reveal oneself must come from the person and not be imposed by others for interhuman
relations are free interactions between and among persons who voluntarily choose to be with the other.
What we could do is to provide the necessary climate for his unfolding.
Genuine Dialogue. This is the turning to the partner that takes place in all truth that is turning of
being. Genuine dialogue is the mutual sharing between persons. This happens when one person beyond
the world of seeming centers into communication with the other being.
1 A human being is a social being and an inter-human being. He cannot live by himself for he depends
on others for the things he needs in order to survive. He is not self sufficient thus he relates with the
material world and with his fellowmen in his pursuit of the material things that will satisfy the needs of his
body.
2. But a human being is not only a body. He Is an embodied spirit and therefore his relationship is not
limited only to the physical, bodily or social realm but also to the realm of the inter-human.
3. For a human being is primarily a person who becomes actuated through relations. Togetherness is
a value that involves the existence .of a human being not just a being-through-others but more so as a
being-for-others.
4. A human being exists through the other by using the products that are fruit of the labors of others.
However, he also works for others as manifested in the service oriented work like the teaching profession.
5. Thus, human beings relate to each one not only for material things but for the sharing of persons
that ultimately actualizes his potentials. The interhuman relationship is achieved by transcending
seemingness and entering into a genuine dialogue with the other through an I-thou relationship. This
relationship is founded on the true nature of person, the willingness to make himself present and the
unfolding of the true self in the mutual sharing of persons. It is through this relationship that he fulfills his
nature and helps others fulfill theirs in a community of persons journeying towards their actualization.
6. Togetherness as a focal point of values: human existence has a historical character, we need others
to enter into the human world of meaning and to make it our own, being together is a fundamental value
which gives authentic fulfillment in our life.
7. Our existence is an existence for one another. We exist for others, we strive to be significant to
others, and our existence is meaningful only If others accept it as meaningful,
8. The family system is the locus of interaction between the individual and the society. If
development is to be a human development st must foster the integration of the family. Participative
decision making process and a feedback mechanism is imperative.
9. According to Habermas, economic development cannot be divorced from moral development
10. Social formation or transformation cannot be brought about by class conflicts but by bi-
dimensional leaning process. Economic liberation is only a step to total liberation
11. Peace and order situation is built on freedom not on constraint; it is built on human values which, is
essential to moral quests and to politics. Truth, love, freedom and its practice.
12. Thus, there is a need for equal and equitable distribution of wealth-Social Justice.
13 Social Justice was traditionally equated with legal justice- but what is legal may not necessarily be
just, then justice was equated with the reasonable and understood now in the context of passion.
14 Social Justice as a virtue means the habit whereby a man renders to each one his due by a
constant and perpetual will
15 As a value, Social Justice is properly the object of man's intentional; feeling and is linked
intimately with other values of truth, love and the dignity of person.
16. Social Justice is legal justice guided by the spirit of love and the search for truth and should be
side by side with the value of a person.
17. Social Justice must become more important than commutative justice
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1. Personalization- The primacy of the human person. Man is a person and his crowning activity is love,
which presupposes justice. The stress is towards the personalistic character of education.
2. Socialization - Man exists through the other and for others. The task of man is man himself and he
becomes actuated through the others. Personalization and socialization are but two sides of a single
process in education, and in life.
4. Authentic Being- Being as opposed to seeming, ah unfolding as opposed to imposition. Education must
bring about the true being of an individual person.
5. The Human World- The world of man is a world of meaning. Man is a being in the world. Education must
help man gives meaning to his world and the world of others, ft must be in context of the students' world
6. Convergence of worlds and synergy-man is a subjectivity incarnating itself in a converging world that
defines his essence. The phenomenology of the we-experience Is a reality that education must stress.
7. Community- as a union of persons living an authentic existence with love, truth and justice. Schools must
become communities where total human development is possible.
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