MPFP1023

PHILOSOPHICAL IDEAS IN
EDUCATION
DR. SUBADRAH MADHAWA NAIR
Faculty of Education and Liberal Studies
City University
Petaling Jaya
Lecture 5
Jean-Jacques
Rousseau
v
 Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778) was
a French philosopher and writer of the 
Age of Enlightenment.
Rousseau

 The noblest work in education is to make a

reasoning man, and we expect to train a
young child by making him reason! This is
beginning at the end; this is making an
instrument of a result. If children understood
how to reason they would not need to be
educated.
 — Rousseau, Emile[page needed]
Rousseau

 Rousseau's philosophy of education concerns with

developing the pupil's character and moral sense, so that
he may learn to practice self-mastery and remain
virtuous even in the unnatural and imperfect society in
which he will have to live. The hypothetical boy, Émile,
is to be raised in the countryside, which, Rousseau
believes, is a more natural and healthy environment
than the city, under the guardianship of a tutor who will
guide him through various learning experiences arranged
by the tutor. 
Rousseau

  Todaywe would call this the disciplinary

method of "natural consequences".
Rousseau felt that children learn right and
wrong through experiencing the
consequences of their acts rather than
through physical punishment. The tutor will
make sure that no harm results to Émile
through his learning experiences.
 Rousseau became an early advocate of
developmentally appropriate education; his
description of the stages of child development
 mirrors his conception of the evolution of
culture. He divides childhood into stages:
 Rousseau
1.The first to the age of about 12,
when children are guided by their
emotions and impulses/ strong wish.
2. During the second stage, from 12 to
about 16, reason starts to develop
3. Finally the third stage, from the age
of 16 onwards, when the child
develops into an adult.
Rousseau

 Rousseau set out his influential views on 

Philosophy of Education in his semi-
fictitious "Émile" (1762). The aim of education, he
argued, is to learn how to live righteously, and
this should be accomplished by following
a guardian (preferably in the countryside, away
from the bad habits of the city) who can guide his
pupil through various contrived learning
experiences.
The meaning and aims of education

 Education takes place with the participation of

the individual in social activities and relationships
with his fellow human beings. Dewey holds that
education is a necessity for healthy living in the
society. Education bridges the gulf between the
innate nature of the child and the social needs
and demands.
 He minimized the importance of book learning and
placed a special emphasis on learning by
experience, and he recommended that a
child's emotions should be educated before his
reason. He took the subordination of women as
read, however, and envisaged a very different
educational process for women, who were to be
educated to be governed rather than to govern.
EMILE

 The text is divided into five books: the first three

are dedicated to the child Emile, the fourth to an
exploration of the adolescent, and the fifth to
outlining the education of his female counterpart
Sophie, as well as to Emile's domestic and civic
life.
Misunderstandings about Emile

 In Book I, Rousseau discusses not only his

fundamental philosophy but also begins to
outline how one would have to raise a child
to conform with that philosophy. He begins
with the early physical and emotional
development of the infant and the child.
 Healso emphasizes the benefits of mothers
nursing their own infants. Rousseau's
enthusiasm for breastfeeding led him to
argue: "[B]ut let mothers deign to nurse
their children, morals will reform
themselves, nature's sentiments will be
awakened in every heart, the state will be
repeopled"[12]
 The second book concerns the initial interactions of the child with the world.
Rousseau believed that at this phase the education of children should be
derived less from books and more from the child's interactions with the world,
with an emphasis on developing the senses, and the ability to draw inferences
from them. Rousseau concludes the chapter with an example of a boy who
has been successfully educated through this phase. The father takes the boy
out flying kites, and asks the child to infer the position of the kite by looking
only at the shadow. This is a task that the child has never specifically been
taught, but through inference and understanding of the physical world, the
child is able to succeed in his task. In some ways, this approach is the
precursor of the Montessori method.
 The third book concerns the selection of a
trade. Rousseau believed it necessary that
the child must be taught a manual skill
appropriate to his gender and age, and
suitable to his inclinations, by worthy role
models.[14
 Emile is a teenager at this point and it is only now that
Rousseau believes he is capable of understanding complex
human emotions, particularly sympathy. Rousseau argues
that the child cannot put himself in the place of others
but once adolescence has been reached and he is able do
so, Emile can finally be brought into the world and
socialized.[17]
 In addition to introducing a newly passionate Emile to
society during his adolescent years, the tutor also
introduces him to religion. According to Rousseau,
children cannot understand abstract concepts such as the
soul before the age of about fifteen or sixteen, so to
 BookIV also contains the famous
"Profession of Faith of the Savoyard Vicar",
the section that was largely responsible for
the condemnation of Emile.
 In Book V, Rousseau turns to the education of Sophie,
Emile's wife-to-be. This brief description of female
education sparked an immense contemporary response,
perhaps even more so than Emile itself.
Mary Wollstonecraft, for example, dedicated a
substantial portion of her chapter "Animadversions on
Some of the Writers who have Rendered Women Objects
of Pity, Bordering on Contempt" in
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) to
attacking Rousseau and his arguments.
 When responding to Rousseau’s argument in A Vindication
of the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft directly quotes
Émile, ou De l’éducation in Chapter IV of her piece:
 Educate women like men,' says Rousseau [in Émile, ou De
l’éducation], 'and the more they resemble our sex the less
power will they have over us.' This is the very point I aim
at. I do not wish them to have power over men; but over
themselves.[21]
 For Rousseau, "everything man and woman have in common belongs
to the species, and ... everything which distinguishes them belongs to
the sex".[23] Rousseau states that women should be "passive and weak",
"put up little resistance" and are "made specially to please man"; he
adds, however, that "man ought to please her in turn", and he
explains the dominance of man as a function of "the sole fact of his
strength", that is, as a strictly "natural" law, prior to the introduction
of "the law of love".[23]
 However Rousseau’s stance on female education, much
like the other ideas explored in Émile. During the
eighteenth century, women’s education was traditionally
focused on domestic skills—including sewing,
housekeeping, and cooking—as they were encouraged to
stay within their suitable spheres, which Rousseau
advocates.
 In the incomplete sequel to Emile, Émile et Sophie
(English: Emilius and Sophia), published after Rousseau's
death, Sophie is unfaithful (in what is hinted at might be a
drugged rape), and Emile, initially furious with her
betrayal, remarks "the adulteries of the women of the
world are not more than gallantries; but Sophia an
adulteress is the most odious of all monsters; the distance
between what she was, and what she is, is immense. No!
there is no disgrace, no crime equal to hers".[26] He later
relents somewhat, blaming himself for taking her to a city
full of temptation, but he still abandons her and their
children
John Locke
 John Locke (1632-1704) gave us the first
hint of what knowledge is all about. Locke
views us as having sense organs that when
stimulated, produce “ideas of sensation.”
These ideas of sensation, in turn, are
operated on by our minds to produce “ideas
of reflection.” Thus, ideas come to us via
our senses, which in turn can be turned
into new ideas via reflection.
 Thesetwo routes that ideas take are
derived from experiences — we can have
no knowledge beyond our ideas.
 There are two kinds of material ideas:
simple and complex. Simple ideas have one
attribute, such as the sky is blue or lemons
are sour. While complex ideas are
compounds of simple ideas.
John Locke

 John Locke provides his definition of knowledge in An

Essay Concerning Human Understanding, written in the
late seventeenth century.  Locke believed knowledge is
obtained the moment you perceive that you agree or
disagree with an idea.  He described three types of
knowledge.
 Intuitive knowledge
 Demonstrative knowledge
 Sensitive knowledge
 Intuitive knowledge is not based on any
immediate facts and involves direct and
immediate recognition of the agreement or
disagreement of two ideas. It yields perfect
certainty, but is only rarely available to us.
For example, I know intuitively that a dog
is not the same as an elephant.
 Demonstrative knowledge is when we perceive the
agreement or disagreement indirectly through a series of
intermediate ideas. For example, I know that A is greater
than B and B is greater than C, thus I know
demonstratively that A is greater than C.
 Sensitive knowledge is when our sensory ideas are caused
by existing things even when we do not know what causes
the idea within us. For example, I have know that there is
something producing the odor I can smell.
 Winter, McClellard, and Stewart (1981)
hypothesized that a strategy of integrating
ideas, courses, and disciplines would
enhance critical thinking over a more
typical curriculum. So they created an
experimental curriculum in which the
learners took a group of two or more
different, but complementary subjects
areas. In addition, the courses focused on
 Afterthe study, they concluded that
integrating two or more disciplines at the
same time elicits greater cognitive growth
than simply studying the same material in
separate courses without the integrative
structure.
 This study is quite interesting in that it ties
in directly with John Locke's idea of
knowledge being two or more different
concepts — and that the way you grow
knowledge, or in this case critical thinking,
is to allow the learners to learn more than
one idea or concept at a time.
Locke- parents and children

 Locke argued that paternal power exists for

a different purpose than political power
and the power of parents over children is
limited to the purpose of families, the
proper care and raising of offspring.
 Locke argued in favour of education at home by
parents or tutors selected by parents, and it is also
true that Locke talked about the education of
children primarily as a right and duty of parents
rather than of the state. This is a topic of no small
importance now given the substantial number of
children educated at home by parents and the
frequent conflicts between parents and schools
over policies and curricula.
 Locke’s reasons for believing parents should
play the leading role in educating children
can be divided into pedagogical reasons and
political reasons. Each type of reason
requires a different type of argument.
Pedagogical reasons simply explain why one
type of educational arrangement is likely to
work better than another in terms of the
goals of education itself.
 Politicalreasons, for Locke, are a qualitatively
different kind of reason. Locke believed that
people had rights, including the right to make
foolish choices while raising children (L, p. 34).
The question is how far such rights extend.
 Locke’s pedagogical reasons for preferring
education by parents and then focus on Locke’s
distinctly political reasons that seem to imply a
right of parents to control their children’s
education even in cases where their choices do
Locke priorities in education


Virtue was placed first in the education of a
gentleman by Locke as ‘absolutely requisite
to make him valued and beloved by others,
acceptable or tolerable to himself’
(Thoughts, s. 135). Such virtue depended
upon ‘a true notion of God’ and a love and
reverence for ‘this Supreme Being’.
 Wisdom was to be of a practical kind: ‘a
man’s managing his business ability and
with foresight in this world’ (Thoughts, s.
140). It did not mean being crafty or
cunning, but rather to be open, fair and
wise.
 Such wisdom Locke placed above the
immediate reach of children, but children
should be encouraged to strive towards this
goal by becoming accustomed to truth and
to sincerity, by submitting to reason and by
reflecting upon the effects of their own
actions. True wisdom involved the
application of both reason and experience.
 Good breeding was a subject upon which
Locke had much to say. He sought to avoid
a ‘sheepish bashfulness’ on the one hand
and ‘misbecoming negligence and
disrespect’ on the other 9 (Thoughts, s.
141). Locke’s maxim for avoiding such
faults was simple: ‘Not to think meanly of
ourselves, and not to think meanly of
others’ (Thoughts, s. 141). The best way to
 Lockehad an overall view of the curriculum
which was coupled with teaching methods.
He believed in starting with the plain and
simple, and of building, as far as possible,
upon children’s existing knowledge, of
emphasizing the interconnections and
coherence of subjects.
 Children should be taught to read at the
earliest possible age—as soon as they can
talk.
 Writingshould begin with correct holding of
the pen and the copying of large letters
from a sheet. Writing would lead naturally
to drawing, with due attention to
perspective, a most useful skill for those
who would engage in travel, so that
 Assoon as children could speak English they
should begin French, by the conversational
method. Once children could speak and
read French well, a task which Locke
envisaged would take but a year or two,
they should begin Latin. Latin, Locke
declared, was ‘absolutely necessary to a
gentleman’ (Thoughts, s. 164), and once
again he advised that it should be taught by
 Thecurriculum should also include other
types of accomplishment. Dancing was
recommended from an early age, though
learning to play a musical instrument was
not encouraged as ‘it wastes so much of a
young man’s time’
Immanuel Kant
 Kantsee human being as a unique existence
who needs education and think that human
being can be a person only with education.
Kant- Biography

 Kant was born on April 22, 1724 into a Prussian 

German family of Lutheran Protestant faith in
Königsberg, East Prussia. Baptized 'Emanuel', he
later changed his name to 'Immanuel'[33] after
learning Hebrew. He was brought up in a Pietist
household that stressed religious devotion,
humility, and a literal interpretation of the Bible.[
citation needed]
 His education was strict, punitive and
disciplinary, and focused on Latin and religious
instruction over mathematics and science
 MAN is the only being who needs education.
For by education we must understand
nurture (the tending and feeding of the
child), discipline, and teaching, together
with culture.1 According to this, man is in
succession infant (requiring nursing), child
(requiring discipline), and scholar
(requiring teaching).
 Forby nurture we mean the tender care
and attention which parents must bestow
upon their children, so as to prevent them
from using their powers in a way which
would be harmful to themselves
 Itis discipline, which prevents man from
being turned aside by his animal impulses
from humanity, his appointed end.
Discipline, for instance, must restrain him
from venturing wildly and rashly into
danger. Discipline, thus, is merely
negative, its action being to counteract
man’s natural unruliness. The positive part
of education is instruction.
 Man needs nurture and culture. Culture includes
discipline and instruction. These, as far as we
know, no animal needs, for none of them learn
anything from their elders, except birds, who are
taught by them to sing; and it is a touching sight
to watch the mother bird singing with all her
might to her young ones, who, like children at
school, stand round and try to produce the same
tones out of their tiny throats. In order to
convince ourselves that birds do not sing by
instinct, but that they are actually taught to sing,
 Man can only become man by education. He
is merely what education makes of him. It
is noticeable that man is only educated by
man—that is, by men who have themselves
been educated. Hence with some people it
is want of discipline and instruction on
their own part.
 Itis, however, difficult for us accurately to
estimate man’s natural capabilities, since
some things are imparted to man by
education, while other things are only
developed by education. It is, however,
difficult for us accurately to estimate
man’s natural capabilities, since some
things are imparted to man by education,
while other things are only developed by
What is Education?

 The prospect of a theory of education is a

glorious ideal, and it matters little if we
are not able to realise it at once.
 Only we must look upon the idea as
beautiful dream, notwithstanding the
difficulties that stand in the way of its
realisation.
 An idea is nothing else than the conception
of a perfection which has not yet been
experienced. For instance, the idea of a
perfect republic governed by principles of
justice—is such an idea impossible, because
it has not yet been experienced?
  There are many germs lying undeveloped
in man. It is for us to make these germs
grow, by developing his natural gifts in
their due proportion, and to see that he
fulfils his destiny.
 Man must develop his tendency towards the
good. Providence has not placed goodness
ready formed in him, but merely as a
tendency and without the distinction of
moral law. Man’s duty is to improve
himself; to cultivate his mind; and, when
he finds himself going astray, to bring the
moral law to bear upon himself.
  Allculture begins with the individual, one
man gradually influencing others. It is only
through the efforts of people of broader
views, who take an interest in the universal
good, and who are capable of entertaining
the idea of a better condition of things in
the future, that the gradual progress of
human nature towards its goal is possible.