Answer on Philosophy and relationship with education

Q1.What do you understand by Philosophy? Explain relationship between Philosophy and Education. Also discuss functions and importance of philosophy.                                                                                                                                                             (3+3+4)

आप दर्शन से क्या समझते है? दर्शन और शिक्षा के बिच सम्बन्धी की व्याख्या करो! दर्शन के कार्य और महत्व पर चर्चा भी कीजिए.

Ans. Philosophy is a way of thinking about the world, the universe, and society. It works by asking very basic questions about the nature of human thought, the nature of the universe, and the connections between them. Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with reality, existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. ... The word "philosophy" comes from the Ancient Greek (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom"

Philosophy is a way of thinking about certain subjects such as ethics, thought, existence, time, meaning and value. ... The hope is that by doing philosophy we learn to think better, to act more wisely, and thereby help to improve the quality of all our lives.

Philosophy of education is the branch of applied or practical philosophy concerned with the nature and aims of education and the philosophical problems arising from educational theory and practice.

Relationship between Philosophy and Education: Philosophy is in reality the theory of education. In other words, education is the dynamic side of philosophy, or application of the fundamental principles of philosophy. Philosophy formulates the method, education its process. Philosophy gives ideals, values and principles, those ideals, values and principles.

Acc. to the 'Modern Father of Experiential Education,' Dewey's philosophy of learning through experience went against both traditional and progressive education and focused on experiential education, encouraging educators to provide quality educational experiences that would influence students' future decisions.

Principles and values of life learnt through education and experience gives birth to philosophy in one's life.Philosophy lays the foundation of leading one's life based on our principles.Education is the source of learning and philosophy it's applications in our daily life.

Education and philosophy, the two disciplines, are very closely related and in some areas they overlap each other. It is quite often said that, 'Philosophy and Education are two sides of the same coin'. 'Education is the dynamic side of philosophy'.

Education is practical in nature and philosophy is theory. It is not vague to say that theory and practical are identical. The educator, who has to deal with the real facts of life, is different from the arm chair theorist who is busy in speculation.

Philosophy is a way of life. In a wider sense philosophy is a way of looking at life, nature and truth. It sets up the ideals for an individual to achieve them in his life time.

Education on the other hand is the dynamic side of philosophy. It is the active aspect and the practical means of realising the ideals of life. Education is a sacred necessity of life, both from the biological and sociological point of view.

1.    Both, Philosophy and Education are based on the conceptions of wisdom, ideology and critical enquiry, the difference being that philosophy is contemplative in nature while education is an active process.

2.    The philosophy of education is that branch of knowledge which is in constant quest of truth and those who are lovers of visions of truth are called philosophers. Thus a philosopher naturally becomes an educationist.

3.    Every man has his own philosophy of life and it is natural that he will seek to influence and convince or convert others to his way of thinking. And education is nothing but this process of influencing, convincing and converting. Thus education is a practical means of realizing the philosophical idea of life and it is fundamentally dependent on philosophy.

4.    Philosophy toward life and values in general determine what we feel towards the role of education in shaping a child’s character. For eg. Earlier, corporal punishment was a preference whereas now it is an aversion. Thus we can see that the setting and subsequent changing of a curriculum is highly influence by philosophy held by people at a particular point of time.

5.    The inter dependence of philosophy and education can be found in lives and teachings of all great thinkers. Eg. Socrates and Dewey in the West to Yajnavalkya and Mahatma Gandhi in the East. And Plato’s philosophy in the Republic is universally accepted as a classical treatise on education.

 Thus to conclude, James Ross rightly pointed out that education and philosophy are two sides of the same coin.

The functions of educational philosophy are:

The scope of the philosophy of education includes the critical evaluation of aims, ideas and education, analysis of human nature, educational values, the theory of knowledge and the relationship of education and social progress. It seems to perform three functions:

1) speculative, The speculative function of philosophy of education consists in pursuing and enquiry, forming theory about education, its causes and nature. 

2) normative, In philosophy, normative statements make claims about how things should or ought to be, how to value them, which things are good or bad, and which actions are right or wrong. ... Normative statements and norms, as well as their meanings, are an integral part of human life.

3) critical. The process of critical thinking is even applied to philosophy itself, giving us guidelines for rigorously asking questions.

Importance of Philosophy on Education

Philosophy brings the important questions to the table and works towards an answer. It encourages us to think critically about the world; it is the foundation of all knowledge and when utilized properly, can provide us with huge benefits.”

Philosophy students learn how to write clearly, and to read closely, with a critical eye; they are taught to spot bad reasoning, and how to avoid it in their writing and in their work. ... The most important reason to study philosophy is that it is of enormous and enduring interest.

To conclude Philosophy contributes to the development of educational theory and practice.  Education gives necessary understanding of philosophy. Some definite principles of life formulated by philosophy need to be translated into action through education. Education gives a practical shape to the aim of philosophy.