Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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. Two Major Disciplines of Anthropology
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
A. Schools of Thought in Cultural Antropology
-
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.
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
ARCHEOLOGICAL
PERIODS
Bronze Age
Neolithic
Mesolithic
14,000
(12,000 B.C.)
Pleistocene
40,000
300,000
Modem humans
Homo sapiens
Neanderthal Homo sapiens
Earliest Homo sapiens (?)
200,000
MAJOR CULTURAL
DEVELOPMENTS
Cities and States;
Social Inequality; Full- time
Craft specialist
Domestication of plants and
animals; permanent villages
Upper
Paleolithic
Middle
Paleolithic
Religious beliefs(?)
burials; Moustenan
tools
Homo Erectus
700,000
1,500,000
1.800,000
Pliocene
Earliest hominids
Australopithe-cus
Homo Habilis
Lower
Paleolithic
Hunting/scavenging;
seasonal campsites;
Oldowan tools
2,000,000
5,000,000
Miocene
Diversification of Apes
Sivapithecus
Dryopithecus
Proconsu
Earliest apes (?)
Propliopithe-cus
e.g. Aegyptopithe-cus
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
22,500,000
Earliest anthropoids
29,000,000
Parapithecids
e.g. Apldium
Ampipithecus tetonius
32,000.000
Oligocene
Earliest Primates
Purgaforius
38,000,000
50,000,000
53,500,000
Eocene
Paleocene
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
K. Domestication of Plants and Animals (Neolithic Revolution)
L. Population generally Increased after plant and animal domestication.
M. Growth of Cities and States
- The key criterion for state is the presence of hierarchical and centralized decision-making affecting a substantial population.
- Most states have duties with public buildings, full time craft and religious specialists, an official art style and a hierarchical
social structure.
- Earliest states: Southern Iraq (Sumer) in the Near East, in Mesopotamia, the valley of
- Oaxaca and later in Teotehuaca
III. The Study of Culture
A. Definition
Culture is personality writ large (Ruth Benedict). It is a sort of group personality that forms an overall cultural orientation within
which there is a considerable variation.
Anything shared by human beings.
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
C. Theories About the Development of Personality
1. Theory of Sigmund Freud- Origin of Society Hypothesis- Oedipal Complex (incest and exogamy)
2. Malinowski Matrilineal Family
3. Benedict and Mead emphasized the ways culture develops individual personality.
4. Kardiner - illustrated the presence of various personality types in a culture. Personalities differ because of the variations in cultural
institutions.
5. M. Whiting and L. Child suggest that childrearing practices develop certain personality types.
D. National character - modal characteristics of a people.
E. Objections to National Character Studies
1. Abnormal personality
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
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.
F. Theories on the universality of incest taboo
1. Childhood-Familiarity Theory-Children raised together are not sexually attracted to each other when they grow up.
2. Freud's Psychoanalytic theory-suggest that the son may be attracted to the mother but the father might retaliate against
the son. Hence such feelings must be renounce or repressed,
3. Family disruption theory (Malinowski) sexual competition among family members may create so much tension and rivalry
thus may result to disruption of the functions of the family.
4. Cooperation Theory- incest taboo promotes cooperation among family members.
5. Inbreeding theory-emphasizes tie damaging consequences of inbreeding
VII. Social Organization
A. Types of Social Organization
1. Simple social organization is one characterized by relatively few and homogenous social units and less elaborate cultural
forms. The family or the household serves as the basic social unit around which all activities revolved.
2. Complex Social Organization is one characterized by greater internal heterogeneity of social units and more elaborate
cultural forms. Differentiation in the structure of social relations is clear-cut and it revolves around specialized institutions.
B. Some Examples of Associations
Membership Criteria
Recruitment
Voluntary
Universally Ascribed
Variably Ascribed
Achieved
Non-voluntary
Age-Sets
Most unisex associations
Conscripted army
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.
F. Religious/Magical practitioners include shamans, sorcerers or witches, mediums and priests
G. Religion and Political Movements
IX. The Arts
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
A. Body Decoration and Adornment: paint or objects such as feathers, jewelry, skins and clothing. Body decorations may be used to
delineate social position, rank, sex, occupation, local and ethnic identity
B. Visual Art
Artistic Differences in Egalitarian and Stratified Societies
Egalitarian Society
Stratified Society
Repetition of simple elements Much empty or
Integration of unlike elements Little empty space
"irrelevant" space Symmetrical design Unenclosed Asymmetrical design Enclosed figures
figures
C. Music
D. Folklore
X. Culture Changes
A. Discovery and Invention
B. Diffusion
C. Acculturation
D. Revolution
E. Types of Culture Change
Commercialization
Religious Change
Economic Change
Social Philosophy
PART I: CONTENT UPDATE
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.)
Three Traditional Divisions:
1.
2.
3.
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)
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)
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 falls under this division,
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
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
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 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 Phase
Material Phase
Type of Social Unit
Type of Order
Prevailing Sentiment
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 Law 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.
D. Naturalism
Naturalism is a philosophy that denies anything as having supernaturality. 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
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
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 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.
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
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
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, It rejects liberal ideas such as freedom and individual rights,
and often presses for the destruction of elections, legislatures, and other elements of democracy.
Fascism is characterized by the following:
Emphasis on the glorification of the state and the total subordination for the individual to it. The state is defined as an organic
into whom individuals must be absorbed for them and the state's benefit. The 'total state" is absolute in its methods and
unlimited by (aw in its control and direction of its citizens.
Social Darwinism - The doctrine of survival of the fittest and the necessity of the struggle for life is applied by fascists to the life
of a nation-state. Peaceful, complacent nations are seen as doomed to fail before more dynamic ones, making struggle and
aggressive militarism a leading, characteristic of the fascist state. Imperialism is the logical outcome of this dogma.
Elitism - salvation from rule by the mob and the destruction of the existing social order can be affected only by an authoritarian
leader who embodies the highest ideals of the nation. This concept of leader as hero or superman is closely linked with
fascism's rejection of reason and intelligence and its emphasis on vision, creativeness, and the will
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
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
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 a theory of what is right
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
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:
-
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
10
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
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 all-powerful, allknowing God (Allah), 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 clings to the idea of faith plus good works.
Islam is centered on the Five Pillars of Truth: 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).
The fundamental principles of Hinduism:
A. text: Vedas
B. philosophy:
Time is degenerative- going from the golden age through two intermediate periods of decreasing goodness, to the present
age>~ and then another cycle again
Human life is cyclic: after death, the soul leaves the body and is reborn in the body of another person, animal, vegetable, or
mineral
Three classes of society {ashramas): Brahman (priest), Kshatriya (warrior), Vaisya (general populace). Later, a fourth class was
added, the Shudras after the Indo-Aryans settled into the Punjab and began to move to down into the Ganges Valley.
Three stages of life (ashramas): brahmachari (chaste student), grthastha (the householder), vanaprastha (forest-dweller). Later,
a fourth ashrama was added -* the saanyasi (renouncer)
Three debts: study of the Veads, a son. and a sacrifice
Three goals of the human beings (purusharthas): artha (material success). dharma (righteous social behavior), kama (sensual
pleasures). Later, when a fourth ashrama was added, a counterpart goal was also added moksha (released from the
entire process of samsara)
PHILOSOPHY
11
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.
Major branches of Philosophy
Metaphysics - deals with the nature of being and reality
Fundamental concepts: Substance, Essence, Truth, Space, Time, Causation, Nature of God, Origin & purpose of the
universe, Nature and purpose of Man's existence, Body- Mind relation and the Problem of Freedom.
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?
Logic-systematic treatment of relationship of ideas
Fundamental concepts: Terms. Propositions, Syllogisms, Fallacies, Validity of Arguments, Soundness of arguments and
correct thinking, Inductive and deductive thinking
12
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
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.
1.5 Role of Teacher
- The idealist teacher should be conversant with a variety of methods and should use the particular method that is most
effective in securing the desired results. Teachers are revered persons central to the educational process. They must be
excellent mentally and morally in personal conduct and convictions. They must exercise creative skills in providing
opportunities for pupils - mind to analyze, discover, synthesize and create. They should see his role in assisting the learner
to realize the fullness of his own personality.
1.6 Implication to Social Sciences Education
- Idealism is often considered a conservative philosophy of education because much of its thrust is to preserve cultural
traditions.
-
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.
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
13
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.
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.
2.5 Role of Teachers
-
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.
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 incidentallybut more often by direct instruction. Informal learning helps, but this should only be supplementary and secondary.
- 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:
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
14
1.
2.
3.
4.
The elementary school curriculum should aim to cultivate basic tool skills that contribute to literacy and mastery of
arithmetical computation.
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
Schooling requires discipline and a respect for legitimate authority; and
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 laws 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.
15
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.
4.5 Role of Teachers
- The teacher, accordingly, must be one who has mastered discipline, who is a master teacher in terms of guiding truth, and
whose character is beyond reproach.
- The teacher is to be viewed as authority and his expertise not to be questioned.
- The role of the school becomes one of training intellectual elite who will one day take charge of passing this on to a new
generation of learners.
4.6 Implication to Social Sciences Education
- Perennialism represents a conservative theoretical view centered in the authority of tradition and the classics. Among its
major educational principles are:
1. Truth is universal and does not depend on the Circumstances of place, time or person;
2. A good education involves a search for and an understanding of the truth;
3. Truth can be found in the great work of civilization; and
4. Education is the liberal exercise that develops the intellect.
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.
5.1 Social traditionalism.
Aim
- This aimed at giving all pupils an insight into their traditions, arousing interest in and sympathy toward social service, and
developing efficiency in adapting the individual to society.
- Tradition is a record of man's accomplishment and the accumulation of human experience. Each generation acquires and
transmits traditions to preserve its continuity.
- The school is seen as the agency that prepares an individual for all phases of social life.
- One of the purposes of education is the formation of common
- Habits of social life and the education of the child away from crime, drugs, unemployment, diseases and other social ills.
Types
-
Content
-
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.
The latter included training in the physical, vocational, civic, domestic, vocational, moral, and religious, all essential in the
development of social efficiency.
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.
5.2 Social Experimentalism
Aim
- The social experimentalists believe that the school prepares for a progressive structuring of the social order since social
tradition was not concerned with social change.
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
16
The school should direct the pupil in learning to meet the needs of a changing society, not only for immediate needs, but
also for future needs under changing social conditions
The experimentalists emphasized the training for intelligence in all phases of human activity. Students should learn sources
of facts and realities of social conditions and problems and learn to verify, weigh alternatives, and take sides on
controversial issues. Students' emotions had to be trained to intelligence for beneficial social results.
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
-
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.
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
17
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.
18
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.
Summary of Specific Points of the Different Themes Presented
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
Emerging Social Values Relevant to Education
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.
3. Existential Dialogue presupposes an encounter, an invitation to authentic being existential presence, and existential union to
create a community of persons.
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.
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
19
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.
8. Vigilance-critical, moral, political vigilance
Implications to Education of the Themes Presented
1. Education must be based on the supremacy of the human person, thus its aims must be the total development of man in the
context of his world.
2. Education must be a "we experience" where existential dialogues of authentic being, convergence of worlds and synergy are
possible.
3. Education should not only be viewed as an investment of human capital or consumption but a meaningful becoming borne out of
reasonable and responsible exercise of freedom.
4. Education is for personalization and socialization not only for life but for a meaningful
life.
5. The teaching profession must really be promoted in the context of the embodied spirit. The flight of teachers in terms of
economic, political, social and academic aspects must be addressed. Make teachers motivated motivators.
;
6. The affective and the emotional aspects must be developed together with the rational aspect of man. The student must be viewed
as a totality and subject fields are simply part of this totality.
World History
PART I: CONTENT UPDATE
I. NATURE, CHARACTERISTICS AND VALUE OF HISTORY
A. History is the story of man through the ages, his failures as well as his achievements
B. Nature of History
A. It attempts to assess, interpret and give recognition to the achievements of people
B. It is constant controversy because historians view events from different perspectives
C. Historical interpretations vary because events are considered in terms of its occurrence in time and place.
C. Characteristics of History as a Discipline
Content-oriented
Process oriented
Value oriented
D. Value of History
Best expressed in this saying "Knowing the past makes it easier to understand the present and less difficult to visualize the
future".
E. Elements of History
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.
II. PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD:
Primitive Times.
A. Paleolithic Age
B. Neolithic Age
C. Metal Age
III. HISTORIC PERIOD:
Traces the development of civilization.
Ancient Period
ASIA and AFRICA = cradles of civilization
1. Early civilizations developed in the river valleys
A. Mesopotamian civilization (or Fertile Crescent) - along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
B. Egyptian civilization - along the banks of the Nile River in Africa
C. Indian civilization - in the valleys along the Indus River
D. Chinese civilization - along the yellow river (or Huang Ho River)
2 Early religions originated in Asia
A. Hinduism-India
B. Zoroastrianism - Iran (formerly Persia)
C. Judaism - Israel (formerly Palestine)
D. Christianity - Israel (formerly Palestine)
E. Islamism - Saudi Arabia
F. Buddhism - India
20
21
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.
3. Supremacy of the Christian Church
a. Pope, the head of the Church was looked up to by rulers of kingdoms
b.
c.
Church was responsible in reviving education because monasteries had kept literary works and works of arts
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 administer the nationalist government there. This conflict
between Mainland China and Taiwan raised the issue of "One China or Two China policy".
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
22
23
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
E. Warrior Groups Responsible for the Unification of the Peoples of Asia
1. HUNS (from Neolithic Period to about 1200 A.D.) also known as Hsiung Nus 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
3. OTTOMAN TURKS 11TH Century
Original home near Gobi dessert, Siberia and Turkestan. "Ottoman" was derived from the third caliph Osman. They moved
westward into Europe. Great leader was Sulaiman.
Contribution of the Warrior Groups:
1. Advanced the knowledge of metallurgy
2. Evolved different political systems
3. Fostered international trading
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.
- 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
2. Indian Empire (South Asia)
- Indus valley civilization (Harappa and Mojendro Daro) was disintegrating in 1500 BC when Aryans entered north-west of
India. Aryans or Indo- Aryans were descendants of Indo-Europeans (from North Iranian plateau)
- Empire building was credited to the Mauryan Dynasty (321-183 B.C.), although to some historians, the Nanda dynasty laid
the foundation of empire building but this was cut short by Chandragupta Maurya who usurped the throne and in him the
imperial idea materialized.
- Political system was similar to that of Persia where the empire was divided into provinces for administrative purposes.
- Hinduism evolved - which was a religion that blended the aborigines (Dravidians) manner of worship and the Aryans
religious beliefs and practices.
- Brahmannical theories influenced the characterization of Kingship
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
24
Caste system was institutionalized where Indian society was divided into Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Sudra.
In 6th century BC, opposition to the rigidity of the Caste system led to the development of Buddhism and Jainism. Buddhist
propagated a new concept of Dharma which emphasized tolerance and non-violence.
During the reign of Asoka (3rd century BC) Buddhism was accepted because he himself had become a zealous follower. He
used the Buddhist religious principles for secular purposes such that his reforms were focused on humanity in internal
administration and the abandonment of aggressive war. He termed his territorial expansion as conquest of Righteousness.
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)
2.
3.
4.
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
Buddhism spread to China and to the rest of Southeast Asia and Far East
Christianity and Islamism found their way to China and other parts of Asia
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
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.
III. Great Contribution of Asia to Civilization
A. Architecture and Engineering:
- Great Walls - China (initial construction by Shin Huang Ti)
- Taj Mahal - India (constructed by Shah Jahan)
- Hanging Garden - Babylon (by Nebuchadnezzar)
- Pyramid - Egypt (in Ancient Times, Egypt was considered part of the Orient)
B. Form of Writing:
- Hieroglyphics-Egypt
- Cuneiform-Mesopotamia
- Sanskrit - India
C. Religions - all major religions and many other minor religions of the world originated in Asia
D. Empire building
E. Great Philosophers: Confucius, Lao Tzu, Mencuis
St. Louis Review Center, Inc-Davao Tel. no. ()82) 224-2515 or 222-8732
25