ASSIGNMENT No.

Submitted By: Sidra Saleem

Submitted To: Ateeq Ur Rehman

Roll Number: by628031

Course Code: 8609

Course Title: Philosophy of Education

Q.1 Evaluate the role of philosophy in educational policy and practice.
Philosophy of education is a general philosophical study and explanation of every aspect of
education. The phrase 'Philosophy of Education is not only a part of philosophy, but also a part
of education. It is a branch of axiology as it studies about educational value. Again, it is accepted
as a branch of education as it is the study of the purpose, process, nature and ideals of education.
William K Frankenia, the analytic philosopher of education considers it a part of axiology
because the philosophy of education questions the aims, methods and all the elements of
education related to the moral and social conditions. It is a part of education also when it consists
of normative and analytical aspects of education. The problems of philosophy of education are
not limited; it does not take a partial view of education. Instead, it comprehends every aspect of
educational process. It interprets various areas such as curriculum, context, method, learning,
teaching, motivation and others.
When the philosophy of education is considered as a part of education, it discusses only an
aspect of education, such as educational psychology, environmental education, educational
statistics, etc., which are related to different areas and share a very limited ground of education.
As a branch of education, philosophy of education is more experimental and practical but as a
part of philosophy, it is a major subject matter of philosophy. It helps in the understanding of not
only an aspect of education but of education as a whole. It is concerned with the aims of
education and the basic philosophical problems arising in the fields of education. It is a synthesis
of educational facts with educational values. The phrase Philosophy of Education has been used
to replace the phrase "Educational Philosophy'. 'Educational Philosophy' stands for
comprehensive theories of education. It also refers to the general theories which try to deal with
education, like metaphysicians deal with reality. But these historical general theories with great
merits also had considerable shortcomings.
They were often grounded on assumptions not generally acceptable and often adopted
without argument. They were seldom based on systematic research. 'Philosophy of Education on
the other hand does not elaborate general theories. It is based on analysis and criticism. It deals
with every educational problem engaged in everyday educational affairs. In its present analytical
mode philosophy of education owes its origin to the analytical work of the British philosophers.
The e philosophical method is in essence analytical, clear and critical. It is concerned with such
tasks as elucidation of concepts, logical appraisal of different kinds of statements and arguments,
validation of theories and justification of grounds of belief and knowledge.
Philosophy of education is such an activity performed on education, its concepts, theories,
beliefs and arguments. Dr. K.M. Chatty in his paper “Philosophy of Education in the Changing
World Order wrote, in the philosophy of education, both philosophers and educators who come
together should have a common concern and commitment about the nature of education that is
required to uphold the dignity of human beings. They should keep in their mind the different
values that go into safeguarding the whole humanity. It is with this broader perspective that both
philosophers and educators join together to build a philosophy of education." Therefore, the
chief activity of the philosophy of education is to bring out its nature of education and the values
which safeguard the whole humanity. DJ O'Connor defines the philosophy of education as "those
problems of philosophy that are of direct relevance to educational theory. '6 He points out that
every educational theory contains moral judgments and that some educational theories rest upon
religious claims.
This leads him to inquire
1) in what ways, if any, an educational theory is similar to a scientific theory,
2) how ethical judgments can be justified, and
3) whether religious claims are meaningful.
Education as an independent study has its own scope and function. 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, 2) normative, and 3) critical. The speculative function of philosophy of education
consists in pursuing and enquiry, forming theory about education, its causes and nature. While
doing so it tries to make a survey of the whole field. Normative functions are related to the
formation of goals, rigorously the terms and propositions involved in educational thought and
practice. Now the question arises, what are the problems ‘philosophy of education' deals with?
In his Preface to Indian Philosophy of Education R.S. Pandey mentioned some problems, which
are analyzed by the 'philosophy of education.
Though these questions are regarded as the primary questions for the philosophical analysis of
education, however, for every philosopher of education the aim is not the same. They are
contradictory in their views regarding acquisition of knowledge, character development,
individual development and social development. The philosophers who support knowledge as
the aim of education recognize knowledge as power, virtue and happiness. For others either the
materialistic development or the social adjustment is the only aim of the philosophy of
education. Few of them emphasize on the metaphysical up liftmen as the aim of education. But
if we show interest only in one side of the development as the aim of philosophy of education, it
will be the same as the old story of the six blind men and the elephant. As such, both prescribed
certain patterns of education for the gymnastics of the body and music for the soul. Therefore, it
should be remembered that in determining the aims of education no thinker is exclusively an
idealist or a pragmatist. Corresponding to different aspects of life, different philosophies and
ideologies are provided and all these ideologies are complimentary rather than contradictory. To
emphasize one at the cost of the other is to see the part and identify with the whole.
Q.2 Discuss the main tenets of Idealism and Realism. Also estimate their applicability in
current education system.
Idealist, idealized, ideal (adjective), and the ideal (noun), all of are derived from the Greek idea
which means new thought flashed across the mind. This signifies "image", "figure, form”: it can
be used in the sense of "likeness", or "copy" as well as in that of "type", "model" or pattern": it
is this latter sense that finds expression in "ideal”, and the ideal" and the derivatives are
mentioned above. When we talk about the ideal or idealism, it is not the copy of a out of the
world image or object, but it is only a type which can be a thought. It cannot beyond reality but
it can only be a fairer, nobler and the most perfect which exists in reality. It is the characteristics
of those people who respect the ideas and who pays respect the truth According to Plato, visible
world is simply a copy of a super sensible, intelligible, ideal world and consequently 'things' are
but the impress stamped on reality by that which is of a higher, spiritual nature. It is just a
technical term which was made by Plato and it has a vital and important effect on the task to be
attained and it has significance influence on the people.
It has an impressive effect on reality which help in obtaining the higher level or we can say
spiritual nature. There are two theories which are interrelated to each other, Idealism and other
is Realism. Plato is in favour of Idealism and hence known as Platonism while Aristotle is in
favour of reality and so called as Realism. Platonism is one of the oldest form idealisms and is
in favour of the idealist to long extent. Normally, it is the contrast comparison of the both the
philosophies of Idealism and Realism. Realism does not support the new concepts and thoughts
but it is in favour of the real world and supports the things as they happen which is just the
copies of everyday life. Plato is in favour of the idealism and therefore it is considered to be
more accurate and correct as idealism is more important in teaching and it helps in putting new
ideas into art.
Both, Aristotle and Plato have a vital influence on the Greek life, their life style, their style of
thinking and their actions which carries the deep moral and ethical influence on their life. On the
basis of these theories and their deep influence, convicted the first and highest principle of all
things is the one perfect spiritual which is the transcendental idealism of Plato and with which
they call God and by which means of intermediate principles, essence and form, purpose and
law, and some of the working individual which obey these principles are the visible world. So,
idealism is the doctrine philosophy which leads towards the high spiritual principles and which
lowers downs the materialism. On the base of these characteristics, idealism is being called as
the dual characteristic philosophy and it is against the single characteristic philosophy which
describes as the higher and the lower are same.
The principal philosophy of higher is against the philosophy of the lower material and again this
philosophy is against the single characteristic philosophy or doctrine. When we talk about the
older version of the idealism, it clearly indicates that there is no one which is 'One All', but there
are different individuals who have some different roles and they have some specific features and
there is certainly some alpha and omega i.e., a supermundane cause and end of the world,
Realism is the philosophy which can be described as the independent of conceptual schemes,
having linguistics practices, beliefs, etc. According to the international business point of view, it
is the dominant thinking within the international relations which is interlink with the ideology,
security, morality, reconstructions, socialism and political realm. Most of the philosophers who
are in favour of the realism, they believe in reality having strict point of view against idealism
and they are the speaking to the other minds, their past, present and future as well. Realism deals
with the universalism, morality, materialism,
thinking, and natural numbers as well. The people who believe in realism, they consider the
reality and how approximate is the reality, they also believe that whenever there will be any new
observation, it helps the individuals to come closer to each other and they are against idealism
and anti-realism. The philosopher has been discussing on the realism. While discussing, they
have been looking for the true meanings of the realism and the origin of realism. They have been
discussing this issue from so long and the history of philosophy is full of this discussion. If we
talk about the medieval interpretation and adaptation of Greek philosophy, it clearly signifies
that the origin of this term "Real' is from the medieval period and according to this philosophy,
the meaning of this word is 'something different and in present it means 'opposite'.
It should also be kept in mind that realism is the contrasting philosophy of conceptualism,
nominalism and idealism'. The philosophers who have been discussing realism have found out
the problems which a universe has been facing and these problems are being called as the
problems of universals which is a term that does not describes a single individual but it is being
applied on many things and hence it is believed that realism is the thing which really exist and it
is associated with other things and also to the world. When we consider it to be associated with
the world, we can definitely say that it is linked with Plato. It should also be considered that
conceptualism exists in this world but this is the only thing which exists in mind and moderate
realism say that it exists in some specific things where as philosophers.
when they start discussion about the nominalism, they say that universals do not exist at all and
this is to be believed that realism exists in the world from the centuries and. In its Kantian sense,
realism is contrasted with idealism. In a contemporary sense, realism is contrasted with anti-
realism, primarily in the philosophy of science. Conversational is simplicity and oneness with
nature. Idealism vs. Realism To make the clear differences, it is necessary to understand the
clearly idealism and realism. Idealism is to see things in a way as we want whereas realism is to
see the things as they happen in a current situation and what they are and how they are. Idealism
is the philosophy that describes that the current situation is being shaped into by our thoughts
while realism is independent of our thoughts but it's the existence. A person, who believes in
idealism, always looks for the good and he can be less affective while a person who believes in
realism can be more affective, Idealists are more positive whereas realists are less positive.
Idealists are more goal ambitious as compared to realists.

Q.3 Describe the characteristics of curriculum developed on the basis of

Idealism.
Idealism is a philosophical approach that has as its central tenet that ideas are the only true
reality, the only thing worth knowing. In a search for truth, beauty, and justice that is enduring
and everlasting; the focus is on conscious reasoning in the mind. Plato, father of Idealism,
espoused this view about 400 years BC, in his famous book, The Republic. Plato believed that
there are two worlds. The first is the spiritual or mental world, which is eternal, permanent,
orderly, regular, and universal. There is also the world of appearance, the world experienced
through sight, touch, smell, taste, and sound that is changing imperfect, and disorderly. This
division is often referred to as the duality of mind and body.
Reacting against what he perceived as too much of a focus on the immediacy of the physical
and sensory world, Plato described a utopian society in which "education to body and soul all
the beauty and perfection of which they are capable" as an ideal. In his allegory of the cave, the
shadows of the sensory world must be overcome with the light of reason or universal truth. To
understand truth, one must pursue knowledge and identify with the Absolute Mind. Plato also
believed that the soul is fully formed prior to birth and is perfect and at one with the Universal
Being. The birth process checks this perfection, so education requires bringing latent ideas (fully
formed concepts) to consciousness. In idealism, the aim of education is to discover and develop
each individual's abilities and full moral excellence in order to better serve society.
The curricular emphasis is subject matter of mind: literature, history, philosophy, and religion.
Teaching methods focus on handling ideas through lecture, discussion, and Socratic dialogue
(a method of teaching that uses questioning to help students discover and clarify knowledge).

Introspection, intuition, insight, and whole-part logic are used to bring to consciousness the
forms or concepts which are latent in the mind. Character is developed through imitating
examples and heroes. The purpose of education is to contribute to the development of the mind
and self of the learner. The education-imparting institute should emphasize intellectual
activities, moral judgments, aesthetic judgments, self-realization, individual freedom, individual
responsibility, and self-control in order to achieve this development. In an idealistic education
system emphasis should be placed on developing the mind, personal discipline, and character
development. A person should be literate and of good moral character. The aim of education is
to brings the child as close to Absolute Truth as possible.
All of the aims of the idealist as educator find their ground in the conception of Ultimate Reality
and the students' relation to this Reality. In idealism, the aim of education is to discover and
develop each individual's abilities and full moral excellence in order to better serve society.
More specifically, the school can take a leading role in defining and refining our knowledge of
Truth and the Absolute. The school has a responsibility to find and to train future leaders. As
will be seen, much of the curriculum for the idealist is based on the study of earlier leaders.
Certainly the distinguishing between and the development of leaders smacks of education for
followership (or subservience to the state) is found in the Gentile reforms instituted in Italy in
the 1920's.
The school, as one of the social institutions concerned with the Absolute must make judgments
as to what is right and what is wrong; thus, one of the aim of education would be to develop
morality. Another aim of education is the maintenance and transmission of the established
values of the past. Once we have established that something is good, or true, or beautiful, it is a
responsibility of the school to pass it one to succeeding generations. Along with history and
biography, the idealist curriculum emphasizes the study of the humanities. Underlying the
selection of materials is the concern for selection of subject matter that deals with ideal man and
ideal society. Thus, we find the idealists strong in their belief that the proper study of mankind is
man" and interpreting this to mean the history of the human race.
Books are the source of this subject matter, the subject matter of ideas. To understand society
and life we must study history. To understand man we must study literature and the humanities.
The idealist wants to see the entire and absolute pattern of life and, in order to do this, history
and the humanities are the most important subjects. The curriculum is based upon the idea or
assumption of the spiritual nature of man. This idea in turn leads to an idea of the nature of the
larger units of family, community, state, earth; the universe, and infinity. In preserving the
subject matter content, which is essential for the development of the individual mind, the
curriculum must include those subjects essential for the realization of mental and moral
development. These subjects provide one with culture, and they should be mandated for all
pupils. Moreover, the subject matter should be kept constant for all. The idealist tradition of
subject matter is basically literary and places its primary emphasis on the subject matter of
books, especially hose literary pieces considered the masterworks of information about ideas.
Because of the idealist's reliance on the world of the mind, their curriculum calls for little
contact with the experiential universe. The idealist educator has little place in his curriculum for
field trips and empirical or sensory data.
Idealism has been influential in education for a considerable amount of time. It is considered
conservative philosophy because of its emphasis in preserving cultural traditions. The strengths
of idealism include encouraging thinking and cognition, promoting cultural learning, and
providing for character development of students. Teachers are considered valuable parts of the
educational process who should strive to provide a comprehensive, systematic, and holistic
approach to learning that stresses self-realization. Science today has challenged idealism and
brought about challenges to idealistic principles. Science is based on hypothesis and
tentativeness, but idealism promotes a finished and absolute universe waiting to be discovered.
Idealism has often been linked with traditional religion. The weakening of religion has led to the
weakening of idealism as a philosophy. Through Plato's ruler kings, and Augustine's emphasis
on the monastic life, it has been said that idealism leads to intellectual elitism. In the past,
education was considered important for the upper classes of society, marking education as a
luxury.
Vocational and technical studies were considered good enough for the general public. Idealistic
education was considered bookish and lacking relevance. It is argued that the character
development aspect of the philosophy involved conformity and subservience on the part of the
learner. This type of character development was considered to stifle creativity and self-direction,
making students gullible and ready to accept ideas without serious examination. The emphasis
on the importance of knowledge and ideas in the idealist philosophy originally led me to believe
that much of my philosophy of education included idealistic tendencies. James Madison's quote
that knowledge is power, which sits front and center on my class webpage, seems to agree with
this premise. Because I believe strongly in project-based education as a way to have students
discover and learn new information, I also began to view the idealism in my thinking.
However, as much as I value these things and continue to believe in the importance of
continually gaining knowledge, the fact that I view science and technology as a valued part of
all education, sets me apart from the philosophy. While the idealist considered science and
technical studies good enough for the general public, I consider them an integral part of any
education. However, I do believe in the importance of teaching children to think, for not doing
so results in children with book learning and no common sense. Critics of the idealist philosophy
of education have been vocal and consistent, and there is, indeed, no lack of arguments opposing
the position both philosophically and educationally. Here then is sex of the most common
criticisms of this philosophical school.
1. Sets Unobtainable Goals
For the educator who is concerned with having the child reach out and grasp the Ideal there
are two significant problems. First, if perfection is unreachable there is very little desire on
the part of most to become perfect. For the idealist student the goals are often too far away.
Second, the idealists have set up a final goal: to know the Ideal and become part of it. This
implies a finite tend and as such means that we have a final end in view. It argues strongly
against those who take the point of view that man is infinitely perfectible.
2. Ignores the Physical Self
The body cannot be ignored. If we try to ignore the body it soon intrudes itself upon us. We
do, whether we like the idea or not, react to and fake into our mind an deal with, on the
 intellectual level, such question as whether or not we are hot, cold, hungry, tired, happy, or
sad. We will often give our greatest thought to changing or modifying our physical realm,
particularly where we are trying to avoid discomfort. In the classroom the teacher who
would forget that the student has a body as well as a mind will soon be faced with discipline
problem as youthful spirits react to bodily demands. Thus, to try to separate mental activity
from the physical and to try to place Ideas in a realm unrelated to the existent world
becomes nothing more than an exercise in futility.
3. Deemphasizes Experience Many ideas cannot have meaning apart from experience. The
ideas of heat and cold are not simply logical constructs, but ways of describing certain
sensations found only in experience. This is not meant to imply that all things must be
rooted in experience. If this were true, we would have great difficulty in dealing with the
study of sub-atomic particles, and the whole field of mathematics might well be called into
question. But, most ideas do find their roots in experience, and to deny the validity of this
experience is to make the universe sterile.
4. Leads to Totalitarianism Some of the critiques of idealism is that is discourages the
progress of science and our modern discovery. It also serves as somewhat of an elitist view
in that although the classics have merit for use in the classroom, they are not necessarily the
choice for all students. To only concentrate on the classic writings is to waste a vast amount
of wonderful knowledge that has been gained through contemporary writings and art.
Furthermore; creating a society in which students are taught to be docile and accept without
challenging those areas held to be absolute could essentially be creating an environment in
which students are subservient and quick to confirm.
It may become the very antithesis of Democracy since it argues that the best equipped for
leadership are those who are closest to the Ideal. Plato, in the Republic, sets up a perfect society
in which the leaders are the Philosopher-Kings, of the Ideal. Gentile, in twentieth century Italy,
provides another example of the dangers of what can happen when the social theory inherent in
the idealistic philosophy is put into practice in the ruling of nations.
5. Emphasizes Humanities
The idealist philosopher demands that all must conform to the laws which are the immutable
working of the Ideal. There is, in idealism, the assumption of a universal morality which will
lead to the perfect moral and ethical order. Since much, if not all, of this has an optimistic,
humanities oriented outlook, it may lead to a rejection of the whole concept of a technological
society which is mechanistic and scientifically oriented.
6. Overlooks possibility of Error Perhaps the greatest failing of any philosophical system is
that it fails to take into account the possibility that it may be in error. This is especially true of
idealism since its truth is immutable and unchanging. Pragmatism in education involves
practical lessons that have value to the lives of learners Key pragmatist theorists include John
Dewey and Charles S. Pierce A pragmatic classroom involves project-based learning play-based
learning, experimentation, and experiential learning The opposite of pragmatic education would
be what we call idealist education'. Idealist educators teach abstract ideas that aren't useful in
real life. If you only like to learn things that are relevant to your life, you might be a pragmatist.

• The origins of the term pragmatism are the Greek phrases" practice" and "action".
1. Principle of Utility Everything that students learn should have 'utility. This means that
everything should be useful to the student. A student doesn't care for learning abstract
theoretical ideas that they will never apply to their lives outside of school. Instead, a student
wants to learn things that are relevant to their lives. By making things relevant and useful,
students will be more engaged and eager to learn.
2. Principle of Interest Curriculum content should also include the students' interests. Dewey (a
key pragmatist theorist) argues that students have four interests: conversation, investigation,
construction and creative expression. Therefore, teachers should focus on creating lessons that
involve talking with one another, investigating things through experimentation, making things,
and being creative.
3. Principle of Experience Pragmatists value experience over all else. Students can learn
abstract things all day, but unless they experience those things, they may never truly learn.
Teachers should therefore create a lot of project based, experimental and experiential lessons
that help children 'learn by doing'.
4. Principle of Integration Curriculum content is not separate. Mathematics, science and
creative arts are not three different lessons. Instead, the pragmatic teacher links the curriculum
content together through a process we call 'integration'. The teacher will show students how
concepts from different subjects are related to each other and encourage a holistic understanding
of the topics they are learning. EXISTENTIALISM in as much as pragmatism is mainly an
American philosophy that evolved before the turn of the 20th century, existentialism was mainly
a European philosophy that became popular after World War II. Some of the proponents of
existentialism in American Education include Maxine Greene, George Kneller, and Van Cleve
Morris who stressed that individualism and personal self-fulfillment (Orstein &Hankins, (1988).
According to existentialists, individuals have to make their choices and decisions. Whatever we
choose varies from other individuals. They prefer to free learners to choose what to study and to
determine what is true. Furthermore, they stated that the most important kind of knowledge is
about the human condition and the choices each person has to make, and that education is a
process of developing consciousness about the freedom to choose and the meaning of
responsibility to one's choices.
Q4. Explain the natural knowledge and revealed knowledge. Epistemic
Awareness:
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy defined as the study of human knowledge." Like
epistemology TOK involves questioning our sources and the nature and accuracy of our
knowledge in the hope that we will develop a more informed understanding of what we know
and don't know That is, enabling us to become more epistemically aware. It is important because
accurate knowledge of our two worlds - the real world and the inner world - correctly informs us
of the conditions we must cope with. To know facts is to survive, not to know, or to assess one's
environment wrongly, is to lose the fight for survival. We face two serious epistemological
problems.
How can we determine which facts are true?
As human beings living in the 21st Century we are surrounded by a wealth of information but
not all of it is trustworthy, so we must find a way to double check fact-claims. We must learn
somehow to screen out the fictions but let in the facts. On what criteria can we decide w hat are
facts and what are false claims?

How can we determine which facts are important?

However, it is not enough to simply determine which facts are true, we must also consider
which facts are useful. A correct catalogue of the size and shape of every blade of grass on my
lawn may well be factually true but it will not be as useful as knowing that my lawn is on fire
and about to engulf my house. Given the overwhelming number of facts available to us, what
criteria can we use for deciding what is more important, what less? Almost everything that we
know originates from four basic sources Senses (possibly the most important) Authority
(knowledge from other sources, hopefully experts) The Senses Information from the senses is
called empirical knowledge and empiricists believe that the fundamental source of all
knowledge is our senses. Our senses are exploratory organs; we use them all to become
acquainted with the world we live in. We learn that candy is sweet, and so are sugar, jam, and
maple syrup. Lemons are not, and onions are not. The sun is bright and blinding. Glowing coals
in the fireplace are beautiful if you don't touch them. Sounds soothe, warn, or frighten us.
Through millions of single sense events we build a fabric of empirical information which helps
us interpret, survive in, and control the world about us. We have a number of different kinds of
senses:
The objective senses that tell us about the world: sight, sound, smell,
touch and taste The visceral senses, in our mouths and gut that give us the
sense of stomach ache
The proprioceptive senses, in our muscles that tell us if our fist is
clenched or not
• The balance senses, mostly in our ears that tell us if we are ... um ... balanced However, our
senses present us with a serious credibility problem. Before we start the TOK course most of us
are naïve realists people who simply accept what their senses are telling them as the truth ... but
is there any way we can actually be sure about this? Can we really trust what our senses seem to
tell us? Unfortunately the answer must be a reluctant no. Our senses do not give us a "true
picture" of the real world, they give us useful picture - a picture that is designed to help us move
around, survive in and take advantage of our world. To take a simple example: if you think
about it we know that the chairs we sit on are not actually not solid: they are made of atoms
which are actually more space than anything else. Yet our senses tell us that they are solid.
Why? Because in terms of day to day survival there is no point knowing about atoms: you need
to know that a chair will hold you up if you sit on it and that a rock will hurt if it falls on you: a
sensitive awareness of the arrangement of the sub-atomic particles of a boulder as it plummets
towards you will not do your survival chances any good.
Authority:
Other people are continual sources of information. Such information, however, is always
second-hand knowledge - or third-, fourth-, or nth-hand knowledge. It is all "hearsay." The
farther it is removed from our own personal experience, the more caution we must exercise
before accepting a fact-claim. All of our historical knowledge is acquired in this way as is most
of our knowledge of the sciences. We can't experience the past or personally repeat every
experiment, so we must trust the specialists and accept, though not blindly, the discoveries they
record for us. They key thing with knowledge from authority is that it can be double-checked
and the work of scientists and historians is continually being double checked' as other workers in
the same field (even sometimes us in our classrooms) repeat their experiments or investigations.
A healthy cynicism of sources, the development of the skills required to check facts and an
awareness of which sources are more or less reliable is a good way to ensure that the knowledge
we receive from authority is as good as it can be.
Reason:
Reasoning might be defined as the process of using known facts to arrive at new facts. In this
way Reason can help us arrive at new facts or new knowledge BUT only as long as the original
facts we put into the process are correct and the process itself is reliable. Imagine you are
travelling in Japan and you know that the exchange rate is 200 yen to a dollar, you can easily
work out that an 800 yen sushi meal will actually cost you $4. This is new knowledge (you
didn't know it before) but it only works if your original facts are right (i.e. you've got the correct
exchange rate and are correct about the cost of the meal) and if the process is right (you can do
multiplication / division properly), Reasoning generally comes in two forms:
deduction and induction.
Deduction is the kind of reasoning usually used in Maths and is the more certain of the two as it
involves drawing out' valid conclusions from previously known facts - e.g. All cats are animals,
Jack is a cat, so Jack is an animal Induction on the other hand, is usually used in Science and is
less certain as it involves jumping from some things you have observed to making universal
statements about all things - e.g. I drop this pencil and it falls, so it is likely all dropped pencils
(and indeed things) will fall. Notice that both forms are usually dependent on sensation to give
us the initial facts or ideas in the first place. The problem with reasoning is that deduction (the
most certain form of reasoning) can never teach us anything new because all the information is
there in the facts at the start, while induction (the thing that can give us what seems like new
knowledge) can't ever give us anything certain, only things that are likely to be the case.

Intuition:
Although the word intuition has connotations of the mystical or unscientific, when carefully
defined it can be considered a source of knowledge. Intuition refers to insights or bits of
knowledge which suddenly 'pop' into consciousness as our deeper subconscious chugs away
working on data that we have collected earlier. We have all probably had the experience where
the answer to a question we were previously thinking about but have currently forgotten has
suddenly popped into our minds for no reason. This is intuition and, as such, like reason, it too is
dependent on our senses to provide the raw material on which the subconscious works.
Sometimes intuition seems to be a 'feeling. We often say something like "I have the feeling he's
not telling the truth," without being sure of why. The psychologist Jung suggested that actually
this is actually a form of unconscious reasoning where your subconscious picks up on the tell-
tale signs of lying (sweating, nervous movements, etc) that are too subtle for your conscious
mind to notice and processes them resulting in the 'feeling that this person is untrustworthy. The
problem with intuition however, is that most of our intuitions are wrong and they need careful
double checking before they are trusted.
 Other Sources:
• Faith often accompanied by supernatural
revelation; Instinct;
Racial Memory / the Collective Unconscious - another idea of Jung's, that we have
cultural memories that we can all inherit and share without actually experiencing the
thing that caused the memory in the first place; Extrasensory Perception; Anamnesis
("recollection") or the remembrance of things from a past life; Spiritualism and the
Occult, such as Ouija boards, tarot cards, etc.