Republic of the Philippines

SORSOGON STATE UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
Office of the Advance Education
Magsaysay Avenue,4700 Sorsogon City

ASSIGNMENT NO.5 FERRERAS, MA. KARINA D.

Due Date: April 23,2022 MAM-AS 2

EDUC502: PHILOSOPHICAL, SOCIOLOGICAL ANS PSYCHOLOGICAL

FOUNDATIONS OF EDUCATION
Stephen Henry S. Totanes
Associate Professor V

“WHAT IS HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, SOCIOLOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY?

UNDERSTANDING THE DISCIPLINES”
WHAT IS HISTORY?
To Francesca Morphakis, PhD Candidate in History at the University of
Leeds, history is narratives. According to her, from chaos comes order. She
thoroughly explained that we seek to understand the past by determining and
ordering ‘facts’; and from these narratives we hope to explain the decisions and
processes which shape our existence. She said that perhaps we might even distill
patterns and lessons to guide – but never to determine – our responses to the
challenges faced today. History is the study of people, actions, decisions,
interactions and behaviors. It is so compelling a subject because it encapsulates
themes which expose the human condition in all of its guises and that resonate
throughout time: power, weakness, corruption, tragedy, triumph and a lot more. She
added that nowhere are these themes clearer than in political history, still the
necessary core of the field and the most meaningful of the myriad approaches to the
study of history. Yet political history has fallen out of fashion and subsequently into
disrepute, wrongly demonized as stale and irrelevant. The result has been to
significantly erode the utility of ordering, explaining and distilling lessons from the
past. 

Marcus Colla, Departmental Lecturer in European History at Christ Church,

Oxford, also gives his definition of history as the fundamentally a problem-solving
discipline. According to him though 60 years have passed since E.H. Carr first
posed the question, undergraduates still continue to find much to unpack in his
answers. Indeed, Carr’s 1961 book What is History? has enjoyed a longer shelf-life
than most works of actual history. But it is a curious fact that What is
History? remains a go-to reference for teachers and students everywhere. After all,
much of Carr’s argument and the debates to which he was contributing might strike
us now, as we attempt to answer the question, as being quaintly archaic. The interim
60 years encompass postmodernism, the rise of gender history and the ‘memory
boom’, to name but a tiny sample. Today’s students inhabit a completely different
intellectual universe. Carr’s ideas clearly resonate more with our contemporary
sensibilities than do those of his detractors, who remained wedded to the idea of an
objective historian unfettered from all current assumptions. By contrast, Carr saw
history as fundamentally a problem-solving discipline. Not only should historians
divest themselves of the illusion that they could somehow stand outside the world in
which they live, he argued. They should in fact embrace the fact that the study of the
past could be oriented to the needs of the present.

One can immediately see the appeal of such an argument today. In an

academic world where the humanities are under greater pressure to justify their
significance than ever before, studying ‘the past for the past’s sake’ no longer cuts it.
But I don’t think this is the whole story. Rather, I sense that the enduring fascination
with Carr reflects something much more fundamental in how we view the
relationship between past and present. For instance, we are surely less inclined than
previous generations to demand rigid dichotomies between ‘history’ on the one hand
and ‘memory’ or ‘heritage’ on the other. Furthermore, we’re more democratic in
who we believe history belongs to: who from the past it includes, and who in the
present can benefit from it. Each historian will view the relationship between past
and present differently. But it was Carr’s great achievement to identify the tensions
of this relationship as the very engine of the discipline itself. 

Another professor of history, Faridah Zaman gives her own interpretation

of history and according to her Histories are useful for telling us how we got
“here”’. To her, one way to attempt to answer this question is to ask ourselves what
and who are histories for? A common starting point might be that histories are useful
for telling us how we got ‘here’. Such histories might take the form of origin stories,
of relatively linear and perhaps teleological accounts – how did we come to organise
our societies and political systems in the ways that we have now, for instance – or,
as the apocryphal saying goes, a series of lessons to learn from in order to avoid the
ignominy of repetition. 
Such an understanding of history conceals within itself a more exciting and
fraught – though not necessarily antithetical – possibility. Just as we might
look to the past to better understand the myriad, complicated ways in which our
present world came to exist, historians might also set themselves the task of
illuminating worlds unrealised and of other presents that might have existed. Such
histories, counter-intuitively, help us understand our own times better either by
underscoring the contingency of the world around us or, depending on your
perspective, the enduring power of the structures responsible for foreclosing those
other paths. 

Why is it necessary for us to study History? Summarizing all given definition

we can say that history is one of the most important academic pursuits of any child’s
education.

We all live in the present and we plan for the future – but how do we
understand where we’re going and what progress looks like? To know exactly where
we are going, we first need to understand where you have come from. For that you
need an appreciation of history. History is one of the most respected and most
valuable academic subjects that we learn and appreciates. This guide takes a deep
dive into the importance of history in our lives.

WHAT IS SOCIOLOGY

Sociology is given definition as the study of human social relationships and

institutions. Its subject matter is said to be diverse, ranging from crime to religion,
from the family to the state, from the divisions of race and social class to the shared
beliefs of a common culture, and from social stability to radical change in whole
societies. Unifying the study of these diverse subjects of study is sociology’s
purpose of understanding how human action and consciousness both shape and are
shaped by surrounding cultural and social structures.

Sociology is an exciting and illuminating field of study that analyzes and

explains important matters in our personal lives, our communities, and the world. At
the personal level, sociology investigates the social causes and consequences of such
things as romantic love, racial and gender identity, family conflict, deviant behavior,
aging, and religious faith. At the societal level, sociology examines and explains
matters like crime and law, poverty and wealth, prejudice and discrimination,
schools and education, business firms, urban community, and social movements. At
the global level, sociology studies such phenomena as population growth and
migration, war and peace, and economic development.

Sociologists emphasize the careful gathering and analysis of evidence about

social life to develop and enrich our understanding of key social processes. The
research methods sociologists use are varied. Sociologists observe the everyday life
of groups, conduct large-scale surveys, interpret historical documents, analyze
census data, study video-taped interactions, interview participants of groups, and
conduct laboratory experiments. The research methods and theories of sociology
yield powerful insights into the social processes shaping human lives and social
problems and prospects in the contemporary world.

And why is it the studying sociology important? By better understanding

sociology and those social processes, wecome to understand more clearly the forces
shaping the personal experiences and outcomes of our own lives.

Sociology said to offers a distinctive and enlightening way of seeing and

understanding the social world in which we live and which shapes our lives.
Sociology looks beyond normal, taken-for-granted views of reality, to provide
deeper, more illuminating and challenging understandings of social life. Through its
particular analytical perspective, social theories, and research methods, sociology is
a discipline that expands our awareness and analysis of the human social
relationships, cultures, and institutions that profoundly shape both our lives and
human history.

WHAT IS PHILOSOPHY?

One author expressed his idea about Philosophy. According to him

philosophy is not a "Way of Life”. Every person does not have his or her own
"Philosophy".   Philosophy is not simply a theory about something. Nor is
Philosophy a belief or a wish.  Philosophy is an activity: a quest after wisdom. 
Philosophy is an activity of thought.  Philosophy is a particular unique type of
thought or style of thinking.  Philosophy is not to be confused with its product. 
What a philosopher provides is a body of philosophic thought NOT a Philosophy. A
philosopher enacts a Philosophy, a quest after wisdom.

Philosophy is not a picking and choosing what body of thought one would
like to call one's own or would like to believe in; a choice based upon personal
preferences or feelings.  Philosophy is a pursuit.  One can choose to be
philosophical. One can choose to be a philosopher.  One can NOT choose a
Philosophy. Philosophy, insofar as it may be correlated at all to a "way of Life", is a
form of thinking meant to guide action or to prescribe a way of life.  The
philosophic way of life , if there is one, is displayed in a life in which action is held
to be best directed when philosophical reflection has provided that direction; e.g.,
SOCRATES the paradigm of a philosopher.

Philosophy is an activity of thought, a type of thinking. Philosophy is critical

and comprehensive thought, the most critical and comprehensive manner of thinking
which the human species has yet devised.  This intellectual process includes both an
analytic and synthetic mode of operation.  Philosophy as a critical and
comprehensive process of thought involves resolving confusion, unmasking
assumptions, revealing presuppositions, distinguishing importance, testing positions,
correcting distortions, looking for reasons, examining world-views and questioning
conceptual frameworks.  It also includes dispelling ignorance, enriching
understanding, broadening experience, expanding horizons, developing
imagination , controlling emotion, exploring values, fixing beliefs by rational
inquiry, establishing habits of acting, widening considerations, synthesizing
knowledge and questing for wisdom.

Philosophy as a process function as an activity which responds to society's

demand for wisdom, which is bringing together all that we know in order to obtain
what we value.  Viewed in this way Philosophy is part of the activity of human
growth and thus an integral, essential part of the process of education.  Philosophy
and education have as a common goal the development of the total intellect of a
person, the realization of the human potential.

What is Psychology?

Now that we understand History, Sociology and Philosophy, Let us now

define Psychology.

According to the American Psychological Association, psychology is the

scientific study of the mind and behavior. Psychology is a multifaceted discipline
and includes many sub-fields of study such areas as human development, sports,
health, clinical, social behavior and cognitive processes. Psychology is really a very
new science, with most advances happening over the past 150 years or so. 
However, its origins can be traced back to ancient Greece, 400 – 500 years BC.  The
emphasis was a philosophical one, with great thinkers such as Socrates (470 BC –
399 BC) influencing Plato (428/427 BC – 348/347 BC), who in turn influenced
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC).
 To George Harrison t's all in the mind. In it’s primary form, psychology
studies people –who and what they are. It looks into why they act and think the way
they do and how someone can improve himself or herself.

The importance of Psychology may be traced down to a discipline that allows

people to understand more about how the body and mind work together. This
knowledge can help with decision-making and avoiding stressful situations. It can
help with time management, setting and achieving goals, and living effectively. The
science not only allows people to be more successful, but it can also impact their
health. It helps many tackle their mental illnesses so they can continue living their
lives. Psychological studies have also aided in drug development and the ability to
diagnose diseases.

After defining History, Philosophy, Sociology and Psychology, I realized how

equally important each discipline is. We cannot fully understand our whole being,
our whole existence, without understanding the principles that lies within them.
They are connected as we are connected and are one with our society and the belief,
we live in. Therefore, studying each discipline is also studying ourselves.

REFERENCES
Anglia, N. (2020). Why is it Important to Study History? Nord Anglia Education
website. Retrieved from
https://www.nordangliaeducation.com/news/2020/04/29/why-is-it-important-to-
study
Mcleod, S. (2019). What is Psychology. Simply psychology website retrieved from
https://www.simplypsychology.org/whatispsychology.html

Pecorino, P.(2004). Introduction to Philosophy . Creative Commons Attribution-

NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialsciences/ppecorino/intro_text/Chapter
%2012Conclusion/What_is_Philosophy.htm

What is Sociology?.The Department of Sociology at UNC Chapel Hill. 2022.

Retrieved from
https://sociology.unc.edu/undergraduate-program/sociology-major/what-is-
sociology