Philosophical Foundations

of Education

Christopher Ray M. Magtoto

MA-EM
 Philosophy
• It is the study of general
and fundamental questions
about existence,
knowledge, values, reason,
mind, and language.
ARISTOTLE
 Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher
during the Classical period in Ancient
Greece, the founder of the Lyceum
and the Peripatetic school of
philosophy and Aristotelian tradition.
He was born in 384 BC in Stagira,
Chalcidice. His father Nicomachus
was the personal physician to King
Amyntas of Macedon. Both of
Aristotle's parents died when he was
about thirteen, and Proxenus of
Atarneus became his guardian.
At the age of seventeen or eighteen,
Aristotle moved to Athens to continue his
education at Plato's Academy. He probably
experienced the Eleusinian Mysteries
(annual rites performed by ancient
Greeks) as he wrote when describing the
sights one viewed at the Eleusinian
Mysteries, “to experience is to learn”.
Along with his teacher Plato, he has
been called the "Father of Western
Philosophy". His writings cover many
subjects – including physics, biology,
zoology, metaphysics, logic, ethics,
aesthetics, poetry, theatre, music,
rhetoric, psychology, linguistics,
economics, politics and government.
Shortly after Plato died, Aristotle left
Athens and, at the request of Philip II
of Macedon, tutored Alexander the
Great beginning in 343 BC. He
established a library in the Lyceum
which helped him to produce many
of his hundreds of books
on papyrus scrolls.
The fact that Aristotle was a
pupil of Plato contributed to his
former views of Platonism, but,
following Plato's death, Aristotle
developed an increased interest
in natural sciences and adopted
the position of immanent
realism.
Aristotle was respected among
medieval Muslim scholars as
"The First Teacher" and among
medieval Christians
like Thomas Aquinas as simply
"The Philosopher"
• In general, the details of Aristotle's
life are not well-established. The
biographies written in ancient
times are often speculative and
historians only agree on a few
salient points.
• Aristotle, whose name means "the
best purpose" in Ancient Greek.
The traditional story about
his departure records that
he was disappointed with
the Academy's direction
after control passed to
Plato's nephew Speusippus.
Aristotle was appointed as the head
of the Royal Academy of Macedon.
During Aristotle's time in the
Macedonian court, he gave lessons
not only to Alexander, but also to
two other future kings:
Ptolemy and Cassander.
SPECULATIVE PHILOSOPHIES
• Logic
With the Prior Analytics,
Aristotle is credited with the
earliest study of formal logic
• Analytics and the Organon
Main article: Organon
What we today call Aristotelian
logic with its types of
syllogism (methods of logical
argument), Aristotle himself
would have labelled "analytics".
• Epistemology
Like his teacher Plato, Aristotle's
philosophy aims at the universal.
Aristotle's epistemology is based on
the study of things that exist or
happen in the world, and rises to
knowledge of the universe.
 Aristotle’s Elements
Modern state
Element Hot/Cold Wet/Dry Motion
of matter
Earth Cold Dry Down Solid
Water Cold Wet Down Liquid
Air Hot Wet Up Gas
Fire Hot Dry Up Plasma
(divine Circular
Aether — —
substance) (in heavens)
 Other Philosophies
• Psychology
“Soul”

• Memory
The ability to hold perceived experience in the
mind.
 Practical Philosophies
• Politics
Aristotle considered the city to be a natural
community. Moreover, he considered the city to be
prior in importance to the family which in turn is
prior to the individual, "for the whole must of
necessity be prior to the part".
• Ethics
Aristotle considered ethics to be practical rather than
theoretical study, i.e., one aimed at becoming good
and doing good rather than knowing for its own sake.
 Influences
• More than 2300 years after his death,
Aristotle remains one of the most
influential people who ever lived. He
contributed to almost every field of
human knowledge then in existence,
and he was the founder of many new
fields.
 Influences
• According to the
philosopher Bryan Magee, "it is
doubtful whether any human
being has ever known as much
as he did“ among countless
other achievements.
• Aristotle gave us the basic
model of scientific method as
we know it today; so, in that
sense, his ideas permeate
almost every field of study.
• His views on realism, or the idea
that reality exists independent of
the human mind and that reality
can only be known through
rigorous, systematic inquiry, is a
fundamental precept of modern
education.
• While Aristotle gave us the methodology of
education, his teacher, Plato, was probably
the first curriculum designer. As Rousseau
noted in Emile, Plato’s Republic is the
“finest treatise on education ever written.”
His outline for the instruction of the
philosopher king still permeates much of
what colleges require as part of their core
curricula for a liberal arts education.
 Famous lines of Aristotle
• Knowing yourself is the beginning of
all wisdom.
• Educating the mind without
education the heart is no education
at all.
• The roots of education are bitter, but
the fruit is sweet.