Educational Foundations 2

(FMP3742)

UNIVERSITY OF NAMIBIA
Faculty of Education

10 February 2017
PHILOSOPHY
 Course Objective

By the end of this unit, you should be able to:-

 Explain the concept of ‘Philosophy’.

 Describe the branches of Philosophy.
 Outline the different branches of philosophy.
 State the educational importance of each
branch of philosophy.
 Definitions of Terms
Philosophy: It is a compound word, from the elements
of ‘philo’ and ‘sophia’, as Greek words. Philo
means the ‘love of’, whereas sophia implies
‘wisdom’. Philosophy is simply the love of
wisdom.
Philosophy can be defined as the quest for an
understanding of the world (physical
universe) and of the human being’s place
in it.
The human being’s endeavour to engage in a constant
search for ‘correct’ answers to the roots
and causes of all that exists.
 Definitions of Terms

Ethics: The belief system that defines right and

wrong conduct.
 Philosophy

 Philosophy is the quest for an understanding of

the world, and the human beings’ place in it
(Likando, Brunette & Amukungo 2015).
 Philosophy is an informed view that a person
has about the world they exist.
 Philosophy is a combination of both tangible
and intangible thoughts about the different
aspects and objects the world presents.
 It relate to the views people have about
other people, God, animals, materials, air,
etc.
 Philosophy

 Philosophy is diverse due to the different

disciplines, such as philosophy of education,
philosophy of law, philosophy of language, etc.
 Each discipline has a particular angle of
looking at the world, what they believe, how
they act and their understand the world.
 That angle ultimately becomes their
philosophy, as a set of beliefs and principles
that guides their action in that discipline.
 Branches of Philosophy

 The views that individuals have about the

world, are expressed alongside philosophical
areas or assumptions.
 We will focus on four of these areas:
1. Metaphysics
2. Epistemology
3. Axiology
4. Logic.
 Branches of Philosophy
 The views that individuals have about the world,
are expressed alongside philosophical areas or
assumptions.
 We will focus on four of these areas:
1. Metaphysics
2. Epistemology
3. Axiology
4. Logic.
 Metaphysics is a compound word, comprised
of ‘meta’ and ‘physics’.
 Metaphysics

 Metaphysics is concerned with the existence of reality

or truth.
 Metaphysics is regarded as the foundation of all belief
systems. It attempts to answer the following questions:
(a) What is the truth?
(b) Does the truth exist?
(c) Is the truth a reality or is it simply an
imagination?
 Answers to above questions become the
fundamental worldviews of the world we live in,
e.g. how we live or act; and what we believe: what
 Importance of Metaphysics
 Metaphysics states out the reality that human beings have
subscribed to - human beings’ system of thoughts.
 In educational context, metaphysics determines curriculum
aspects such: 
(a) What knowledge do students need to know?
(b) What subjects should students be taught?
(c) What grades school should have?
(d) What assessment tools to use?
 Answers to above questions make it clear why
different schools offer different curriculums, grade
levels and assessment tools.
 Epistemology

 The term “epistemology” comes from the Greek

words “episteme” and “logos”.
 “Episteme” can be translated as “knowledge” or
“understanding” AND and “logos” (“reason”),
referred to as the theory of knowledge.
 Epistemology is concerns with the methods of
acquiring knowledge.
 If the truth is established at metaphysical branch,
how the truth is acquired forms the focus of
epistemology.
 Epistemology

 Epistemology is concerned about the sources of

knowledge (scientific knowledge, intuitive
knowledge, assumptions, guesses, etc.)
 to know the knowledge, we should have answered the
following set of questions:
(a) How do we acquire the truth?
(b) How do we claim to know what we know?
(c) Why do people believe in the specific truth?
(d) How does the truth look like?
(e) How do people validate the truth?
 Epistemology

 The questions seek justifications for the truth or

reality.
 Epistemology is concerned with mental processes
of reasoning, justification and construction of
concepts to validate the knowledge claim.
 The focus here is how humans think about the
truth agreed upon.
 Epistemology is concerned with the way of
gaining knowledge and acquiring understanding of
the truth.
 Importance of Epistemology

 Epistemology helps us to justify the established

absolute reality by determining the truth from the
false.
 It also helps us to obtain correct knowledge of the
world around us.
 Reasoning and justification helps us better
understand what we constitute as reality.
 Objectivity and reasoning play major roles in
shaping teaching and learning practices.
Epistemology: objectivity and reasoning
The following epistemological practices ensure reasoning, or
align educational practices to materials that are deemed
necessary in justifying curriculum contents.
 Adoption of specific teaching methods for specific
learning contents
 Workshops for capacity building
 Curriculum reform to get rid of obsolete content
 Professional development initiatives
 Prescribed books for particular courses
 Axiology
 Axiology is a branch of philosophy that deals with moral
values and beliefs.
 It concerns ethical conduct - what is right and wrong.
 To get the truth, how should human beings behave, what
behaviour can be considered wrong and right?
 Axiology is concerned with the following ethical
questions:
(a) What are the characteristics of truth?
(b) How does a liar differ from an honest person?
(c) What are the requirements of a good curriculum?
(d) How can you tell between a good and bad leader?
 Importance of Axiology

 Ethics help us to define best standard by which to

live and act in the world.
 Ethics help with setting up rules that dictate how one
should live and act in society.
 The society’s degeneration or civilisation is
dependent on the standards of the values it has set for
itself.
 Good values makes the society civilised whereas
bad values animate flaws that incapacitate the
ability of the society to be successful.
 Axiology
 Ethical conduct is manifested in educational settings
through various means, such as:
 Promotional policies
 Examination policies
 Human resources' Code of Conduct
 Classroom rules
 Employment conditions and service benefits

 All the above educational practices and aspects,

ensure good conduct in a manner regarded as fit and
proper/morally right for the fulfillment and attainment
of educational goals.
 Logic

 Logic is the branch of philosophy that deals

specifically with the art of reasoning science.
 Knowledge and understanding is informed by
reasoning from a subjective and an objective point
of view.
 Reasoning is divided into two main types:
inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.
 Inductive Reasoning
 This type of reasoning involves a person making
observation about an event or a process, and then
generalise what is observed.
 A person generalises by analysis, interpretation and
discussions of what is observed, eventually producing a
large body of generalised knowledge.
 Inductive reasoning is subjective in nature, implying that
a person reasons by using their own exposure and
experiences about what is being learned or studied.
Knowledge can only be well understood if it is clearly
explained and justified using personal experiences and
viewpoints. 
 Deductive Reasoning
 This type of reasoning involves a person making
observations about objects or events in a setting, and
then makes a definite conclusion about what was
observed or studied.
 A person concludes by making comparisons between
objects and establishing relationship between them.
 Deductive reasoning is objective in nature, implying that
a person reasons by using concrete evidence to justify
conclusions about what is being studied.
 Overall, logic is the branch of philosophy that helps
us to arrive at warranted judgments, either by
inductive or deductive reasoning.
 Importance of Logic

Logic is important for the following reasons

1. Free minds from regulations:
 By trying to reason, a person can exercise their
intellectual potential to look at events or processes from
different perspectives.
 Rules and regulations limits the ability of the people to
make judgements and create new knowledge.
2. Clarify concepts:
 Concepts and processes about knowledge can only be
understood when accompanied by evidence or
reasoned arguments (justification).
Thank You