Idealism

axiology The area of philosophy that examines value issues, especially in morality, ethics, and aesthetics. ethics The subdivision of axiology that examines questions of right and wrong and good and bad. aesthetics The subdivision of axiology that establishes criteria for judging that something, such as literature, music, and art, is either beautiful or not.

deductive logic The process

of thinking by which consequences or applications are drawn out of general principles or assumptions; the process of thought in which conclusions follow from premises. inductive logic The process of reasoning from particulars to generalities, from the parts to the whole, and from the individual to the general. It is the basis of the scientific method, emphasized by Dewey and the pragmatists.

FOCUS Reflect on the terms— metaphysics, epistemology, axiology, and logic—discussed in the chapter. In constructing your philosophy of education, what are your beliefs about reality, knowing, valuing, and thinking? sequential teaching of subjects to reproduce this order in students’ minds. They will use subject matter to transmit this conception of reality to students. In contrast, teachers who believe the process of how we know is most important will involve students in problem solving to construct their own view of reality. There is an important difference between transmitting knowledge about an antecedent reality that exists prior to the students’ experience and encouraging students to make or construct their own version of reality. Which of these approaches to reality will you emphasize in your philosophy of education?

Axiology, which prescribes and proscribes values—what we should or should not do—is subdivided into ethics and aesthetics. Teachers often refer to these prescriptions and proscriptions as appropriate or inappropriate behavior. Ethics examines moral values and prescribes the standards of ethical behavior; aesthetics addresses values in beauty and art. Teachers—like parents and society in general—convey their values to the young by rewarding and reinforcing behavior that corresponds to their conceptions of what is true, good, and beautiful, and what is right and wrong. Moreover, the classroom environment teachers create immerses students in a moral climate that reflects their ethical and aesthetic sensibilities. For example, sharing and respecting the rights of others are prescribed values. In contrast, cheating and bullying are proscribed as harmful, unethical behaviors.

Concerned with correct and valid thinking, logic examines the rules of inference used to order our propositions and arguments. Deductive logic moves from general principles and statements to particular instances and applications. For example, we begin with the premise that all deciduous trees seasonally drop their leaves, then state the subpremise that the maple tree drops its leaves in the fall, and finally reach the conclusion that the maple is a deciduous tree. In terms of deductive inference, if the premises are true, then the conclusion must be true. Inductive logic moves from the particular instance to tentative generalizations that are subject to further verification and possible revision. It moves from limited data to a more general conclusion. For example, (a) the earth’s temperature has been increasing over the past fifty years; (b) this global warming is due to the greenhouse effect caused by emissions from the burning of fossil fuels; (c) if we continue to generate emissions from fossil fuels, the earth’s temperature will continue to rise. Curriculum and instruction are organized on conceptions of logic. Think about the differences in teaching a science course from the two examples used.4 Does something in the subject itself logically dictate how lessons should be organized and presented to students (the deductive approach)? Or should teachers take their cues from students’ interest, readiness, and experience in organizing instruction (an inductive approach)?

Using this terminology, we now examine the philosophies of idealism, realism, pragmatism, existentialism, and postmodernism. After studying each philosophy’s key concepts, educational implications, and application to schools and classrooms, you can determine how they relate to your ideas about teaching and learning and decide if you will include them in your philosophy of education. (See Overview 6.1 for the philosophies discussed in this chapter.)

6-2 idealiSm

idealism A philosophy which asserts that reality is spiritual, intellectual, and nonmaterial. Idealism, one of the oldest Western philosophies, begins with Plato (428–347 BCE), who taught his philosophy in the ancient Greek city-state of Athens. Much later, in nineteenth-century Germany, Georg W. F. Hegel (1770–1831), a university professor, lectured to his students about a philosophy of history in which the major periods in human history represented the unfolding of the ideas in the mind of the Absolute,

4Samir Okasha, Philosophy of Science: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 18–24.