BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes
BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes: A2zNotes Presents study material Long Question Answer Notes by the Latest BEd Syllabus for Philosophical and Socialogical Perspective of Education. A Collection of Question-Answers compiled and Edited by A2zNotes Well Experienced Authors Based on Latest Two-Years BEd Curriculum. Here in this post, we will provide you with Long Questions and Answers for the Definition and Meaning of Philosophy, Characteristics of Philosophy, Broad Classification of Philosophies, and Types of Philosophies.
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Philosophy is a classical discipline of the human edifice of knowledge. Under philosophy, efforts have been made to establish truth and reality. It is a metaphysical characteristic of philosophy. Philosophy provides knowledge, a value system, nature of man and the universe. Philosophy is the branch of knowledge that has for its content the quest for truth or reality of life.
Meaning of Term Philosophy
Etymological Meaning of Philosophy: The word philosophy is derived from two Greek words ‘Philos’ and ‘Sophia’. ‘Philos’ means love and ‘Sophia’ means wisdom. Thus, philosophy means love of wisdom. In this way search for wisdom or truth is called philosophy, and the man who engages himself in this search is called a philosopher.
In his famous book ‘Republic’ Plato says-“He who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and who is curious to learn and is never satisfied may be justly termed a philosopher.”
A discussion of the philosophy of education makes us enquire about the meaning of the term ‘philosophy’. It is after defining that term that we can examine the relationship between philosophy and education. From the point of view of pure philosophy, it may be stated that philosophy is that branch of knowledge that has for its subject the quest for truth. But in defining the scope of philosophy in terms of truth, we run into another difficulty which poses a problem viz., what do we mean by truth?
Plato defined termed a “philosopher’. He is a lover not of a part of wisdom only, but of the whole. Socrates called that person a philosopher whose “desire is to see life steadily and see it whole”, those who are lovers of the vision of truth.” Whatever the nature of truth, the definitions, quoted above, refer to philosophy as a branch of study related to finding out the nature of truth. It might not be possible to reach sound conclusions or to discover the truth. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
For, in that case, the process of quest would end and philosophy would no longer exist. We think of philosophy only as long as the human mind is busy with finding out the truth; the moment it does find it or even some aspects of it, the conclusions become part of science, rather than philosophy. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
Definition of Philosophy
To make the meaning of philosophy more clear, the following definition is being given:
“Philosophy and education are like the two sides of the same coin; the one is implied by the other; the former is the contemplative side of life, while the latter is the active side.”
“Philosophy is a rigorous, disciplined and guarded analysis of some most difficult problems which man has ever faced.”
“Philosophy is a persistent attempt to give insight into the nature of the world and of ourselves by means of systematic reflection.”
“Philosophy like other studies aims primarily at knowledge.” —Bertrand Russell
“Men live in accordance with their philosophy of life, their conception of the world. This is true even of the most thoughtless. It is impossible to live without metaphysics.”
“Philosophy begins in wonder. This implies the lived experience in which the wonder is rooted. We are faced immediately with the problems of explanation of comprehension.”
“Philosophy should be an experiment of which the materials are the human personality and the Truth—the last proof of which is in the knowing.”
Characteristics of Philosophy
The above definitions of philosophy reveal the following characteristics
- Philosophy begins in wonder.
- It is a quest for truth or reality.
- It is an experiment with truth.
- It is a systematization of the vision of truth
- Philosophy is the theory of education.
- Philosophy is our way of life.
- Philosophy gives insight into the nature of the universe and man.
- It is an analysis of the most difficult problems of life.
- Philosophy is the love of wisdom.
- It is deep thinking about the nature of God and the soul.
- Philosophy is mental activities based on logical and abstract thinking.
- Philosophy involves ultimate realization or actualization.
- Philosophical issues are fundamental in nature
- Life is not possible without metaphysics.
Broad Classification of Philosophies
The philosophies are broadly classified into three categories:
- Idealistic Philosophy.
- Materialistic Philosophy.
- Pluralistic Philosophy.
The main feature of these philosophies has been discussed in the following paras-
1. Idealistic Philosophy
“Philosophy”, as Horne has mentioned in one of his articles entitled Idealistic Philosophy of Education, is “the mind of a man struggling with the universe”. The human mind is anxious to know its nature. Sometimes, it does get clues to some of the phenomena and puts them under categories of different sciences. In others, it fails to get any explanation and starts first making speculations, not only as they might be but also as they might not be. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
Sometimes, the mind gets frustrated and begins to wonder if it can know anything at all; at others, it gets some partial success and becomes hopeful to get greater success. The point which has always intrigued the human mind and is still a problem is regarding the ultimate nature of truth. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
Two viewpoints have been strongly held regarding that: one attempting to define the nature of reality in terms of matter (materialism) and the other trying to do that in terms of mind (Idealism).
We will discuss these two philosophies in somewhat greater detail in the chapter that follows. Suffice it to mention here that as a school of philosophical thought ideal ism is very old and it advocates that the universe is “an expression of intelligence and will and that the enduring substance of the world is of the nature of mind, that the material is explained by the mental”.
In simple words, idealism believes that the world of a senses-the object that we comprehend through the help of our senses-is an external manifestation of an eternal, imperishable and spiritual reality that can be comprehended not by any senses but by the human mind alone. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
The diverse fugitive phenomena that we see, touch, smell, hear about or cause each day are but expressions in space and time of that reality, which is eternal and fixed. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
The phenomena change and take different shapes but that reality does not change. Such a view of the universe has been accepted in our own ancient civilization and also in many other civilizations of the past.
2. Materialistic Philosophy
Materialism, on the other hand, takes a different view of the universe and regards matter as the ultimate reality. To a materialist, the only reality is that which is proved in terms of matter which is the end of all things.
In its native form, materials assert that matter is the stuff of the universe, and, what we call the mind is also a function of the brain, which is matter and is, consequently, a form of matter. Materialism as a philosophy sprang up in ancient Greece in the conception that atoms, empty space (void), and motion were the three postulates on the basis of which the entire nature and phenomena of the universe could be explained. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
Both idealism and materialism are forms of monism that believe in the existence of reality as having one form-idealism regarding it in terms of mind, materials, in terms of matter. There have been some philosophers, however, who have accepted the dual nature of reality. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
Desecrates, the great French philosopher, was one who held that the ultimate reality has a twin aspect-mind and matter-and that, both are two sides of the same thing that cannot exist by one side only. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
3. Pluralistic Philosophy
There have, however, been many other views regarding the nature of the universe and the ultimate reality but the two views, mentioned above, have always held very strong and contrasting positions. (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
Some philosophers have rejected both them and also dualism. They have held that reality cannot be reduced to unity or even duality. We may call these philosophers pluralists believing in the plural, rather than in the singular nature of reality (idealism or materials), or in the dual nature of it (dualism). (BEd 2nd Year Meaning of Philosophy Study Material Notes)
William James and John Dewey are modern examples of pluralism. According to them, reality is not fixed, but it is still in the making, and there is not one reality but many realities as human experience finds them or, more precisely, makes them. These philosophers and those who conquer with their views are the pragmatists who do not believe in fixed-for-ever laws or realities.
Their philosophy is centered upon human experience and all their interpretations and thoughts emerge from, and converge to, the same source. Pragmatism has influenced modern pedagogy a great deal and we shall talk about it in a separate chapter.
Types of Philosophies
There are four basic philosophies which are as follows:
- Naturalism-Matter and nature reality
- Idealism-Idea and soul reality
- Pragmatism-No final reality and
- Realism-utility.