10 Modern Philosophers and their

Contribution to Education
John Locke and the Tabula Rasa

Locke (1632-1704), an English philosopher and physician, proposed that the

mind was a blank slate or tabula rasa. This states that men are born without innate ideas, and that
knowledge comes from experience and perception, as opposed to predetermined good and evil nature, as
believed by other thinkers.
On his treatise Some Thoughts Concerning Education, he emphasized that the knowledge taught
during younger years are more influential than those during maturity because they will be the foundations
of the human mind. Due to this process of associations of ideas, he stressed out that punishments are
unhealthy and educators should teach by examples rather than rules.
This theory on education puts him on a clash with another widely accepted philosophy, backed by another
brilliant mind

Immanuel Kant and Idealism

They never lived at the same time, but history always put Locke and Kant on a
dust up.

A famed German thinker, Kant (17241804) was anadvocate of public education and of learning
by doing, a process we call training. As he reasons that these are two vastly different things.
He postulated Above all things, obedience is an essential feature in the character of a
child. As opposed to Locke, he surmises that children should always obey and learn the virtue of duty,
because childrens inclination to earn or do something is something unreliable. And transgressions
should always be dealt with punishment, thus enforcing obedience.
Also, he theorized that man, naturally, has a radical evil in their nature. And learning and duty can erase
this.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Emile

Plato said that each individual is born with skills appropriate to different castes,
or functions of society. ThoughRousseau (1712-1778), a Genevan intellect and writer, paid respects to
the ancient philosopher, he rejected this thinking. He believed that there was one developmental
procedure common to man; it was a built-in, natural process which the main behavioral manifestation is
curiosity.
On his book, Emile, Rousseau outlines the process of an ideal education through a hypothetical boy of
the titular name, from twelve years of age to the time he marries a woman. Critics said this work of his
foreshadowed most modern system of education we have now.

Mortimer J. Adler and the Educational Perrenialism

Adler (1902- 2001) was an American philosopher and educator, and a

proponent of Educational Perennialism. He believed that one should teach the things that one deems
to be of perpetual importance. He proposed that one should teach principles, not facts, since details of
facts change constantly. And since people are humans, one should teach them about humans also, not
about machines, or theories.
He argues that one should validate the reasoning with the primary descriptions of popular
experiments. This provides students with a human side to the scientific discipline, and demonstrates the
reasoning in deed.

William James and Pragmatism

William James (1842-1910), an American psychologist and philosopher,

ascribed to the philosophy of pragmatism. He believed that the value of any truth was utterly dependent
upon its use to the person who held it. He maintained that the world is like a mosaic of different
experiences that can only be interpreted through what he calls as Radical empiricism.
This means that no observation is completely objective. As the mind of the observer and the act of
observing will simply just affect the outcome of the observation.

John Dewey and the Progressivism

Dewey (1859-1952), an American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer, was a proponent
of Educational Progressivism.
He held that education is a participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race, and
that it has two sides; the psychological, which forms the basis of the childs instincts, and the sociological,
on which the instinct will be used to form the basis of what is around him. He postulated that one cannot
learn without motivation.

Nel Noddings and the Ethics of Care

A notable American feminist, educationalist, and philosopher, Noddings (1929-Present) is best known in
her work Ethics of Care .
The Ethic s of Care establishes the obligation, and the sense, to do something right when others address
us. We do so because either we love and respect those that address us or we have significant regard for
them. In that way, the recipients of care must respond in a way that authenticates their caring has been
received.
The same goes for education. As teachers respond to the needs of students, they may design a
differentiated curriculum because as teachers work closely with students, they should respond to the
students different needs and interests. This response should not be based on a one time virtuous
decision but an ongoing interest in the students welfare.

Jean Piaget and the Genetic Epistemology

Piaget (1896-1980), a Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher, was

recognized for his epistemologicalstudies with children, and the establishment of Genetic
epistemology. It aims to explain knowledge, on the basis of its history, its sociogenesis, and
particularly, the psychological origins of the notions and operations upon which it is based.
Piaget concluded he could test epistemological questions by studying the development of thought and
action in children. Because of this, he created Genetic epistemology with its own approaches and
questions.

Allan Bloom and The Closing of the American Mind

American philosopher, classicist, and academic Allan David Bloom (19301992) is notable for his criticism of contemporary American higher education in his bestselling 1987
book, The Closing of the American Mind.
He stresses how higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of todays students.
For him, this failure of contemporary liberal education lead to impotent social and sexual habits of
todays students and that commercial pursuits had become more highly regarded than love, the
philosophic quest for truth, or the civilized pursuits of honor and glory.

Rudolf Steiner and the Anthroposophy

Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (1 861-1925) was an Austrian philosopher and

social reformer, and founder ofAnthroposophy. His philosophy highlights a balanced development of
cognitive, artistic, and practical skills.
He divides education into three developmental stages. Early childhood, where teachers offer practical
activities and a healthy environment. Elementary, which is primarily arts-based, centered on the teachers
creative jurisdiction. And Secondary, which seeks to develop the judgment, reasoning, and practical
idealism.
INFLUENCE OF PHILOSOPHY ON THE CURRICULUM
THE RESPONSIBILTY OF EDUCATING THE YOUTH, OF PREPARING TOMORRWOWS
GENERATION OF LEADERS BY INSTILLING IN THEM A LIFE LONG FOR LEARNING IS NOT AN EASY
TASK BUT IT IS THE TASK OF REAL EDUCATOR.
ACCEPTING THIS CHALLENGE, TEACHERS SHOULD GRAPPLE WITH THE FUNDAMENTAL
ISSUE OF CURRICULUM CONTENT AND AIMS AND FUNCTIONS OF SCHOOLING.
IN DEVELOPING A CURRICULUM (WHETHER IN A SPECIFIC SUBJECT AREA, OR MORE
BROADLY AS THE WHOLE RANGE OF OFFERINGS IN AN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION) A NUMBER OF
DIFFICULT DECISIONS NEED TO BE MADE. ISSUES SUCH AS THE PROPER SEQUENCING OF TOPICS
IN THE CHOSEN SUBJECT, THE TIME ALLOTMENT FOR EACH TOPIC, THE LABORATORY WORK OR
ISSUES THAT ARE BEST RESOLVED EITHER BY EDUCATIONISTS WITH DEPTH OF EXPERIENCE WITH
THE TARGET AGE GROUP OR BY EXPERTS IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING. THE VALIDITY OF
THE JUSTIFICATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN GIVEN FOR INCLUDING PARTICULAR SUBJECTS IN THE
OFFERINGS OF FORMAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS SHOULD ALSO BE GIVEN SERIOUS
CONSIDERATION.
PHILOSOPHERS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
PART I. IDEALISM

1.

IDEALISM REALITY IS A WORLD WITHIN A PERSONS MIND.

TRUTH IS IN THE CONSISTENCY OF IDEAS.
GOODNESS IS AN IDEAL STATE TO STRIVE TO ATTAIN.
PLATO VIEWED LEARNING AS THE SOULS REDISCOVERY OF PREVIOUSLY HELD
KNOWLEDGE.

A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
2.

3.
A.
B.
C.
D.
4.

5.
6.
A.
B.
7.
8.
9.

IDEAS CONSTITUTE THE REAL WORLD

OPENED HIS OWN SCHOOL KNOWN AS ACADEMY(ACADEMIA)
MOST FAMOUS WORKS ARE THE REPUBLIC AND THE DIALOGUE
THE ULTIMATE AIM OF EDUCATION IS THE HAPPINESS OF THE INDIVIDUAL AND WELFARE OF THE
STATE
INTELLECTUAL ABILITY.
ARISTOTLE PEOPLE LEARNS BY APPLYING REASON AND OBSERVATION TO THE NATURAL
WORLD AROUND THEM. HIS BEST KNOWN CONTRIBUTION TO EPISTEMOLOGY WAS THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SYLLOGISM. THE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION IS TO LIBERATE THE MALE MIND
THROUGH RATIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD.
RENE DESCARTES HIS PHILOSOPHY WAS KNOWN AS THE CARTESSIAN PHILOSOPHY.
HIS BASIC PROPOSITION WAS (COGNITO ERGO SUM) I THINK THEREFORE I AM
THE WORLD CONSITED OT TWO KINDS OF SUBSTANCES: THINKING SUBSTANCE(MIND) AND
EXTENDED SUBSTANCE(MATTER)
FATHER OF DUALISM; DIVIDED BRAIN AND MIND INTO SEPARATE BUT EQUAL PARTS
COMPARED THE BRAIN TO A MACHINE.
BENEDICT DE SPINOZA HELD THAT PEOPLES HIGHEST HAPPINESS CONSISTS IN COMING
TO UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE THE TRUTH THAT THEY ARE TINY PARTS OF AN ALLINCLUSIVE, PANTHEISTIC GOD.
GOTTFRIED WILHELM VON LEIBNIZ INTRODUCED THE CONCEPT OF MONADISM.
GEORGE BERKELEY WROTE THE PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE
TO BE IS TO BE PERCEIVED.
THINGS EXIST EVEN WHEN NOBODY PERCEIVES THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE BEING THOUGHT
ABOUT BY GOD.
IMMANUEL KANT THERE ARE UNIVERSAL MORAL LAWS, THE IMMORALITY OF THE SOUL.
GEORG HEGEL THE WORD DIALECTTIC BEST FITS HIS LOGIC.
HEGELIAN TRIAD THESIS(THE IDEAS); ANTHITHESIS(OTHERNESS OF THE IDEAS;
SYNTHESIS MIND OR SPIRIT.
PHILOSOPHERS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
PART II. NATURALISM
NATURALISM TRUTH CAN BE DISCOVERED ONLY THROUGH NATURE.

1.
2.

THALES POSTULATED WATER AS THE COSMIC STUFF COMPRISING THE UNIVERSE.

ANAXIMENES POSTULATED AIR AS THE FUNDAMENTAL SUBSTANCE SINCE AIR IS THEE

3.

MOST MOBILE OF ALL ELEMENTS.

DEMOCRITUS AND LEUCIPPUS EXPLAINED THE WORLD USING THE COMMON SENSE

4.

APPROACH OF REDUCING NATURE INTO TWO SIMPLE THINGS: EMPTY SPACE AND ATOMS
EPICURUS BELIEVED IN THE ENJOYMENT OF THE SIMPLE RHYTHM EXISTING IN THE LIFE

5.

OF MAN AND NATURE.

LUCRETIUS POSTULATED AN EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT WHICH FOLLOWED THE

6.

HURLING TOGETHER OF ATOMS TO FORM THE EARTH AND OTHER PLANETS.

MONTAIGNE - FORERUNNER OF NATURALISM IN EDUCATION,

7.
8.

JOHN LOCKE THEORIST OF NATURALISM

BASEDOW BROUGHT NATURALISM INTO THE SCHOOL.

EXPONENTS OF NATURALISM
SPENCER
ENGLAND
DEWEY
ORATA
9.

UNITED STATES
PHILIPPINES

THOMAS HOOBES
EUROPE
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU MAIN EXPONENT OF ROMANTIC NATURALISM
HIS BOOKS EMILE HE EMPHASIZED THAT EVERYTHING IS GOOD AS IT COMES IN THE HAND OF
MAN.
REALISM BELIEVES THAT EDUCATION SHOULD TRANSMIT CULTURE, DEVELOP, HUMAN NATURE,
AND PROVIDE MAN WITH THE BASIC EDUCATION NEEDED FOR HIS SURVIVAL.
ARISTOTLE IN HIS PHYSICS, HE STATED THE NATURE IS THE STARTING POINT FOR
PHILOSOPHIZING AND DOES NOT NEED TO HAVE ITS OWN EXISTENCE PROVEN.
ST. THOMAS AQUINAS BELIEVED IN THE REALITY OF MATTER AS DESCRIBED IN HIS SUMMA
CONTRA GENTILES
THE PHYSICAL WORLD IS REAL.
JOHN AMOS COMENIUS THE MIND OF MAN IS LIKE A SPHERICAL MIRROR SUSPENDED IN AROOM
WHICH REFLECTS IMAGES OF ALL THINGS AROUND IT.
BARUCH SPINOZA THERE IS A SUBSTANCE WHICH EXISTS ETERNALLY AND INFINITELY, IS
ESTENDED IN TIME AND SPACE AND THERE IS NO THOUGHT APART FROM IT.
JOHN LOCKE - AT BIRTH,THE MIND MAY BE COMPARED TO A BLANK SHEET OF PAPER UPONEDS
TO WHICH THE WORLD THEN PROCEEDS TO WRITE ITS IMPRESSIONS (TABULA RASA)
IMMANUEL KANT BELIEVED THAT OUR SENSORY EXPERIENCES AND PERCEPTIONS ARE
REPRESENTATIONS OF THE EXTERNAL WORLD AND NOT DIRECT PRESENTATIONS OF IT.
JOHANN FRIEDRICH HERBART MIND IS NOT AN ACTIVE AGENT WHICH PRODUCES CHANGES IN
THE WORLD SURROUNDING IT.
WILLIAM JAMES A PLURALIST, HE BELIEVED THAT THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF QUALITIES
SUBSTANCES OR ESSENCES WHICH EXIST IN TIME AND SPACE.

PRAGMATISM ALL LEARNING BEGINS IN EXPERIENCE. EDUCATION IS A MEANS WHICH SOCIETY

RENEWS ITSELF.

JOHN DEWEY HIS PHILOSOPHY HAS BEEN LABELED PRAGMATIC BECAUSE IT S HOLDS THAT THE
CRITERION OF THE TRUTH AND GOODNESS OF A THING IS ITS WORKABILITY ACCORDING TO A
GIVEN PURPOSE.
EDUCATION IS LIFE
EDUCATION IS GROWTH
EDUCATION IS A SOCIAL PROCESS
EDUCATION IS A RECONSTRUCTION OF HUMAN EXPERIENCES.

1.
2.
3.
4.

FOUR MAJOR PHILOSOPHIES

NATURALISM
IDEALISM
REALISM
PRAGMATISM

1.
2.
3.
4.

FORMS OF NATURALISM
BIOLOGICAL NATURALISM
PSYCHOLOGICAL NATURALISM
SOCIOLOGICAL NATURALISM
ROMANTIC NATURALISM

1.
2.
3.
4.

IDEALISM TRUTH OR REALITY EXIST IN IDEAS OR IN THE SPIRIT OR IN THE MIND.

FOUR FACTORS IN THE IDEALIST INSPIRED EDUCATION
THE TEACHER
IMMITATION
INTEREST, EFFORT DISCIPLINE,
SELF ACTIVITY
FOUR FORMS OF REALISM
SCHOLASTIC REALISM
HUMANISTIC OR LITERARY REALISM
SOCIAL REALISM
SENSE REALISM

1.
2.
3.
4.

DR. BROUDY DESCRIBES THE LEARNER BY ELLABORATINGFOUR PRINCIPLES WHICH COMPRISE

THE ESSENCE OF HUMAN SELF:
APPETITIVE PRINCIPLE
PRINCIPLE OF SELF DETERMINATION
PRINCIPLE OF SELF-REALIZATION
PRINCIPLE OF SELF-INTEGRATION

1.
2.
3.
4.

PRAGMATISM
MUST APPROACH EDUCATION AS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON.
PROGRESSIVISM
IS AN EQUALLY NEW APPROACH TO THE PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION LIKE PRAGMATISM, IT
CLAIMS THAT THE CHILDS GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AS AN INDIVIDUAL DEPEND ON HIS
EXPERIENCES AND SELF ACTIVITY.

PRINCIPLES OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

-

DRAWS FROM A WEALTH OF PROVEN RESEARCH AND CONCEPTS FROM EARLY CHILDHOOD
PROFESSIONALS

1.

EMERGENT CURRICULUM

2.
3.

HANDS ON, CONCRETE MANIPULATIVE

EXPERIMENTAL LEARNING

4.
5.

SPIRAL APPROACH
MULTIPLE APPROACH

6.
7.

CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH
DEVELOPMENTALLY APPROACH

ntroduction

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Philosophy of Education is a label applied to the study of

the purpose, process, nature and ideals of education. It can be considered a branch
of both philosophy and education. Education can be defined as
the teaching and learning of specificskills, and the imparting
of knowledge, judgment and wisdom, and is something broader than the societal
institution of education we often speak of.
Many educationalists consider it a weak and woolly field, too far removed from
the practical applications of the real world to be useful. But philosophers dating back
to Plato and the Ancient Greeks have given the area much thought and emphasis, and
there is little doubt that their work has helped shape the practice of education over the
millennia.

Ancient Era

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Plato is the earliest important educational thinker, and education is an essential

element in "The Republic" (his most important work on philosophy and political theory,
written around 360 B.C.). In it, he advocates some rather extreme methods: removing
children from their mothers' care and raising them as wards of the state,
and differentiating children suitable to the variouscastes, the highest receiving the
most education, so that they could act as guardians of the city and care for the less
able. He believed that education should be holistic, including facts, skills, physical
discipline, music and art. Plato believed that talentand intelligence is not distributed
genetically and thus is be found in children born to all classes, although his proposed
system of selective public education for an educated minority of the population does
not really follow a democratic model.
Aristotle considered human nature, habit and reason to be equally important forces to
be cultivated in education, the ultimate aim of which should be to produce good and
virtuous citizens. He proposed that teachers lead their students systematically, and
that repetition be used as a key tool to develop good habits, unlike Socrates' emphasis
on questioning his listeners to bring out their own ideas. He emphasized the balancing
of the theoretical and practical aspects of subjects taught, among which he explicitly
mentions reading, writing, mathematics, music, physical education, literature, history,
and a wide range of sciences, as well as play, which he also considered important.

During the Medieval period, the idea of Perennialism was first formulated by St.
Thomas Aquinas in his work "De Magistro". Perennialism holds that one should teach
those things deemed to be of everlasting importance to all people everywhere,
namely principles and reasoning, not just facts (which are apt to change over time),
and that one should teach first aboutpeople, not machines or techniques. It was
originally religious in nature, and it was only much later that a theory of secular
perennialism developed.

Modern Era

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During the Renaissance, the French skeptic Michel de Montaigne (1533 - 1592) was
one of the first to critically look at education. Unusually for his time, Montaigne was
willing to question the conventional wisdom of the period, calling into question the
whole edifice of the educational system, and the implicit assumption that universityeducated philosophers were necessarily wiser than uneducated farm workers, for
example.
In the late 17th Century, John Locke produced his influential "Some Thoughts
Concerning Education", in which he claimed that a child's mind is a tabula rasa (or
"blank slate") and does not contain any innate ideas. According to Locke, the mind is to
be educated by a three-pronged approach: the development of a healthy body; the
formation of a virtuous character; and the choice of an appropriate academic
curriculum. He maintained that a person is to a large extent a product of his
education, and also pointed out that knowledge and attitudes acquired in a child's
early formative years are disproportionately influential and have important
and lasting consequences.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in the 18th Century, held that there is one developmental
process, common to all humans, driven by natural curiosity which drives the child to
learn and adapt to its surroundings. He believed that all children are born ready to
learn from their surroundings so as to grow into virtuous adults, but due to the malign
influence of corrupt society, they often fail to do so. To counter this, he
advocated removing the child from society during education. He also believed that
human nature could be infinitely developed through a well-thought pedagogy.
John Dewey was an important progressive educational reformer in the early part of
the 20th Century. For Dewey, it was vitally important that education should not be the
teaching of mere dead fact, but that the skills and knowledge which students learn
beintegrated fully into their lives as persons, citizens and human beings, hence his
advocacy of "learning-by-doing" and the incorporation of the student's past
experiences into the classroom.
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was another very influential educational reformer, and
his Waldorf Education model emphasizes a balance of developing the intellect (or
head), feeling and artistic life (or heart) and practical skills (or hands), with a view to
producing free individuals who would in turn bring about a new, freer social order.

Other important philosophers of education during the 20th Century include the
Italian Maria Montessori (1870 - 1952), the SwissJean Piaget (1896 - 1980) and the
American Neil Postman (1931 - 2003).

LESSON 6. MANUEL L. QUEZON

LESSON 6.
THE TWENTIETH CENTTURY FILIPINO THINKERS AND EDUCATORS
MANUEL L. QUEZON QUEZONS PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION IS ESSENTIALLY LOCAL
OR PHILIPPINE IN ORIENTATION. ACCORDING TO HIM THERE ARE TWO OBJECTIVES OF
PHIL. EDUC.
1.
2.

EDUCATION FOR BETTER CITIZENSHIP

EDUCATION AS A MEANS OF LIVELIHOOD
HE FELT THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL SPIRITUAL RECONSTRUCTION. HE ENCOURAGED
THE ADOPTION OF A SOCIAL CODE THAT CAN BE EXPLAINED IN SCHOOLS, PREACHED
FROM THE PULPITS, AND TAUGHT IN THE STREETS AND IN THE REMOTE LANDS OF THE
COUNTRY. THE FOLLOWING CODE OF ETHICS WHICH WAS INCORPORATED EXECUTIVE
ORDER NO. 217 DATED AUGUST 19, 1939, CONSISTED OF SIXTEEN CIVIC AND ETHICAL
PRINCIPLES.

1.
2.

HAVE FAITH IN GOD WHO GUIDES THE DESTINIES OF MEN AND NATIONS;
LOVE, DEFEND, AND BE READY TO SACRIFICE YOURSELF FOR YOUR COUNTRY;

3.

RESPECT THE CONSITUTION AND THE GOVERNMENT WHICH IS ESTABLISHED FOR

YOUR SAFETY AND WELFARE AND OBEY ITS LAWS;

4.
5.

PAY YOUR TAXES WILLINGLY AND PROMPTLY;

SAFEGUARD THE SANCTITIY OF THE BALLOT AND ABIDE BY THE RULE OF THE

MAJORITY;
6.
LOVE AND RESPECT YOUR PARENTS;
7.
8.

VALUE YOUR HONOR AS YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE;

BE FRUITFUL, HONEST, JUST, CHARIT; ABLE AND COURTEOUS, AND DIGNIFIED IN

THOUGHT AND ACTION;

9.
LEAD A CLEAN AND FRUGAL LIFE, WITHOUT FRIVOLITY AND PRETENSE;
10.
11.

LIVE UP TO THE NOBLE TRADITIONS OF OUR HEROES;

BE INDUSTRIOUS AND VALUE THE DIGNITY OF LABOR;

12.
13.

BE SELF RELIANT AND PERSEVERE IN PURSUING YOUR LEGITIMATE AMBITION;

LOVE YOUR WORK AND DO NOT DO FOR TOMMORROW WHAT YOU CAN DO TODAY;

14.
15.

PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE;

PATRONIZE PHILIPPINE- MADE PRODUCTS; AND

16.

USE AND DEVELOP WISELY OUR NATURAL RESOURCES AND DO NOT ALLOW
YOUR CITIZENSHIP TO BE EXPLOITED BY OTHERS.