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Idealism

Course

philosophy

12 Documents
Students shared 12 documents in this course
Academic year: 2020/2021
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Technische Universiteit Delft

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Idealism , one of the oldest of the traditional philosophies, goes back to Plato, who developed idealist principles in ancient Athens. In Germany, Georg W. F. Hegel created a comprehensive philosophical worldview based on idealism, and in the United States, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau developed a transcendentalist variety of idealism. Friedrich Froebel based his kindergarten theory on idealist metaphysics. Asian religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism also rest on the spiritual outlook associated with idealism.

Key Concepts

Metaphysics. Idealists, holding that only the mental or spiritual is ultimately real, see the universe as an expression of a highly generalized intelligence and will—a universal mind. The person's spiritual essence, or soul, is the permanent aspect of human nature that provides vitality and dynamism. This mental world of ideas is eternal, permanent, regular, and orderly. Truth and values are absolute and universal. Idealists, such as the transcendentalists, have used the concepts of the macrocosm and the microcosm to explain their version of reality. Macrocosm refers to the universal mind, the first cause, creator, or God. Regardless of the particular name used, the macrocosmic mind is the whole of existence. It is the one, all-inclusive, and complete self of which all lesser selves are parts. The universal, macrocosmic mind is continually thinking and valuing. The microcosm is a limited part of the whole—an individual and lesser self. But the microcosm is of the same spiritual substance as the macrocosm. Epistemology. Idealism emphasizes the recognition or reminiscence of ideas that are latent—already present but not evident—in the mind. Such ideas are a priori; that is, they concern knowledge that exists prior to and independent of human experience about them. Through introspection the individual examines his or her own mind and finds a copy of the macrocosmic mind. Since what is to be known is already present in the mind, the teacher's challenge is to bring this latent knowledge to consciousness. The goal of education is to help students arrive at a broad, general, and unifying perspective of the universe. Idealist teachers prefer a hierarchical curriculum based on traditional disciplines or subject matter. At the top of the hierarchy are the most general

disciplines, philosophy and theology. These general and abstract subjects transcend the limitations of time, place, and circumstance, and they transfer to a wide range of situations. Mathematics is valuable, too, because it cultivates the power to deal with abstractions. History and literature also rank high as sources of moral and cultural models. Somewhat lower in the curriculum, the natural and physical sciences address particular cause-and-effect relationships. Language is important because it is an essential tool at all levels of learning. For the idealist, the highest level of knowledge recognizes the relationships among all these subject matters and integrates them. Axiology. Because idealists see the universe in universal and eternal terms, they prescribe values that are unchanging and applicable to all people. Thus ethical behavior reflects the enduring knowledge and values of human culture. Philosophy, theology, history, literature, and art are rich sources for transmitting this heritage of values. This kind of education requires that students be exposed to worthy models, especially the classics—the great works that have endured over time. Logic. For idealists, logic, too, is based on the whole-part relationship. The part, a particular idea or principle, is derived from and agrees with the whole, which is more general. In organizing lessons, idealist teachers would follow a logical arrangement that emphasizes general principles or rules and then draws forth more specific illustrations from them. For example, an idealist teacher would introduce the general concept of nonviolence before discussing the harmful consequences of bullying one's classmates.

Realism

Realism , which stresses objective knowledge and values, was developed by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle. As described in the chapter on World Roots of American Education, during the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas articulated a variety of religious realism, known as Thomism, which was a synthesis of Aristotelianism and Christian doctrine. Alfred North Whitehead continued the realist tradition. Realism holds that (1) there is a world of real existence that human beings have not made; (2) the human mind can know about the real world; and (3) such knowledge is the most reliable guide to

Logic. Realist teachers often use logic both deductively and inductively. For example, students in a botany class might examine many different types of roses that differ in color, scent, and size but conclude, through induction, that they are all members of the same genus. However, if the class is planting a rose garden on the school grounds as a project, the students can consult the literature on roses and deduce the general principles that contribute to successful gardening, such as correct location, amount of fertilizer, and water.

Pragmatism

Pragmatism emphasizes the need to test ideas by acting on them. Among its founders were Charles S. Peirce (1839-1914), William James (1842-1910), George Herbert Mead (1863-1931), and John Dewey (1859-1952). Peirce emphasized using the scientific method to validate ideas empirically, and James applied pragmatic philosophy to psychology, religion, and education. Mead emphasized the child's development as a learning and experiencing human organism. Dewey, in particular, applied pragmatism to education. The chapter on Pioneers in Education examines Dewey as an educational pioneer. Here we focus on his pragmatic or experimentalist philosophy, which featured change, process, relativity, and the reconstruction of experience. Influenced by Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory, Dewey applied the terms organism and environment to education. Dewey saw human beings as biological and sociological organisms who possess drives or impulses that sustain life and promote growth and development. Every organism lives in a habitat or environment. Education, so conceived, is to promote optimum human growth. Rejecting the a priori idealist and realist perspectives, Dewey's test of experience meant that human purposes and plans could be validated only by acting on and judging them by their consequences. The need to judge by consequences also applied to educational programs. Did a particular educational program, curricular design, or methodological strategy achieve its anticipated goals and objectives? For Dewey, the only valid test was to try out the proposal and judge the results. Whereas idealism and realism emphasized bodies of substantive knowledge or subject-matter disciplines, Dewey stressed the process of problem solving. For Dewey, learning occurs as the person engages in problem solving. In this

experimental epistemology, the learner, as an individual or as a member of a group, uses the scientific method to solve both personal and social problems. For Dewey, the problem-solving method can be developed into a habit that transfers to a wide variety of situations.

Key Concepts

Metaphysics and Epistemology. Whereas idealism and realism emphasize an unchanging reality, pragmatism or experimentalism sees epistemology as a process of examining a constantly changing universe. In Dewey's philosophy of experimentalism, the epistemological, or knowing, situation involves a person, or organism, and an environment. Experience, defined as the interaction of the person with the environment, is a key concept. The person interacts with the environment to live, grow, and develop. This interaction may alter or change both the person and the environment. Knowing is thus a transaction, a process, between the learner and the environment. Although each interaction has some generalizable aspects that carryover to the next problem, each episode will differ somewhat. Effective people, by using the scientific method, can solve problems and add the features of a particular problem-solving episode to their ongoing experiences. If reality is continually changing, then a curriculum claiming to be based on permanent realities is foolish. Concepts of unchanging or universal truth become untenable. The only guides that human beings have in their interaction with the environment are tentative assertions that are subject to further research and verification. Therefore, according to pragmatists, what is needed is a method for dealing with change in an intelligent manner. The Deweyites stress problem solving as the most effective method for directing change toward desired outcomes. Even though reality involves constant transformation or reconstruction of both the person and the environment, humankind can benefit from the process. Each time a human experience is reconstructed to solve a problem, a new contribution is added to humanity's fund of experience. Axiology and Logic. Pragmatic axiology is highly situational. Since we inhabit a constantly changing universe, values, too, must change. Values are relative to time, place, and circumstance. What contributes to personal and

makes these choices, a question is always present: What difference does it make that I am here and that I have chosen to be what I am? According to the existentialists, we must also cope with the fact that others persons, institutions, and agencies—are constantly threatening our choice- making freedom. Each person's response to life is based on an answer to the question, Do I choose to be a self-determined person or do I choose to be defined by others? But existentialism does see hope behind the desperation. Each person has the potential for loving, creating, and being. Each can choose to be an inner-directed, authentic person. An authentic person, free and aware of this freedom, knows that every choice is really an act of personal value creation. Since existentialists have deliberately avoided systemization of their philosophy, it is difficult to categorize its metaphysical, epistemological, axiological, and logical positions. However, some comments on these areas can illustrate the existentialist point of view. As already stated, each person creates his or her own self-definition, or essence, by the personal choices he or she makes. Epistemologically, the individual chooses the knowledge that he or she wishes to possess. It is axiology that is most important for existentialists, because human beings create their own values through their choices.

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Idealism

Course: philosophy

12 Documents
Students shared 12 documents in this course

University: University of Limpopo

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Idealism, one of the oldest of the traditional philosophies, goes back to
Plato, who developed idealist principles in ancient Athens. In Germany, Georg W.
F. Hegel created a comprehensive philosophical worldview based on idealism,
and in the United States, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau
developed a transcendentalist variety of idealism. Friedrich Froebel based his
kindergarten theory on idealist metaphysics. Asian religions such as Hinduism
and Buddhism also rest on the spiritual outlook associated with idealism.
Key Concepts
Metaphysics. Idealists, holding that only the mental or spiritual is ultimately
real, see the universe as an expression of a highly generalized intelligence and
will—a universal mind. The person's spiritual essence, or soul, is the permanent
aspect of human nature that provides vitality and dynamism. This mental world
of ideas is eternal, permanent, regular, and orderly. Truth and values are
absolute and universal.
Idealists, such as the transcendentalists, have used the concepts of the
macrocosm and the microcosm to explain their version of reality. Macrocosm
refers to the universal mind, the first cause, creator, or God. Regardless of the
particular name used, the macrocosmic mind is the whole of existence. It is the
one, all-inclusive, and complete self of which all lesser selves are parts. The
universal, macrocosmic mind is continually thinking and valuing. The microcosm
is a limited part of the whole—an individual and lesser self. But the microcosm is
of the same spiritual substance as the macrocosm.
Epistemology. Idealism emphasizes the recognition or reminiscence of ideas
that are latent—already present but not evident—in the mind. Such ideas are a
priori; that is, they concern knowledge that exists prior to and independent of
human experience about them. Through introspection the individual examines
his or her own mind and finds a copy of the macrocosmic mind. Since what is to
be known is already present in the mind, the teacher's challenge is to bring this
latent knowledge to consciousness. The goal of education is to help students
arrive at a broad, general, and unifying perspective of the universe.
Idealist teachers prefer a hierarchical curriculum based on traditional
disciplines or subject matter. At the top of the hierarchy are the most general

Students also viewed

Related documents