1. Compare and contrast the 4 major branches of Philosophy. (Metaphysics, Epistemology, Axiology, Logic) State their importance to education.


Metaphysics - The branch of philosophy which studies the nature of reality. Essential starting point in education, since metaphysics answers these essential questions: What is reality? What is life? What kind of entities are we? One can answer these questions by two methods: a) the scientific method or b) by feelings
The first method brings about a rational type of philosophy; the second method brings about any number of philosophies based on mysticism (all religions).

A metaphysical college education will increase your ability to understand developments in religions/spirituality and in society, to think abstractly and critically, to express thoughts clearly in speech and in writing, and to make wise decisions. These skills are useful both in your chosen vocation or your private life. A metaphysical college education can help increase your understanding of the community, the Nation, and the world – as you explore interests, discover new areas of knowledge, consider lifelong goals, and become a more responsible citizen.

Epistemology - the branch of any philosophy which studies knowledge.
Epistemology is essential in education, since epistemology answers these kinds of questions: How do we know what we say we know? What is knowledge? What are the necessary means for acquiring knowledge?

Ethics (Axiology) is the branch of philosophy that studies the good. It is essential in education for learning moral precepts and values. Ethics answers questions like: "What is the good?" "How does man obtain the good?" "What actions must a man choose in order to achieve the good?" "Who determines what is good?"

Logic is the method of reasoning based on the principle that a concept is correct if it does not contradict reality. It can be simply defined as the "art of non-contradictory thinking." Logic is necessary for studying any branch of philosophy and any aspect of knowledge. The lack of logical thinking equates to irrationality and in its extreme expression it equates to madness. Obviously, logic must be taught and it is an essential part of any kind of education because it is not automatic.


2. Define Philosophy of Education. How does it affect the educational system,
school management and the teaching- learning process?


Philosophy of Education, The inquiry into the ideas that dominate educational theory and policy. The central questions are what it is worthwhile or necessary to teach, and what are the best ways of doing it. Different views about human nature will influence answers to both questions. Rival metaphors include that of the young mind as an empty pot that needs filling up, versus the mind as an unexercised athlete that needs practice. The focus has often been Plato's question whether virtue can be taught, and this quickly spreads to include intellectual virtue. Plato's paradox from the Meno that you cannot understand what you do not know and therefore cannot set about discovering it is usually felt to be soluble (see learning paradox), but in practice education remains bedeviled by the fact that people missing it do not know what they are missing. The solution from the right is coercion and discipline; that from the left is to worry whether education involves discrimination, or indeed trespasses against the equal rights and dignity of the ignorant and stupid.
An educational philosophy is a normative theory of education that unifies pedagogy, curriculum, learning theory, and the purpose of education and is grounded in specific metaphysical, epistemological, and axiological assumptions.

3. Describe the Philosophical movements during the Medieval Ages. How did they
influence the modern Philippine educational System?



The Scholastic movement was anticipated by Saint Augustine (A.D. 354–430), who lived during the time when Christianity was overtaking paganism (pre-Christian religions that honored many gods). Augustine, a Roman Catholic priest, sought to combine Christian faith and reason. He believed that if people are faithful, they will be rewarded with understanding, or wisdom.

The friars controlled the educational system during the Spanish times. They owned different schools, ranging from the primary level to the tertiary levels of education. The missionaries took charge in teaching, controlling and maintaining the rules and regulations imposed to the students.

The effect of education to the Filipinos was only compelled to the friars' influences from their lessons based on the Christian Doctrines or teachings. Indeed, the friars were effective in evangelizing the Catholic religion to the Filipinos.

One major failure of the educational system of the religious congregations was the withholding of the Filipinos to learn other bodies of knowledge. Besides limiting education to the teaching of Spanish, Latin, and the Filipino languages, the teaching of Religion was also given emphasis. Thus, the teaching of Mathematics and Science were neglected.

In entirety, education during the Spanish regime was privileged only to Spanish students. The supposed Philippine education was only a means to remain in the Philippines as colonizers. For this reason, the Filipinos became followers to the Spaniards in their own country. Even auspicious Filipinos became cronies, to the extent that even their life styles were patterned from the Spaniards.









Describe the philosophical movements during the renaissance in terms of educational goals, curricula, administration and supervision and methods of teaching.


The Renaissance is a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historic era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not uniform across Europe, this is a general use of the term. As a cultural movement, it encompassed a resurgence of learning based on classical sources, the development of linear perspective in painting, and gradual but widespread educational reform.
is a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. Renaissance of the 12th century, who had focused on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural sciences, philosophy and mathematics, rather than on such cultural texts.
Educational practice was revolutionized by the recovery of ancient documents, the rejection of institutional authority, and renewed emphasis on individual freedom. The humanists expressed an enormous confidence in the power of reason as a source of profound understanding of human nature and of our place in the natural order.
5. Cite some school practices observable in our educational system that are based on the following major philosophies of Education:
a. Idealism
b. Naturalism
c. Pragmatism
d. Progressivism
e. Essentialism
f. Existentialism

Idealism is the philosophical theory which maintains that experience is ultimately based on mental activity. In the philosophy of perception, idealism is contrasted with realism, in which the external world is said to have an apparent absolute existence. Epistemological idealists (such as Kant) claim that the only things which can be directly known for certain are just ideas (abstraction). In literature, idealism refers to the thoughts or the ideas of the writer.
In the philosophy of mind, idealism is the opposite of materialism, in which the ultimate nature of reality is based on physical substances. Materialism is a theory of monism as opposed to dualism and pluralism, while idealism might or might not be monistic. Hence, idealism can take dualistic form and often does, since the subject-object division is dualistic by definition. Idealism sometimes refers to a tradition in thought that represents things of a perfect form, as in the fields of ethics, morality, aesthetics, and value. In this way, it represents a human perfect being or circumstance.

"methodological naturalism" and is sometimes known as the scientific method. Methodological naturalism is a "ground rule" of science today which requires scientists to seek explanations in the world around us based upon what we can observe, test, replicate, and verify.
Methodological naturalism is a way of acquiring knowledge. Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge.
In the 20th century, W.V. Quine, George Santayana, and other philosophers argued that the success of naturalism in science meant that scientific methods should also be used in philosophy. Science and philosophy are said to form a continuum, according to this view.
Pragmatism is a philosophical movement that includes those who claim that an ideology or proposition can be said to be true if and only if it works satisfactorily, that the meaning of a proposition is to be found in the practical consequences of accepting it, and that impractical ideas are to be rejected.
The pragmatist proceeds from the basic premise that the human capability of theorizing is integral to intelligent practice. Theory and practice are not separate spheres; rather, theories and distinctions are tools or maps for finding our way in the world. Enthusiasts suggest that pragmatism offers an approach which is both pluralist and practical.
Progressivism is a political attitude favoring or advocating changes or reform through governmental action. Progressivism is often viewed in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies. The Progressive Movement began in cities with settlement workers and reformers who were interested in helping those facing harsh conditions at home and at work. The reformers spoke out about the need for laws regulating tenement housing and child labor. They also called for better working conditions for women.

Essentialism is the view that, for any specific kind of entity, there is a set of characteristics or properties all of which any entity of that kind must possess. Therefore all things can be precisely defined or described. In this view, it follows that terms or words should have a single definition and meaning.[1]
In simple terms, essentialism is a generalization stating that certain properties possessed by a group (e.g. people, things, ideas) are universal, and not dependent on context. For example, the essentialist statement 'all human beings are mortal'.
According to essentialism, a member of a specific group may possess other characteristics that are neither needed to establish its membership nor preclude its membership, but that essences do not simply reflect ways of grouping objects; they also result in properties of the object, as the object can be subjugated to smaller contexts.


Essentialism came under scrutiny and criticism in the mid to late 20th century by the American pragmatist Richard Rorty. Discussion of its possible limitations has taken place among social scientists and biologists as well.
Existentialism is a term applied to the work of a number of philosophers since the 19th century who, despite large differences in their positions,[1][2] generally focused on the condition of human existence, and an individual's emotions, actions, responsibilities, and thoughts, or the meaning or purpose of life.[3][4] Existential philosophers often focused more on what they believe is subjective, such as beliefs and religion, or human states, feelings, and emotions, such as freedom, pain, guilt, and regret, as opposed to analyzing objective knowledge, language, or science.







6. Is education a privilege or a right? Explain.

"Every person has the right to an education, which should be based on the principles of liberty, morality and human solidarity.

Likewise every person has the right to an education that will prepare him to attain a decent life, to raise his standard of living, and to be a useful member of society.

I think all people have a right to an education, but many throw it away. George Washington stated that in order for a democracy to work it needed an educated population and he stressed that education should be available for all. One of the great things about the United States is that there has been an affordable education for all people. There are some, today, who would like to see education as a privilege because the only way to control a population is to make sure they are under educated. First, thing Hitler did when he invaded Poland was to arrested the teachers and close the schools. People who think, read, and understand critical things can not be controlled as well as people who don't.



7. Explain the following educational Philosophies: (Select any 2)
a. “The end of life is knowledge” by Soctrates
b. Development of the whole man by Comenius
c. “Tabula rasa” Theory by John Locks
d. Education is life by John Dewey


Whole Man Development

Educational development based on the principle that man has a physical body, with sensory perception, able to conceptualize to varying degrees and also with a spiritual nature which is both individual and social whilst being in tune with time and the universe. For Christians, Jesus Christ is seen to be the true or best example of the Man.

Individuals are born with physical needs and require to learn social skills to survive. When harmony is achieved in this respect, it is possible to seek for his or her spiritual link with the Creation.
The service of Baptism is seen as a symbol of the individual looking beyond the physical necessities toward his more perfected self, which may be considered as movement toward a whole man philosophy.

When a man is sufficiently developed, he is able to perceive the presence of other spirits about him. Ultimately the indwelling spirit of God the Father can be communicated with and also the Holy Spirit, which is recognized to be outside the person's body. However, both Spirits are as One and therefore thoughts are shared.

Although the spiritual realms are unseen, the same principles apply as with the physical social world. Any individual who would wish to survive with other spiritual beings would do well to learn social skills in a family, school or university and indeed within any organization. Moreover differing individuals acquire different abilities, just as some people are more creative while others have a greater potential toward physical prowess.






Tabula rasa

The theory of innate ideas expresses a belief that humans come into the world with certain cognitive underpinnings as well as a store of ideas which help us to comprehend reality. Leibniz, in a letter to a friend, identifies not only a faculty of knowledge within man but also a disposition toward it, suggesting a more or less typical human mode by which we characteristically interact with the information we can absorb. In this way, notions regarding innate ideas recall certain ancient arguments for inherent intellectual abilities general to mankind. Locke, on the other hand, believes the infant’s mind to be a tabula rasa, or clean slate, which begins to build increasingly complex inklings and eventually concepts and ideas only after the outside world has impressed itself through the senses.
Locke defends himself first from the argument that, since there seem to be both speculative and practical principles that mankind can agree upon, it must be the case that this universal consent arises from various persons being borne with inherent ideas that are similar enough. Locke counters that there is nothing which would necessarily make something which is universally consented to also innate, and further contests the validity of the argument by raising the objection that there does not seem to be anything that can gain an absolutely universal consent. Therefore, the argument itself must not have sufficient ground to stand on. Locke’s next move is to challenge the basic assumption of the theory of innate ideas by pointing out that children and idiots seem to lack any apprehension or thought whatsoever, which would seem to make an absolutely universal consent impossible even theoretically.
However, in defense of innate ideas, one might say that men can come to know such ideas once they come to the use of reason as a tool of discovery and verification. Locke therefore counters that there are an infinite number of meaningless inanities to which people give their assent through reason every day. He believes that if the statement regarding the use of reason is to helpfully apply to their present dispute, it would either have to assert that upon coming into the age of reason one naturally learns of all their congenital principles, or that the use of reason can prove such ideas to be innate. Naturally, Locke finds both possibilities to be false. What Locke is consistently taking issue with is his very stringent interpretation of the argument for innate ideas that relies on the possibility of universal consent. He takes it perhaps more literally than proponents of innate ideas might consider it themselves, but nevertheless does an ample job of demonstrating that, if indeed the argument relies upon absolute universal consent, it cannot seem to make itself stand. There seem to be too many members of mankind that either physically cannot obtain to a knowledge of these innate ideas, or whose mental habits are not conducive to seeking them out with any degree of accuracy or fidelity to truth.

Tabula rasa is the epistemological theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. Generally proponents of the tabula rasa thesis favour the "nurture" side of the nature versus nurture debate, when it comes to aspects of one's personality, social and emotional behaviour, and intelligence. The term in Latin equates to the English "blank slate" (or more accurately, "erased state") (which refers to writing on a slate sheet in chalk) but comes from the Roman tabula or wax tablet, used for notes, which was blanked by heating the wax and then smoothing it to give a tabula rasa.
In Western philosophy, traces of the idea that came to be called the tabula rasa appear as early as the writings of Aristotle. Aristotle writes of the unscribed tablet in what is probably the first textbook of psychology in the Western canon, his treatise "Περί Ψυχῆς" (De Anima or On the Soul, Book III, chapter 4). However, besides some arguments by the Stoics and Peripatetics, the notion of the mind as a blank slate went largely unnoticed for more than 1,000 years.
In the 11th century, the theory of tabula rasa was developed more clearly by the Islamic philosopher, Ibn Sina (known as "Avicenna" in the Western world). He argued that the "human intellect at birth is rather like a tabula rasa, a pure potentiality that is actualized through education and comes to know" and that knowledge is attained through "empirical familiarity with objects in this world from which one abstracts universal concepts" which is developed through a "syllogistic method of reasoning; observations lead to prepositional statements, which when compounded lead to further abstract concepts." He further argued that the intellect itself "possesses levels of development from the material intellect (al-‘aql al-hayulani), that potentiality that can acquire knowledge to the active intellect (al-‘aql al-fa‘il), the state of the human intellect at conjunction with the perfect source of knowledge."gh