philosophy topic

There are four basic branches of philosophy, namely:

• Metaphysics 
• Epistemology
• Axiology 
• Logic

1] Metaphysics    

• Metaphysics is made of two Greek words: Meta and physics.  Meta means ‘beyond’ and physics means ‘physical’.
• Metaphysics therefore, refers to the study what goes beyond physical world.  Metaphysics studies man and the nature of the world in which man lives.  It tries to answer questions like:

                -what man really is?

                -how man behaves and why man behaves the way he does?

                -what place man goes to after death?

Metaphysics also discuss abstract and hidden topics like: existence of God, the nature of soul, the mind, etc.  It tries to answer questions like:

                -how does the mind/soul function?

                -what happens to mind/soul after death?

               -does God exist? If God exists, how can we know about him?

Thus metaphysics deals with matters which are within both physical and non-physical world.  It deals with issues like:

     -existence or non-existence of super humans who control all there is.

     -the relationship between human beings and other beings or things.

Metaphysics has four branches: Ontology, Cosmology, Theology and Rational.

A] Ontology is the study of beings, and is concerned with aspect of “to be” or “not to be”.  [Being is a state of existence].  Thus living things and dead things have a common thing i.e. being.

B] Cosmology is the study of universe.  Philosophers study the universe to explain myths about phenomena on the universe. [Myth is a traditional story to explain belief concerning some phenomena experience].   Hence whatever cannot be explained scientifically will find philosophical explanation. E.g. origin of man is more convincing when explained by theology.

C] Theology is the study of supernatural and religious matters.  Theology studies God from a point of reason; it deals with the nature of religious belief and the existence God. It deals with the being of God, the spirits which cannot be perceived but can be thought of.

D] Rational is also known as philosophy of mind.  It is the study of ‘psycho’ which is Greek word for soul.

Rational starts by being aware that man perceives, imagines, remembers, feels, understands and wills.

 Rational tries to find the relationship between body and mind.  It tries to answer questions like:

       -where is the mind and where is the soul?

       -does the mind survive the destruction of the body?

 

Application of metaphysics to education.

• Knowledge of metaphysics guides study of astronomy and general study of the universe.
• Metaphysics helps to develop a mind that goes beyond fanatical approach to issues and embraces reason in the face of religious matters.
• It develops individuals who have tolerance to other people’s ideas/opinion.
• Helps to develop a creative mind able to imagine things and bring the non-existent thing into existence.
• Metaphysics helps in the identification of:

                 -educational objectives

                 -content to be taught at various levels

                 -methodology to use deliver content

                 -appropriate evaluation for holistic person

 

2] Epistemology

• Epistemology is made of two Greek words: ‘episteme’ which means knowledge and ‘logia’ which means study of something.
• Thus epistemology is the philosophical study of knowledge.
• Epistemology deals with questions like:

   What is to know something?

    How do we establish that you know something?

    What are the source of knowledge?

    What is the nature of knowledge?

    How do you distinguish a true statement from false statement?

    Do we know the same in all curriculum subjects?

    What are the types of knowledge?

Ø Epistemology helps a teacher to understand the following:

   - Meaning of knowledge

   - Conditions of knowledge

   - Sources of knowledge

          - How to present knowledge

         - Clusters of knowledge e.g. arts, sciences, languages, technical, etc.

Application of epistemology to education.

ü Helps teacher to know the process of acquiring knowledge.

ü Helps teacher/learner to know the sources of knowledge e.g. scientific inquiry, perceived knowledge [gained by our senses of smell, hearing, sight, feel], knowledge gained from systematic reasoning or logic.

ü Enables teacher/student to know various types of knowledge such as empirical knowledge, rational knowledge, sacred knowledge, etc.

ü Enables teacher to choose appropriate strategies and methods in delivery of knowledge to learners.  E.g. empirical knowledge encourages scientific methods, while rational knowledge encourages systematic reasoning. [Q & A methods]

 

 

3] Axiology

• Axiology is made of two Greek words: ‘axia’ which means value and ‘logia’ which means study of something. Axiology refer to study of values.
• There are various values in the society such as:

                  Moral values.

                  Political values.

                  Social values.

                  Aesthetic values

Axiology deals with questions like:

       What is good/bad?

       Is the good of individual the good for society?

       What makes one beautiful?

       What is the origin and nature of moral values?

       What is success?

       What is the best life for human being?

Application of axiology to education

ü Helps to identify values that are worthwhile to education.

ü Helps to identify appropriate methods to be used in education: experiments, discussion, role play, etc.

ü Helps to identify aims and objectives to be achieved in education.

ü Guides discipline during learning process by establishing rules and regulations.

 

4] Logic

Logic is science of reasoning, and it studies the forms of thinking involved in concepts, judgments, inferences and proofs concerning their logical structures.

Logic establishes rules and regulations which should be established while reasoning.

Rules of logic nourishes and guides thoughts; help to avoid confusion when people are arguing.

There are two types of logic: 

a] deductive reasoning

b] Inductive reasoning.

 

A] Deductive reasoning

Deductive reasoning makes general statement from reality; then arrives at a specific conclusion about the reality.

NB the conclusion is drawn from the general statement.  E.g.

                             A                                                B

       All human beings are mortal.       People from DRC Congo are short.

        Mary is a human being.                Kope is from DRC Congo.

        Therefore Mary is mortal.            Therefore, Kope is short. 

 

B] Inductive reasoning  

Inductive reasoning starts with a specific statement about a reality.

It ends with a general statement about reality which is inferred or implied, and so it is never conclusive.  e.g.

1] Damaris, Alice and Rose are both good long distance runners and good long jumpers. Margaret who is a good long distance runner is likely to a good long jumper.

2] Tom, John and Joseph are both good in mathematics and all science subjects.  David who is good in mathematics is likely to be good in all science subjects.

 

Application of logic to education

• Encourages people to be organized and systematic.
• Helps in dealing with issues conclusively, i.e. solving problems [moves from assumptions to valid conclusion.
• Encourages ability to make informed choices.
• Helps to bring clearer understanding of conclusion.
• Encourages discovery of new things.
• Encourages remembering because one can see the connection.
• Helps in the systematic and logical development of curriculum.
• It helps the teachers to think systematically and logically during:

         Scheming

         Lesson planning

         Lesson presentation

Helps in coming up with teaching methodologies which promote logic such as: experimentation, discussion, debate, brain storming, etc.

Logic encourages organized thoughts and memory.