1. What is Philosophy?
Ans: Philosophy is the study or creation of theories which seeks to understand the mysteries of existence and reality. It tries to discourse the nature of the truth and knowledge and to find what is of basic value and importance in life. It also examines the relationship between humanity and nature and between individual and society. Thus, we can say that philosophy is a form of inquiry – a process of analysis, criticism, interpretation, and speculation.
2. Write about the meaning of the term of ‘Philosophy’.
Ans: The term ‘Philosophy’ comes from a combination of two Greek words – ‘’philos” meaning ’love of’ and “sophi” meaning ‘wisdom’. Etymologically, philosophy means ‘love of wisdom’.
3. Give one definition of Philosophy.
Ans: Different philosopher has given different definition of philosophy. Some of philosopher’s definition are mentioned below:
(i) According to Aristotle, “Philosophy is the science which investigate the nature of being, as it is in itself.”
(ii) According to Cicero and Marcus Tullius, “Philosophy is the mother of all arts and the true medicine of mind.”
(iii) According to Dr. Rahdakrishnan, ”Philosophy is a logical enquiry into the nature of reality.”
4. State the basic characteristics of Philosophy.
Ans: The four basic characteristics of Philosophy are mentioned below:
i. Philosophy is a search for truth and reality.
ii. Philosophy is the art of thinking rationally and systematically of the reality as a whole of the universe.
iii. Philosophy is study of general principles and understanding of all that comes in the range of human experience.
iv. Philosophy is the study of metaphysics beyond one physical and its relation with the physical world.
5. Briefly explain about the branches of Philosophy.
Ans: The branches of philosophy are most commonly taken to be logic, ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, and aesthetic. Here is a brief sketch of each:
1. Logic:
Logic is the method of reasoning and argumentation which is concerned with providing sound methods for distinguishing good from bad reasoning. It enquiries into various kinds of proof or evidence and the condition of their validity and also investigates the nature and validity of various kinds of inference, deduction and induction.
The term ’logic’ is derived from the Greek word ‘logos’ which has a variety of meaning like- thought, idea, argument, account, reason, or principle.
The are basically two kinds of logic. These are namely:
(a) Deductive logic:
It is concerned with determining when an argument is valid. For example: conclusive inference.
(b) Inductive logic:
It is concerned with the correctness of inferences for which the evidence is not conclusive. For example: probable inference.
2. Ethics:
Ethics is also often called ‘moral philosophy’ which take up the meaning of our moral concepts such as- right action, obligation, and justice and formulates principles to guide moral decisions, whether in private or public life.
The word “ethics” is derived from the Greek word ‘’ethos’’ which means ‘custom or character’.
There are three areas of ethical theories:
(a) Meta ethics:
It deals with the nature of moral judgement.
(b) Normative ethics:
It is concerned with the content of moral judgements and the criteria for what is right or wrong.
(c) Applied ethics:
It studies to looks at controversial topics like war, animal rights and capital punishment.
Ethics also has the following major sub-fields:
- Political philosophy.
- Social philosophy.
- Philosophy of law.
- Medical ethics.
- Business ethics.
3. Epistemology:
Epistemology is that branch of philosophy which deals with the nature, origin or sources, types, structure, scope, methods, and validity of knowledge. It encompasses the nature of concepts, the constructing of the concepts, the validity of the senses, logical reasoning, as well as thoughts ideas, memories, emotions, and all mental things. It also analyses the nature of knowledge and how it relates to similar notions such as truth, belief, and justification.
4. Metaphysics:
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy which is concerned with the nature of reality, of what exists in the world such as- substance, identity, the nature of mind, and freewill. It encompasses everything that exists, as well as the nature of existence itself.
Traditionally, the word “Metaphysics” comes from ‘Greece’ in a two combination words ‘meta’ meaning ‘over’ and physics meaning ‘beyond’. Thus, the combination means over and beyond physics.
There are two kinds of metaphysic. These are:
(a) General metaphysics (universal):
It studies the ultimate reality like- categories, universals, attributes etc.
(b) Special metaphysics:
It studies seriously one particular subject like- philosophy of mind and psychology, personal identity, ad aesthetics.
Again, Aristotle originally split his metaphysics into three main sections which are mentioned below:
i. Ontology:
It studies of being and existence, including the definition and classification of entities, physical or mental, the nature of properties and the nature of change.
ii. Natural Theology:
It studies of God, including the nature of religion and the world, existence of the divine, questions about the creation, and the various other religions or spiritual issues.
iii. Universal science:
It studies first principles of logic and reasoning such as the law of non-contradiction.
5. Aesthetics:
Aesthetics branch of philosophy deals with the nature of art, including the performing arts and painting, sculpture, and literature. The word “aesthetics” is derived from the Greek word ‘aisthetikos’ meaning ‘of sense perception’.
6. Explain the relationship between Science and Philosophy.
Ans: Yes, both science and philosophy are interrelated and interconnected which has endured for thousands of years particularly in the work of Galileo, Descartes, Kepler, Newton, Einstein among others. So, some point of the relation between science and philosophy can be stated in the following below:
i. Both science and philosophy are engaged in the search of truth.
ii. Philosophy examines scientific method.
iii. Philosophy guides future courses of scientific process.
iv. At the same time, scientific research influences philosophical progress.
v. Philosophy integrates science and examines scientific assumption.
vi. Philosophy provides a constructive criticism of sciences.
So, to conclude we can say that both science and philosophy grew out of the reflective thinking and are promoted by an impartial love of truth.
7. Make differentiate between science and philosophy.
Ans: The major difference between philosophy and science can be stated below:
i. Philosophy is best linked to the human heart. On the other hand, Science is to the human mind.
ii. Philosophy uses questioning and a series of analyses through logical arguments and dialectics. Where as, Science is more concerned with empirical evidence and testable hypotheses.
iii. Science bases its explanation from experimentation and observation. But, Philosophy bases its explanation on argument of principles.
iv. Philosophy and science both are engaged in different activities and differ from in their method, scope, problem, conclusion etc.
7. Discuss the relationship between Philosophy and Education.
Ans: Yes, it is true that both philosophy and education are closely interrelated which are enumerated in the following below:
i. Education and philosophy are dynamic because both are deal with human being and their life.
iii. Philosophy sets the goal and create a good life for the individual whereas education finds out the solution by which the goal of a human being can be fulfilled.
iii. Philosophy determines the goal of life which is consciously adopted by education.
iv. Philosophy determines the various aspects of education.
v. Philosophy represents a system of thought whereas education embraces that thought in the content of instruction.
vi. Philosophy is wisdom and education transmit that wisdom from one generation to the other.
vii. Philosophy embodies a way of life whereas education prepares a life of an individual.
viii. James Ross said, “Education is the dynamic sides of philosophy.”
ix. John Adams rightly said, “Education is the dynamic side of philosophy. It is the active aspect of philosophical belief.”
x. John Dewey said, “Philosophy is the theory of education in its most general phases.”
xi. Percy Nunn view, “Education aims are correlative to ideals of life.”
xii. Spencer’s view, “True education is practicable to true philosophers.”
xiii. Fichte’s view, “The art of education will never attain complete clearness without philosophy.”
xiv. Gentile view, “Education without philosophy would mean a failure to understand the precise nature of education.”
So therefore, we can say that both education and philosophy are closely related and both are called the sides of the same coin.
9. What do you mean by Educational Philosophy?
Ans: Educational philosophy is nothing but it is the practical application of philosophical principles in the educational field which direct the various aspects of education towards the aim of human life. It is also a branch of general philosophy which comprises of the principles, ideals, and theories of life of particular people, at a particular time, in a particular society or country and it puts them in to practice in the field of education. In short, we can say that educational philosophy relates philosophy of life through the medium of education.
10. Explain the functions of Educational Philosophy.
Ans: The functions of educational philosophy are generally associated with aims of education, the programme of education, examination and evaluation of educational organization, methods, contents, measurement and so on to identify and explain the true nature of man, as the principle of object of education which are briefly discussed under the below:
i. Determining the aspects of education:
Educational philosophy determines various aspects of education which are briefly explain here in the following ways:
(a) Aim of Education:
Different educational philosophers have suggested vast and varied aims and objectives of educational process. These includes physical, mental, social, emotional, spiritual, moral, ethical, cultural, academic, lingual, and pragmatic for the development of human personality.
(b) Curriculum:
With the help of educational philosophy, Curriculum designer can construct curriculum according to the need, interest, and ability of the child.
(c) Method of teaching:
With the help of educational philosophy, we can able to choose suitable methods of teaching according to the nature of the subject and school environment to make classroom teaching more effective and attractive.
(d) Discipline:
Knowledge of educational philosophy determine the nature of form to follow a desirable discipline.
(e) Teacher and students:
Educational philosophy determines the role and quality of teacher as well as student in the school and relationship with each other in a diversified society.
(f) Administration:
Knowledge of education philosophy also determines to established in democratic or totalitarian system of administration in the field of educational institutions.
ii. Harmonizing old and new traditions in the field of education:
This function emphasise that old traditions are replaced by the new traditions. But this process of replacement is not always smooth because of certain orthodox in the society. So therefore, there is a need of coordinating in order to maintain harmony between both and this function can be performed with the help of study of education philosophy.
iii. Providing the educational planners, administrators, and educators to achieve educational development:
This function of educational philosophy indicates that a true philosopher can give a practical shape of education which guides to the educational planners, administrators, and educators with the right vision to attain the educational goals efficiently.
iv. Preparing the young generation to face the challenges of the modern time:
As we know that our present society is not static. It changes the value, tradition, custom, culture etc from time to time. So that educational philosophy helps
to understand the relationship between the goals and complexities of society to develop critical attitude towards the individual’s life in diverse society to face challenges of the modern time.
On the other hand, According to Brubacher, there are mainly three functions of educational philosophy which are briefly explain below:
(a) Speculative function:
Speculative function of educational philosophy leads the educator and the administrator from common sense approach to rational and perspective approach. It also helps to guides the teacher by giving him an overall view of the whole thing in terms of facts, data, information, etc. to make assessment of everything.
(b) Normative function:
Normative function of educational philosophy refers to set of norms, goals, principles, standards etc. If we applying these norms, then it is possible to decide a right decision. But in the absence of these norms, the teacher or the administrator or the controlling authorities fail to make the right decision.
(c) Critical function:
Critical function of educational philosophy examines the contents, methodology in the sphere of education and refines to it make fully suitable.
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