{"id":292,"date":"2019-07-17T02:17:48","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T02:17:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-oneonta-education106\/?post_type=chapter&p=292"},"modified":"2024-06-13T19:10:42","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T19:10:42","slug":"5-2-ontological-framewords-of-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-hvcc-education106\/chapter\/5-2-ontological-framewords-of-philosophy\/","title":{"raw":"5.2 Ontological Frameworks of Philosophy","rendered":"5.2 Ontological Frameworks of Philosophy"},"content":{"raw":"
\r\n\r\nGenerally, there are four ontological perspectives that frame schools of educational philosophy.\u00a0 Two ontological frameworks, idealism and realism, stem\u00a0from Ancient\u00a0Greece. The Ancient Greek philosopher Plato developed the tradition of idealism; whereas, Aristotle, Plato\u2019s student, formed an antithetical ontology of realism. Progressivism and existentialism grew from the philosophical remnants of the Age of Enlightenment in the 19th century. Pragmatism formed within the United States during the late 1800s; at the same time, existentialism developed as a continental philosophy in Europe. While the early public education system in United States was guided by idealism and realism, pragmatism and existentialism has served as the influential foundations of 20th\u00a0and 21st\u00a0century educational philosophies.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n

Idealism<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\n\"Drawing\r\n\r\nFor idealists, ideas are the only true reality. Conscious reasoning is the only\u00a0way\u00a0to locate what is true, beautiful, and just. Plato founded Idealism and outlined its tenets in his book\u00a0The Republic.\u00a0For Plato, there are two worlds. The first world is home of the spiritual or mental world where universal ideas and truth were permanent; this world can only be found through conscious reasoning. The second world is the world of appearances and imperfection; a world experienced through sensory experiences of sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Plato outlines this duality between the two worlds in \u201cThe Allegory of the Cave.\u201d In this famous allegory, people are chained against walls with a fire behind them. What the people perceive as real are only shadowed projections on the wall of cave.\u00a0If one was to break free, leave the cave, and discover the sun, this new \u201crealm\u201d would discover the true source of everything that was previously known. It would be the realm of pure fact and form. This is the source of all\u00a0that is real. The real world is just an imperfect projection of these ideas, forms, and truth.<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nAlmost two centuries later,\u00a0Dutch\u00a0philosopher\u00a0Ren\u00e8\u00a0Descartes would shift Platonic Idealism toward mind-body dualism with his famous phrase \u201cCogito, ergo sum (I think; therefore, I am).\u201d For Descartes, the only proof of his existence is his thinking\u2014a thinking being. Like Plato, Descartes outlined a rationale for why perceptions are\u00a0unreliable,\u00a0and the external world\u00a0is illusory. Only through rationale deduction, could one obtain truth. While Plato outlined a dualism between two separate worlds, Descartes established an Idealism founded on mind-body dualism\u00a0where the thinking mind is given privilege over the physical body and external world. This dualism would heavily influence philosophy and educational philosophy well into the 20th\u00a0century.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nTeaching, for Idealists, focuses on moral excellence that will benefit society. Students should focus on subjects of the mind like literature, history, and philosophy. Students will demonstrate understanding through participation in lecture and through Socratic-dialogues which engage students in introspection and insight that bring to conscious the universal forms and concepts.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nKey philosophers:\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n

Plato,\u00a0Descartes<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

Realism<\/h2>\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_442\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"339\"]\"\" \"viena-Wien. Kunsthistorisches Museum. Cap d'Aristotil. Copia romana d'un original qrez. Ca. 320 Dc.\" by Pilar Torres[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nRealism\u2019s central tenet is based on a reality, or external universe, independent from the human mind. Aristotle, Plato\u2019s student, contradicted his teacher\u2019s Idealist philosophy and formulated a philosophy on determining truth through observation. Reality\u00a0can be truly understood by careful observation of all the data.\u00a0Because of his emphasis on careful observation, Aristotle is often referred as the Father of the Scientific Method. Through logic, humans can reason about\u00a0the physical universe. Essences of things or substances, therefore, can be determined by examination of the object or substance. Aristotle\u2019s logic, then, emphasizes induction as well as deduction, and the real world can be determined through both.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nDuring the Enlightenment, Common Sense Realism began to counter the Idealism of Descartes. Rather than the skepticism of the external world espoused by Idealists, the\u00a0Common Sense\u00a0Realists, like John Locke, argue that ordinary experiences intuit a self and the physical world without the skepticism of the real world outside the mind. This Realism would influence the development of Empiricism and Pragmatism later in the Enlightenment.\r\n\r\nFor realists, teaching methods should focus on basic skills and memorization and mastery of facts. Students demonstrate content mastery of these skills through critical observation and applied experimentation.<\/span><\/span>\r\n
\r\n

Pragmatism<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nLike Realism, Pragmatism requires empirical observation of the real world; however, unlike Realism and Idealism, the real world\u00a0is\u00a0not an unchanging whole,\u00a0but is evolving and changing according to how thought is applied into action towards a problem.\u00a0Thought cannot or should not describe or represent reality, but rather, should be applied by the practical applying thoughts and experiences to problems that arise.\u00a0The\u00a0universe, then, is always evolving according to new applied thoughts turned into actions. Pragmatism\u2019s founder Charles Sanders Pierce posits thought must produce action towards an ever-changing universe.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nJohn Dewey, the founder of Progressivism, believed that experience is central to explaining the world; moreover, experience is what is needed to be explained. One needs practical experiences\u00a0and uses\u00a0explanations\u00a0to find\u00a0models that would best fit any given problem or situation. As new experiences and explanations arise, reality\u00a0will evolve or change to new situations and problems.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nPragmatists focus on hands-on, experiential learning tasks such as experimenting,\u00a0and\u00a0working on projects in groups. Students will demonstrate understanding through applied learning tasks to concrete problems or tasks.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nKey philosophers:\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n

Charles S. Pearce, William James,\u00a0John Dewey<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Existentialism<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nExistentialism grew\u00a0from the continental philosophies forming in Europe\u00a0during the 19th\u00a0and early 20th\u00a0century, most notably hermeneutic phenomenology\u2014the examination of lived-experience. Hermeneutic phenomenology and existentialism countered the dualisms inherent in both Idealism and Realism. The world does not have any meaning outside human existence within a world. The mind\/body or mind\/physical world duality\u00a0and cannot have any meaning without a human being actively absorbed in the world.\u00a0Jean Paul\u00a0Sarte\u00a0posited that \u201cexistence precedes essence\u201d, which means one\u2019s existence comes before the nature, or fact, of a thing. This means that\u00a0individual\u00a0human beings are free to determine their own meaning for life and do not\u00a0possess any inherent identity different than one the individual chooses or creates.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nExistentialists position the individual as responsible for their own being, or existence. \u201cWho am I? What should I do?\u201d\u00a0 become central questions for an individual\u2019s project in being. If one identifies with being a teacher, or any other identity\u00a0like being a parent, then one must evaluate what does one who teaches (or any other identity) really do? After thoughtful and careful reflection, one must choose to authentically\u00a0do the project of being a teacher (or any other identity).\u00a0Acting in\u00a0accordance to your chosen beliefs and values despite social pressures is\u00a0the way to have an authentic existence; however, acting\u00a0or adopting false values based on social pressures would be acting in \u201cbad faith\u201d\u00a0and one would be living an inauthentic existence\u00a0according to\u00a0Sartre.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nIn educational settings, Existentialists focus on giving students personal choice where they must confront others\u2019 views\u00a0in order to\u00a0clarify and develop authentic actions in terms of the students\u2019 developing identities. Existentialists have difficulty positioning students as objects to measured, tracked, or standardized. Teachers who adhere to an Existentialist ontology\u00a0create activities to guide students to self-direction and self-actualization.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nKey philosophers:\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n

S\u00f8ren\u00a0Kierkegaard, Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

Axiology<\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
\r\n\r\nAxiology is the study of value or concepts of worth. There are two main axiological stances: one that explores ethics and what is right and wrong; and the other deals with aesthetics and what is beautiful. While there are two main stances of axiology between ethics and aesthetics, axiology can be further refined. Analytical philosophy, or logical positivist, attempts to measure value based on the mathematics of value\u00a0in an attempt to\u00a0determine objective facts on why something has value. Normative ethics focuses on how a person determines basic ethical or moral standards. Ethics of care, unlike normative ethics, focuses on relational aspects between humans and a person\u2019s identity\u00a0that\u00a0can be defined by one\u2019s individual relations with others. Lastly, aesthetics is related to the philosophy of art. A person focusing on aesthetics puzzles how one experiences or determines beauty, ugliness, form, and the sublime.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","rendered":"
\n

Generally, there are four ontological perspectives that frame schools of educational philosophy.\u00a0 Two ontological frameworks, idealism and realism, stem\u00a0from Ancient\u00a0Greece. The Ancient Greek philosopher Plato developed the tradition of idealism; whereas, Aristotle, Plato\u2019s student, formed an antithetical ontology of realism. Progressivism and existentialism grew from the philosophical remnants of the Age of Enlightenment in the 19th century. Pragmatism formed within the United States during the late 1800s; at the same time, existentialism developed as a continental philosophy in Europe. While the early public education system in United States was guided by idealism and realism, pragmatism and existentialism has served as the influential foundations of 20th\u00a0and 21st\u00a0century educational philosophies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Idealism<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

\"Drawing<\/p>\n

For idealists, ideas are the only true reality. Conscious reasoning is the only\u00a0way\u00a0to locate what is true, beautiful, and just. Plato founded Idealism and outlined its tenets in his book\u00a0The Republic.\u00a0For Plato, there are two worlds. The first world is home of the spiritual or mental world where universal ideas and truth were permanent; this world can only be found through conscious reasoning. The second world is the world of appearances and imperfection; a world experienced through sensory experiences of sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste. Plato outlines this duality between the two worlds in \u201cThe Allegory of the Cave.\u201d In this famous allegory, people are chained against walls with a fire behind them. What the people perceive as real are only shadowed projections on the wall of cave.\u00a0If one was to break free, leave the cave, and discover the sun, this new \u201crealm\u201d would discover the true source of everything that was previously known. It would be the realm of pure fact and form. This is the source of all\u00a0that is real. The real world is just an imperfect projection of these ideas, forms, and truth.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Almost two centuries later,\u00a0Dutch\u00a0philosopher\u00a0Ren\u00e8\u00a0Descartes would shift Platonic Idealism toward mind-body dualism with his famous phrase \u201cCogito, ergo sum (I think; therefore, I am).\u201d For Descartes, the only proof of his existence is his thinking\u2014a thinking being. Like Plato, Descartes outlined a rationale for why perceptions are\u00a0unreliable,\u00a0and the external world\u00a0is illusory. Only through rationale deduction, could one obtain truth. While Plato outlined a dualism between two separate worlds, Descartes established an Idealism founded on mind-body dualism\u00a0where the thinking mind is given privilege over the physical body and external world. This dualism would heavily influence philosophy and educational philosophy well into the 20th\u00a0century.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Teaching, for Idealists, focuses on moral excellence that will benefit society. Students should focus on subjects of the mind like literature, history, and philosophy. Students will demonstrate understanding through participation in lecture and through Socratic-dialogues which engage students in introspection and insight that bring to conscious the universal forms and concepts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Key philosophers:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Plato,\u00a0Descartes<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Realism<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n

“viena-Wien. Kunsthistorisches Museum. Cap d’Aristotil. Copia romana d’un original qrez. Ca. 320 Dc.” by Pilar Torres<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Realism\u2019s central tenet is based on a reality, or external universe, independent from the human mind. Aristotle, Plato\u2019s student, contradicted his teacher\u2019s Idealist philosophy and formulated a philosophy on determining truth through observation. Reality\u00a0can be truly understood by careful observation of all the data.\u00a0Because of his emphasis on careful observation, Aristotle is often referred as the Father of the Scientific Method. Through logic, humans can reason about\u00a0the physical universe. Essences of things or substances, therefore, can be determined by examination of the object or substance. Aristotle\u2019s logic, then, emphasizes induction as well as deduction, and the real world can be determined through both.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

During the Enlightenment, Common Sense Realism began to counter the Idealism of Descartes. Rather than the skepticism of the external world espoused by Idealists, the\u00a0Common Sense\u00a0Realists, like John Locke, argue that ordinary experiences intuit a self and the physical world without the skepticism of the real world outside the mind. This Realism would influence the development of Empiricism and Pragmatism later in the Enlightenment.<\/p>\n

For realists, teaching methods should focus on basic skills and memorization and mastery of facts. Students demonstrate content mastery of these skills through critical observation and applied experimentation.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Pragmatism<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Like Realism, Pragmatism requires empirical observation of the real world; however, unlike Realism and Idealism, the real world\u00a0is\u00a0not an unchanging whole,\u00a0but is evolving and changing according to how thought is applied into action towards a problem.\u00a0Thought cannot or should not describe or represent reality, but rather, should be applied by the practical applying thoughts and experiences to problems that arise.\u00a0The\u00a0universe, then, is always evolving according to new applied thoughts turned into actions. Pragmatism\u2019s founder Charles Sanders Pierce posits thought must produce action towards an ever-changing universe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

John Dewey, the founder of Progressivism, believed that experience is central to explaining the world; moreover, experience is what is needed to be explained. One needs practical experiences\u00a0and uses\u00a0explanations\u00a0to find\u00a0models that would best fit any given problem or situation. As new experiences and explanations arise, reality\u00a0will evolve or change to new situations and problems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Pragmatists focus on hands-on, experiential learning tasks such as experimenting,\u00a0and\u00a0working on projects in groups. Students will demonstrate understanding through applied learning tasks to concrete problems or tasks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Key philosophers:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Charles S. Pearce, William James,\u00a0John Dewey<\/p>\n

Existentialism<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Existentialism grew\u00a0from the continental philosophies forming in Europe\u00a0during the 19th\u00a0and early 20th\u00a0century, most notably hermeneutic phenomenology\u2014the examination of lived-experience. Hermeneutic phenomenology and existentialism countered the dualisms inherent in both Idealism and Realism. The world does not have any meaning outside human existence within a world. The mind\/body or mind\/physical world duality\u00a0and cannot have any meaning without a human being actively absorbed in the world.\u00a0Jean Paul\u00a0Sarte\u00a0posited that \u201cexistence precedes essence\u201d, which means one\u2019s existence comes before the nature, or fact, of a thing. This means that\u00a0individual\u00a0human beings are free to determine their own meaning for life and do not\u00a0possess any inherent identity different than one the individual chooses or creates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Existentialists position the individual as responsible for their own being, or existence. \u201cWho am I? What should I do?\u201d\u00a0 become central questions for an individual\u2019s project in being. If one identifies with being a teacher, or any other identity\u00a0like being a parent, then one must evaluate what does one who teaches (or any other identity) really do? After thoughtful and careful reflection, one must choose to authentically\u00a0do the project of being a teacher (or any other identity).\u00a0Acting in\u00a0accordance to your chosen beliefs and values despite social pressures is\u00a0the way to have an authentic existence; however, acting\u00a0or adopting false values based on social pressures would be acting in \u201cbad faith\u201d\u00a0and one would be living an inauthentic existence\u00a0according to\u00a0Sartre.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

In educational settings, Existentialists focus on giving students personal choice where they must confront others\u2019 views\u00a0in order to\u00a0clarify and develop authentic actions in terms of the students\u2019 developing identities. Existentialists have difficulty positioning students as objects to measured, tracked, or standardized. Teachers who adhere to an Existentialist ontology\u00a0create activities to guide students to self-direction and self-actualization.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Key philosophers:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

S\u00f8ren\u00a0Kierkegaard, Jean Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir<\/p>\n

\n

Axiology<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Axiology is the study of value or concepts of worth. There are two main axiological stances: one that explores ethics and what is right and wrong; and the other deals with aesthetics and what is beautiful. While there are two main stances of axiology between ethics and aesthetics, axiology can be further refined. Analytical philosophy, or logical positivist, attempts to measure value based on the mathematics of value\u00a0in an attempt to\u00a0determine objective facts on why something has value. Normative ethics focuses on how a person determines basic ethical or moral standards. Ethics of care, unlike normative ethics, focuses on relational aspects between humans and a person\u2019s identity\u00a0that\u00a0can be defined by one\u2019s individual relations with others. Lastly, aesthetics is related to the philosophy of art. A person focusing on aesthetics puzzles how one experiences or determines beauty, ugliness, form, and the sublime.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t

Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
CC licensed content, Original<\/div>