Idealism in Philosophy of

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE AND
EDUCATION
Philosophical Schools and its
Proponents
PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE IN EDUCATION
Educational Philosophy Educational Theory
• Idealism • Perennialism
Rooted from
• Realism • Essentialism
• Pragmatism • Progressivism
Rooted from • Social
Reconstructionism
• Existentialism • Naturalism
Rooted from
IDEALISM IN PHILOSOPHY OF
EDUCATION
Karl R. Turingan
Ideals
• A standard by which we judge things in our existence.
• “Ideals are the stars. You will not succeed in touching them with
your hands. But like seafaring men on the desert of waters, you
choose them as your guides, and following them, you will reach
your destiny.”_Carl Schurz
• In philosophy, it applies to the theory that holds ideas as the only

reality. Thus, “Idea-ism” might be a more correct descriptive
term for the philosophy than Idealism.
• It came into being as a correction of the view of naturalism.

IDEALISM
• Believes that nothing exists except an IDEA that in the
mind of a man, the mind of God, or in a super or supra-
natural realm.
• An idealist believes that ideas are the only thing that is
eternal and unchanging.
How Idealism is Processed?
• First, we must understand that ideas are generated in the
head, then ideas have to be translated into language and
put forward.
• As new and newer ideas are being created, that leads us
to think how much ideas do we really need to learn.
Ok Good BEST
The Teachers role in Idealism
• No to spoon feeding.
• Facilitate thinking through exchange of ideas.
• Do not tell the answer to the students directly, instead,
allow them to generate ideas that will lead them to the
right answer.
What will the teacher do if a Student answers an
indirect answer?
A. Tell the answer right away?
B. Tell the student he is wrong and then

eventually the teacher will tell the correct
answer?
C. Bring up another question/idea for that

student to lead to the right answer?
D. Tell the student to sit down and call another

student to ask the same question.
Goal of an Idealist Classroom
• Sharing of ideas
• It is not right for students to think that the teacher’s words or
what is in the book are the only things that are important.
• Student’s ideas are also equally important
• Teachers must refine the student’s ideas
• Involve students through their own ideas
What is an Idealist’s Goal in Education?
TRANSFORMATION
Thru
IDEAS
That
Change Lives
Idealism vs. Naturalism
Idealism Naturalism
• Emphasizes that the will • Says that one’s conduct is
governs one’s conduct governed by impulse, instincts
and experiences
• Judges behaviour in terms of
• Judges behaviour on the basis of
motives
results
• Would say that the knowledge • Would say that the end justifies
is obtained by speculation and the means
reasoning
• Regards scientific observation
and scientific knowledge as final
The Development of
Idealism
(From Ancient Times)
PLATONIC IDEALISM (427-347 B. C.)
• Plato, father of Idealism, espoused this view
about 400 years BC, in his famous book, The
Republic. Plato believed that there are two
worlds.
1. The first is the spiritual or mental world, which

is eternal, permanent, orderly, regular, and
universal.
2. There is also the world of appearance, the world

experienced through sight, touch, smell, taste,
and sound, that is changing, imperfect, and
disorderly.
• To understand truth, one must pursue
knowledge and identify with the Absolute Mind.
• Plato also believed that the soul is fully formed

prior to birth and is perfect and at one with the
Universal Being.
• The birth process checks this perfection, so

education requires bringing latent ideas (fully
formed concepts) to consciousness.
• A Greek philosopher, who was remarkably equipped
with natural endowments.
• He became an ardent admirer and disciple of Socrates.
• He opened up his own school, the Academy in Athens

and there developed and expounded his doctrines as a
teacher.
• Two of his most famous works are “The Republic” and

“The Dialogue”.
• Plato did not think that man created knowledge.

Rather, man discovered knowledge.
• “Intelligent people should be taken care of by the
government next to the best school to be of greater
service to the country.”
• He suggested that the state take a very active role in

educational matters; that both boys and girls should
be given equal opportunity to develop themselves.
• Those showing little abilities in mathematics go into

pursuits which would assist them in the practical
realities of life.
• The function of education should be to determine that

which by nature fits men into.
SAINT AUGUSTINE (354-430)
• He lived in a crucial period in the history of
Christianity.
• In the war against heresies, he was a very powerful

figure. His mother was a Christian but not his father.
His conversion occurred when he was 32 years old.
• Prior to that, he lived a life that was patterned after

the typical life of Roman provincial of the times.
• He was a very outstanding teacher of rhetoric.
• He joined for a while the sect of Manicheans, a group

who explained the universe through the dualistic
doctrine of God and Satan engaged in a struggle to
dominate the world.
• Not content with their explanation, which troubled
him, he turned to Greek philosophy and in particular
to Neo- Platonism.
• He rejected the doctrine of pantheistic conception

that the human soul is part of the World soul.
• He incorporated in his own theory of knowledge the

Neo-Platonic doctrine that the ultimate in knowledge
is a mystical intuition of the Supreme Reality, which
only a few can experience.
• He came later under the influence of Saint Ambrose,

Bishop of Milan, who was instrumental in his
conversion to Christianity.
• The teaching of Augustine dominated Christian
education and belief almost exclusively for more than
nine centuries, after which the scholastic philosophy
of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) shared
dominion with it.
• He is the first Christian philosopher to formulate the

doctrines of his religion in the most comprehensive
and enduring manner.
• The accomplishment of his task is facilitated by: (1) an

effective assimilation of Greek philosophy to Christian
belief of God, (2) the use of the Neo-Platonic idea of
mediating function of the Logos the Cosmic Reason or
Divine Word), in interpreting the role of Christ in the
Holy Trinity, and
• The teaching of Augustine dominated Christian
education and belief almost exclusively for more than
nine centuries, after which the scholastic philosophy
of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) shared
dominion with it.
• He is the first Christian philosopher to formulate the

doctrines of his religion in the most comprehensive
and enduring manner.
• The accomplishment of his task is facilitated by: (1) an

effective assimilation of Greek philosophy to Christian
belief of God, (2) the use of the Neo-Platonic idea of
mediating function of the Logos the Cosmic Reason or
Divine Word), in interpreting the role of Christ in the
Holy Trinity, and
• (3) the use of the Neo-Platonic definition of evil as
absence of good in the resolution of the “problem
of evil.”
• His works are permeated by the gospel of love, which

unifies and illuminates the Christian religion.
• In loving God, Augustine tells us, we love truth. He

also taught that one couldn’t obtain true knowledge
without faith.
• Thus, it is the duty of educators to enable students to

be aware that the human struggle is to turn away from
evil and seek the good.

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PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVE AND

• In philosophy, it applies to the theory that holds ideas as the only

• It came into being as a correction of the view of naturalism.

B. Tell the student he is wrong and then

C. Bring up another question/idea for that

D. Tell the student to sit down and call another

1. The first is the spiritual or mental world, which

2. There is also the world of appearance, the world

• Plato also believed that the soul is fully formed

• The birth process checks this perfection, so

• He became an ardent admirer and disciple of Socrates.

• He opened up his own school, the Academy in Athens

• Two of his most famous works are “The Republic” and

• Plato did not think that man created knowledge.

• He suggested that the state take a very active role in

• Those showing little abilities in mathematics go into

• The function of education should be to determine that

• In the war against heresies, he was a very powerful

• Prior to that, he lived a life that was patterned after

• He was a very outstanding teacher of rhetoric.

• He joined for a while the sect of Manicheans, a group

• He rejected the doctrine of pantheistic conception

• He incorporated in his own theory of knowledge the

• He came later under the influence of Saint Ambrose,

• He is the first Christian philosopher to formulate the

• The accomplishment of his task is facilitated by: (1) an

• He is the first Christian philosopher to formulate the

• The accomplishment of his task is facilitated by: (1) an

• His works are permeated by the gospel of love, which

• In loving God, Augustine tells us, we love truth. He

• Thus, it is the duty of educators to enable students to

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