Submitted by: Amir Hamza

Submitted to: Mr. Nisar Ahmad

Course Code: 8609

Assignment No: 01

Roll No: CA632345

Program: B.ed 1.5 Years

Q. 1 What is meant by philosophy? Explain its definitions provided by the different philosophers.

Answer: Introduction:

The derivation of the word "philosophy" from the Greek is suggested by the following words
and word-fragments.
 philo—love of, affinity for, liking of
 philander—to engage in love affairs frivolously
 philanthropy—love of mankind in general
 philately—postage stamps hobby
 phile—(as in "anglophile") one having a love for
 philology—having a liking for words
 sophos—wisdom
 sophist—lit. one who loves knowledge
 sophomore—wise and moros—foolish; i.e. one who thinks he knows
many things
 sophisticated—one who is knowledgeable

B. A suggested definition for our beginning study is as follows.

Philosophy is the systematic inquiry into the principles and presuppositions of any field
of study.

1. From a psychological point of view, philosophy is an attitude, an

approach, or a calling to answer or to ask, or even to comment upon certain peculiar
problems (i.e., specifically the kinds of problems usually relegated to the main branches
discussed below in Section II).

2. There is, perhaps, no one single sense of the word "philosophy."

Eventually many writers abandon the attempt to define philosophy and, instead, turn to
the kinds of things philosophers do.

3. What is involved in the study of philosophy involves is described by

the London Times in an article dealing with the 20th World Congress of Philosophy: "The
great virtue of philosophy is that it teaches not what to think, but how to think. It is the
study of meaning, of the principles underlying conduct, thought and knowledge. The
skills it hones are the ability to analyse, to question orthodoxies and to express things
clearly. However arcane some philosophical texts may be … the ability to formulate
questions and follow arguments is the essence of education."

II. The Main Branches of Philosophy are divided as to the nature of the questions asked in
each area. The integrity of these divisions cannot be rigidly maintained, for one area
overlaps into the others.

a. Ethics: the study of values in human behavior or the study of

moral problems: e.g., (1) the rightness and wrongness of actions, (2) the kinds of things
which are good or desirable, and (3) whether actions are blameworthy or praiseworthy.
 i. Consider this example analyzed by J. O. Urmson in his
well-known essay, "Saints and Heroes":

"We may imagine a squad of soldiers to be practicing the throwing of live hand
grenades; a grenade slips from the hand of one of them and rolls on the ground near the
squad; one of them sacrifices his life by throwing himself on the grenade and
protecting his comrades with his own body. It is quite unreasonable to suppose that
such a man must be impelled by the sort of emotion that he might be impelled by if his
best friend were in the squad."

ii. Did the soldier who threw himself on the grenade do the
right thing? If he did not cover the grenade, several soldiers might be injured or be
killed. His action probably saved lives; certainly an action which saves lives is a
morally correct action. One might even be inclined to conclude that saving lives is a
duty. But if this were so, wouldn't each of the soldiers have the moral obligation or
duty to save his comrades? Would we thereby expect each of the soldiers to vie for
the opportunity to cover the grenade?

b. Æsthetics: the study of value in the arts or the inquiry into

feelings, judgments, or standards of beauty and related concepts. Philosophy of art is
concerned with judgments of sense, taste, and emotion.

i. E.g., Is art an intellectual or representational activity? What

would the realistic representations in pop art represent? Does art represent sensible
objects or ideal objects?

ii. Is artistic value objective? Is it merely coincidental that

many forms in architecture and painting seem to illustrate mathematical principles?
Are there standards of taste?

iii. Is there a clear distinction between art and reality?

B. Epistemology: the study of knowledge. In particular, epistemology is the study of

the nature, scope, and limits of human knowledge.

1. Epistemology investigates the origin, structure, methods, and integrity of

knowledge.

2. Consider the degree of truth of the statement, "The earth is round." Does
its truth depend upon the context in which the statement is uttered? For example, this
statement can be successively more accurately translated as …
 "The earth is spherical"
 "The earth is an oblate spheroid" (i.e., flattened at the poles).
 But what about the Himalayas and the Marianas Trench? Even if
we surveyed exactly the shape of the earth, our process of surveying would alter the
surface by the footprints left and the impressions of the survey stakes and instruments.
 Hence, the exact shape of the earth cannot be known. Every rain shower changes the
shape.
 (Note here as well the implications for skepticism and relativism:
simply because we cannot exactly describe the exact shape of the earth, the conclusion
does not logically follow that the earth does not have a shape.)

2. Furthermore, consider two well-known problems in epistemology:

a. Russell's Five-Minute-World Hypothesis: Suppose the earth were

created five minutes ago, complete with memory images, history books, records, etc.,
how could we ever know of it? As Russell wrote in The Analysis of Mind, "There is no
logical impossibility in the hypothesis that the world sprang into being five minutes
ago, exactly as it then was, with a population that "remembered" a wholly unreal past.
There is no logically necessary connection between events at different times; therefore
nothing that is happening now or will happen in the future can disprove the hypothesis
that the world began five minutes ago." For example, an omnipotent God could create
the world with all the memories, historical records, and so forth five minutes ago. Any
evidence to the contrary would be evidence created by God five minutes ago.
(Q.v., the Omphalos hypothesis.)

b. Suppose everything in the universe (including all spatial relations)

were to expand uniformly a thousand times larger. How could we ever know it? A
moment's thought reveals that the mass of objects increases by the cube whereas the
distance among them increases linearly. Hence, if such an expansion were possible,
changes in the measurement of gravity and the speed of light would be evident, if,
indeed, life would be possible.

c. Russell's Five-Minute-World Hypothesis is a philosophical

problem; the impossibility of the objects in the universe expanding is a scientific
problem since the latter problem can, in fact, be answered by principles of elementary
physics.

B. Ontology or Metaphysics: the study of what is really real. Metaphysics deals

with the so-called first principles of the natural order and "the ultimate generalizations
available to the human intellect." Specifically, ontology seeks to indentify and
establish the relationships between the categories, if any, of the types of existent
things.

1. What kinds of things exist? Do only particular things exist or do general

things also exist? How is existence possible? Questions as to identity and change of objects
—are you the same person you were as a baby? as of yesterday? as of a moment ago?

2. How do ideas exist if they have no size, shape, or color? (My idea of the
Empire State Building is quite as "small" or as "large" as my idea of a book. I.e., an idea
is not extended in space.) What is space? What is time?
 3. E.g., Consider the truths of mathematics: in what manner do geometric
figures exist? Are points, lines, or planes real or not? Of what are they made?

4. What is spirit? or soul? or matter? space? Are they made up of the same
sort of "stuff"?

5. When, if ever, are events necessary? Under what conditions are they
possible?

Q. 2 Define the term ‘Idealism’. Which aims does idealism achieves through education?

Answer:

Introduction

Idealism is the metaphysical and epistemological doctrine that ideas or thoughts make up
fundamental reality. Essentially it is any philosophy which argues that the only thing actually
knowable is consciousness whereas we never can be sure that matter or anything in the outside
world really exists thus the only the real things are mental entities not physical things which exist
only in the sense that they are perceived. A broad definition of idealism could include many
religious viewpoints although an idealistic viewpoint need not necessarily include God,
supernatural beings or existences after death. In general parlance, “idealism” is also used to
describe a person’s high ideals (principles or values actively pursued as a goal) the word “ideal”
is also commonly used as an adjective to designate qualities of perfection, desirability and
excellence. 

Definition:

 “Idealistic philosophy takes many and varied forms but the postulate underlying all this is that
mind or spirit is the essential world stuff, that the rule reality is a material character”.

Idealism in education:                          

Idealism pervades all the creation and it is an underlying, unlimited and ultimate force which
regions supreme overall mind and matter. They all advocate its great importance in education
and lay more emphasis on aims and principles of education than on models, aids and devices.

Idealism and Aims of Education:

 The following are the aims of education according to the philosophy of idealism:

Self-realization or Exhalation of Personality:

   According to the idealism man is the most creation of God. Self- realization involves full of
knowledge of the self and it is the first aim of education “The aim of education especially
associated with idealism is the exhalation of personality or self-realization it is the making actual
or real personalities of the self.”

   To Ensure Spiritual Development:

Idealistic give greater importance to spiritual values in comparison with material attainments.
The second aim of education is to develop the child mentally, morally and above all spiritually.
“Education must enable mankind through its culture to enter more and more fully into the
spiritual realm”.

Development of Intelligences and Rationality:

 “In all things their regions an external law this all pervading energetic, self conscious and hence
eternal law this all pervading energetic. This unity is God. Education should lead and guide man
to face with nature and to unity and God”.

Idealism and Curriculum

Idealists give more importance to thoughts, feelings ideals and values than to the child and his
activities. They firmly hold that curriculum should be concerned with the whole humanity and its
experience.

Views of Plato about curriculum   

According to Plato the aim of life is to realize God. Which is possible only by pursing high
ideals   namely Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. Three types of activities namely intellectual,
aesthetic and moral cancan attain these high ideals.

Views of Herbart Curriculum

According to Herbart the idealistic aim of education is the promotion of moral values. He gave
prime importance to subjects like Literature, History, Art, Music, and Poetry together with other
humanities and secondary place to scientific subjects.

 History of Idealism

Plato is one of the first philosophers to discuss what might be termed idealism. Usually Plato
referred to as Platonic Realism. This is because of his doctrine describes forms or universals.
(Which are certainly non-material “ideals” in a broad sense). Plato maintained that these forms
had their own independent existence. Plato believed that “full reality” it is achieved only through
thought and could be describe as a non-subjective “transcendental” idealist. The term
metaphysics literally means “beyond the physical” This area of   Philosophy a focuses on the
nature of reality. Metaphysics attempts to find unity across the domains of experiences thought.
At the time metaphysical level there are four broad philosophical schools of thought that apply to
education today. They are idealism, realism, pragmatism (sometimes called experientialism and
existentialism). Plato was an idealist philosopher who founded the first school of philosophy in
Athens. His work forms the foundation of western philosophy. His presentation of philosophical
works in the form of “Dialogues” gave the world of philosophy the dialectic. Plato took
Socrates’ maxim “virtue is knowledge” and extrapolated it into an elaborate theory of knowledge
which envisaged a level of reality beyond that immediately available to the senses but accessible
to reason and intellect. The students of Plato’s academy the first school of philosophy in Athens,
were to go beyond the concrete world of perception and come to understand the universal
“ideas” or forms which represented a higher level of reality. Plato’s idealism extended to the
concept of an ideal state as outlined in his “Republic”. This was a state ruled by an intellectual
elite of philosopher kings.

Q. 3 Compare the curriculum based on idealism with that of pragmatism.

Answer:

Idealism and Curriculum

Idealism emphasizes the spiritual side of man. So, for the idealists curriculum is based upon

the idea or assumption of the sp~ritual nature of man. They are of the view that the

cu~riculum is a body of intellectual or learned disciplines that are basically ideational or

conceptual. They arrange their curriculum in the form of a hierarchy in which the general

discipline occuples the top most position and gradually it comes down to particular subjects

in their relationship to general discipline.

Plato, a great exponent of idealism, conceives of the curriculum from the point of ideas.

He believes that the highest idea of life is the attainment of the highest good or God; hence

curriculum ought to impart inherent values in order to enable the educand to attain his

highest good. The spiritual values, according to him are truth, beauty and goodness. These

three values which determine three types of activites intellectual, aesthetic and moral. Each

type of activity is represented by different subjects and should form a part of the curriculum!

Intellectual activities are represented by subjects such as language, literature, science,

mathenlatics, history and geography; aesthetic activities will be possible through the study
of art and poetry and moral activities through the study of religion, ethics and metaphysics.

Ross talks of two types of activities i.e. physical activities and spiritual activities to be

included in an idealistic curriculum. Physical activities include subjects such as health and

hygiene which foster bodily skills viz. gymnastics and atheletics that lead to good health and
fitness and thus make the pursuit of spiritual values possible. Spiritual pursuits imply
Philosophicd Baasis of Education

the intellectual, aesthetic, moral and religious studies. Hence such subjects as history,

geography, language, fine arts, morality, ethics, religion, science, mathematics and others

should be included in the curriculum.

Sri Aurobindo also in his Integral Philosophy of Education gives importance to moral,

religious and physical education. By moral education he means the training of moral faculty,

i.e. the ability to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. Another important

thing in moral education is the value of suggestion. The suggestion by the teacher has to

be exercised by personal example, daily talks and svadhyaya i.e. reading good books.

Narration of the deeds of great men in interesting style always carries much impression

upon the young minds. In addition Aurobindo advocates that religious education should

also be imparted not only through religious books or religious sermons but by the practice

of religious life and spiritual self-training. Theoretical teaching of religion must be

complemented with actual practice. Along with moral and religious education he has given

importance to physical education, With regard to physical education he says, "If our seeking

is for a total perfection of the being, the physical part of it cannot be left aside; for the body

is the material basis. the body is the instrument which we have to use".

Another Indian idealist Dr. Radhakrishnan, wants to make moral education a compulsory

part of education at primary and secondary levels. Without it, he considers,' the educational

institutions cannot fulfill their objectives of educating the youth of the country. According

to him the greatness of a country cannot be measured by its physical civilization but by its
moral and spiritual advancement. He also supports religious education. But religious education

for him is not the instruction of a particular religion. It is a means for developing spiritual

intuition because "the aim of religion is spiritual and not merely a change in metaphysical

ideas". Further he suggested inclusion of physical education in the curriculum. In his

words, "The body is the means of the expression of the human soul, physical education

therefore must be properly given".

Pragmatism and Curriculum

According to pragmatists the main focus of education is not social heritage of the past, but

the good life in the present and in the future. The standard of social good is constantly

changing, so it should be tested and verified through changing experience. Life does not

stand still and there is a constant need for improvement. John Dewey, however, is of the

view that acquaintance with the past experience is very important for effective handling of

the present as well as the future.

Pragmatists are of the opinion that the curriculum at the school should reflect the society.

They have rejected the traditional approach to subject matter curriculum which is associated

with formal schooling, where knowledge is separated from child's own interests, needs and

experiences and is fragmented or compartmentalized. They emphasize the needs and interests of
the children. This does not mean letting children do anything they want. Interests and

needs do not necessarily mean the dictates of whim. Dewey opines that all learning should

be particular and contextual to a given time, place and circumstances. For example, history

is traditionally taught to the student without considering its relevance to the everyday

experience. So what is the use of studying history? Whatever may be the subject matter it

should liberate and enrich personal life by furnishing context, background and outlook.

Dewey in his book "Democracy and Education" recommended three levels of curricular

organization: (1) making and doing; (2) history and geography; and (3) organized sciences.
At the first curricular level, makiqg and doing, should engage students in activities and

projects based on their experiences.'This idea is similar to that of Mahatma Gandhi who

is considered as an idealist, a naturalist as well a$ a pragmatist. He believes in the principle

of learning by doing. There is lot of similarity between the craft-centred activities adovated

by him add the project method of Dewey. Though Ravindra Nath Tagore is a naturalist, his

views regarding curriculum are pragmatic in nature. To him curriculum is not a number of

subjects to be learnt but relevant activities to be undertaken. In the second level curriculum,

History and Geography, which Dewey regards as two great educational resources, help in

enlarging the scope and significance of the child's temporal and spatial experience from the

immediate home and school environments to that of the larger community and the world.

Dewey's third stage of curriculum is that of the organized subjects, the various sciences,

consisting of bodies of tested knowledge. Pragmatists believe in a broad and diversified

curriculum. They endorse a more general education as opposed to narrow specialization.

Pragrqatic curriculum is composed of both process and content. When we consider what a

child learns as fixed and ready made, attention is directed too much upon outcome and too

little upon process. Pragmatists focus some attention on process, because ends should not

be divorced from means. So they assert that the means. used to accomplish something

dictate what the actual ends and outcomes really are.

Q. 4 Explain the different forms of naturalism?

Answer:

Forms of Naturalism:

Naturalism is of the following three forms:

i. Physical Naturalism:
It studies the process of matter of external world. It explains human activities in terms of natural
laws and material objects. So external nature has influenced on the life of human being. It
emphasizes on physical science.

ii. Mechanical Naturalism:

Mechanical naturalism has given stress on modern Psychology-Behaviorism. It deals conditioned

response and effective principles of learning by doing. This universe is a lifeless big machine but
it is man who manipulates the machine through mailer and motion.

For this movement mental activities are required. No spiritual power is required to run this
machine as per idealism. This machine comes to move by external stimuli and forces of nature.

iii. Biological Naturalism:

Based on Darwin’s theory of evolution, man has evolved from lower animal by a gradual process
of development to present man. Man is the supreme product of this evolution.

Biological naturalism emphasizes that man comes to earth due to influence of heredity and
temperament of man which comes from generation to generation through a natural process i.e. in
born tendencies. It is based on three principles like adaptation to environment, struggle for
existence, survival of the fittest.

Q. 5 What are the limitations of natural knowledge? It is of any use to Muslims today?

Answer:

In the so-called ‘Golden Age of Islam’ inspiration for the development of sciences was found in
the Quran. Moreover, scientific activities were undertaken for the betterment of mankind;
therefore the sciences that initially attracted the attention of Islamic scholars were medicine,
mathematics, pharmacy, and pharmacology (Faruqi, 2006b). In addition, major scientific works
were carried out under the patronage of rulers whose primary interests lay in the benefits derived
from these scientific works for the peoples they ruled (Sabra, 1996). In Islam it must be
understood that there is no ‘philosophy’ as recognized by Western standards. For traditional
Muslims, answers to questions pertaining to God, the creation of the universe, and the destiny of
mankind, could be sought in the Quran, (Faruqi, 2006a&b). Some orthodox Muslims subjected
Quranic verses to Kalam or a theological discipline involving rational dialectical examinations (a
form of Muslim scholastic theology). Philosophers like Al-Kindi (800- 870), Al-Farabi (d. 950)
were inspired by the translations of the works of Aristotle. They attempted to reconcile
Aristotelian and Platonic ideas with revelation thus trying to build a bridge between belief and
reason (Taton, 1963). Al-Farabi’s works illustrated that Aristotelian logic had scriptural support
in the Quran and the prophetic hadith (Bakar, 1999). Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina/Avicenna (980-
1037) tried to develop the use of logic within the framework of religious consciousness of the
Transcendent. Al-Farabi and Ibn Sina wrote works which sought to demonstrate that logic, when
used correctly, could in relation to religious truths help explain their rationality and clarify
overall consistency (Armstrong, 2000; Sarton, 1927). However, there emerged opposition to
Aristotelian logic from within both religious and intellectual quarters. Abu Bakr al-Razi/Rhazes
(d. 925) was probably the first to write a critique on Aristotle’s logic. Al-Ghazzali (1058-1111)
wrote his famous critique of the earlier philosophers such as Al-Farabi and Ibn-Sina, entitled
‘Tahâfut al-falâsifa or ‘The Incoherence of the Philosophers’ who had been inspired by Aristotle.
Al-Ghazzali accentuated the unacceptability of the three metaphysical claims: (a) the denial of
bodily resurrection; (b) the limitation of divine knowledge to universal, eternal truths; and (c) the
doctrine that the world is eternal (King 2004, p.58). Al-Ghazzali denounced these claims and all
who held these beliefs were disbelievers. But Al-Ghazzali also wrote works which encouraged
the use of logic for enhancing religious understanding, but reason always was subservient to
revelation. According to Al-Ghazzali, “the Quranic term al-mĩzān usually translated as the
balance, refers among other things to logic. Logic is the balance with which man weighs ideas
and opinions to arrive at the correct measurement or judgement” (Bakar, 1991, p.4). Al-Ghazzali
being a scientist and religious scholar was able to combine religious beliefs with the scientific
ideas of the time (Faruqi, 2006b). However, Ibn Rushd/Averroes (1126-98) wrote ‘Tahâfut al-
Tahâfut or the ‘Incoherence of the Incoherence’ a rebuttal to the arguments presented against
philosophers in Al-Ghazzali’s (1058- 1111) Tahâfut al-falâsifa (Taylor, 2000). Ibn Rushd sought
to prove that there was nothing either philosophically or religiously objectionable in Aristotelian
doctrine of the eternity of the world (Faruqi, 2006). Ibn Rushd’s works demonstrated the
relationships that existed between religious thinking and the scientific developments of this
period. Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 1328) and Ibrahim alShatibi (d. 1398), both undertook inquiries and
systematic refutation of Aristotelian logic. This demonstrates the intellectual struggle between
Islamic science based on the Quranic worldview and Greek thought. The inspiration for Islamic
philosophy and science appears to have been the ancient knowledge consisting of Greek, Indian
and others that the Muslims acquired through the translation movement of the eighth and ninth
centuries. Muhammad Iqbal (d. 1939) undertook an incisive analysis of the Greek philosophy
and its comparison with the worldview of the Quran (Kamali, 2003). Muhammad Iqbal refuted
some of the hitherto parallels that had been drawn between the two. Iqbal acknowledged that the
“Greek philosophy had been a great cultural force in the history of Islam” (Iqbal, 1986, p. 3), but
the worldview of the Quran which inspired the Muslim scholars 466 Islamic view of nature and
values was different from the Greek thought. For example, Aristotle wrote extensively on
physics without undertaking a single experiment; and on natural history without determining the
most easily verifiable facts (Kamali, 2003). Socrates postulated that the study of man alone, was
sufficient in the study of the human world, whereas the Quran encompasses that all of nature
must be studied, the “humble bee a recipient of Divine inspiration” and “to observe the perpetual
changes of the wind, the alternation of day and night, the clouds and the planets swimming
through infinite space” (Kamali, 2003). Furthermore, the Quran deems ‘hearing’ and ‘sight’ as
valuable instruments in the process of learning. Thus Islamic science developed in scientific
inquiry the method of observation and experimentation. Therefore the experimental method that
developed in “Islam was not due to a compromise with Greek thought but to a prolonged
intellectual warfare with it” (Kamali, 2003). Consequently, this resulted in the magnificent
developments in science during the period from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries in the
various territories of the Islamic Empire, Baghdad, Andalusia, and Sicily (Faruqi, 2006).
Subsequently, it was this Islamic science that made its way to Europe through North Africa,
Sicily and Spain. Beginning from the end of the tenth century this knowledge began to filter back
to Europe through the translations of Arabic versions of the Greek knowledge and the original
Greek treatises (Burnett, 2001). But also transferred to Europe were the seminal contributions of
scholars of the Islamic world. Modern science as we know it today works with theories and
models that must be tested empirically. This was standard practice in the fields of mathematics,
astronomy and medicine in the Islamic world of 1000 years ago. The Muslims developed the
procedures for testing knowledge both empirically and logically (Faruqi, 2006b). More over, an
important characteristic of Islamic science was its experimental character. Islamic scientists were
interested especially in the applied sciences, in the construction of apparatus, in testing theories
by undertaking observations, and analysis of results through mathematics (Bammate, 1959).
These ideas and procedures were all available before the times of Galileo and Newton to whom
they have been largely attributed in Western Europe. Europeans have been slow to acknowledge
the Islamic origins of their scientific method. Bacon, who has been credited with the invention of
experimental method, studied in the Islamic universities of Spain. Bacon acknowledged this and
emphasized the importance of Arabic science and probably used the original Arabic works of Ibn
alHaytham/Alhazen as well as Latin translations. Thus by promoting the use of experiments in
scientific research, al-Haytham played an important role in setting the scene for modern science.
However, the development of modern science and technology led to the separation of facts from
values and this has resulted in destructive consequences for humanity that have arisen from some
scientific discoveries. Production of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons can be cited as
examples, as well as the side effects of preservatives, chemicals and pollutants in our food and
environment. Furthermore scientific progress has raised serious ethical issues in terms of human
or animal subjects and public safety (Golshani, 2003). Consequently, in the Islamic world and in
the West, Muslim scholars need to tackle these issues using all the tools available including
religious knowledge.