Running head: IDEALISM AS AN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY: AN ANALYSIS

Idealism as an Educational Philosophy: An Analysis Christopher J Newton University of Phoenix May 2011

IDEALISM AS AN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY: AN ANALYSIS

Idealism as an Educational Philosophy: An Analysis Idealism in its most general sense is the notion that ideas are the only true reality. Idealists, whilst not against the material world, believe that matter is subject to change, instability, and uncertainty, therefore, only ideas can be relied upon (Ozmon & Craver, 2008). Brightman and Beck (1963) define it as the philosophy for which mind, or what is especially characteristic of mind, is the fundamental principle of explanation, not merely in ethics and general axiology, but also in epistemology and metaphysics (p. 309). As an educational philosophy, it may be distinguished by three different time periods and emphases. They are Platonic Idealism, Religious Idealism, and Modern Idealism. The purpose of this paper is to analyze Idealism as an educational philosophy. The paper will consider its origin, the major philosophers who have contributed to its development, and some major historical events that are associated with it. It will also identify other philosophical systems and theories that have been impacted by Idealism, as well as philosophers who have come under its influence. The Origins of Idealism Idealism as a philosophical system has its roots in ancient Greek philosophy. The root includes two of the most famous philosophers; Socrates and Plato. Socrates was born in 469 B.C. in Athens (Rowe, 2001). As a philosopher, he did not leave anything in writing, but many of his ideas have been preserved through three of his younger students; namely, Aristophanes, Xenophon, and Plato, who became his most famous student. There are some disagreements as to what may be properly attributed to Socrates, but it is generally agreed that the most extensive collection of his thoughts are found in the Dialogues of Plato, where he is for the most part the leading character (Stumpf, 1993).

IDEALISM AS AN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY: AN ANALYSIS

The reality of Platos writings being a major source of the ideas of Socrates would have caused major difficulties in differentiating between the ideas of the two. However, thankfully, Platos most celebrated disciple, Aristotle, in distinguishing between the two, credited Socrates for inductive arguments and universal definitions, and Plato for the development of the theory of forms, or the conception that universal Ideas, or Forms, exist independently of the particular things that embody them (Stumpf, 1993, p. 37). Socrates challenged the materialism of his contemporaries with his philosophical method and ideas. He contended that there was an absolute Good, which is what makes our judgments of particular goods possible. But it was Plato, his disciple, who is believed to have added to them, and who immortalized them (Ozmon & Craver, 2008). Platonic Idealism Platonic idealism may be said to hinge on two major arguments; (1) that what an individual thinks about when he thinks rationally must be real (Brightman & Beck, 1963), and (2) that our senses are not a very reliable source of truth as they may fool us into believing things that are not real or may not even exist (Tehie, 2007). The former has been called the Doctrine of Forms or Ideas, and appears to be a development of Socratess idea of the existence of universals, namely, an absolute Good. Plato believed knowledge to be absolute, and argued that the true object of thought is not the material order but the changeless and eternal order of the Ideas or Forms (Stumpf, 1993, p. 58). For example, we may identify different expressions of goodness in the world of the senses, however, there exists in the world of thought true goodness, only a part of which is evidenced in the observed expressions that we experience. Therefore, the forms or ideas are the eternal patterns of which the objects of our experience are only copies (Stumpf, 1993). An important corollary of this view is Platos belief that a universal mind exists,

IDEALISM AS AN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY: AN ANALYSIS

in addition to the view that an individuals spirit essence or soul is not only real but permanent (Tehie, 2007). The latter expression of Platonic Idealism has been of fundamental significance to educational philosophy. Plato used his famous Allegory of the Cave to prove the argument that our senses are not as trustworthy as we would like to think, and often deceive us into believing things that do not exist. His aim of higher education may be said to be a reorientation of a mind from a kind of twilight to true daylight (Cooper, 2001, p. 12). He believed that education should lead to the highest level of knowledge about reality. This led him to suggest that an appropriate curriculum will include subjects with concept systems, which would facilitate the development of the mind (Tehie, 2007). Religious Idealism Idealism has and continues to play a major role in religion today. Judaism, and Christianity, which also has its roots in Judaism, practice Religious Idealism in their concept of an absolute God, who is Spirit and who is the source of all knowledge and truth (Ozmon & Craver, 2008). The sacred text of Christianity, the Bible, is argued to be compatible with idealism. This led Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (354-430 CE) to seek to integrate the philosophy of Platonists and Neoplatonists with Christian beliefs. Augustine had at different points in his life, embraced skepticism, materialism, and dualism as he wrestled with his personal experiences. However, he moved from Africa to Milan in 384 CE, where he was influenced by two men; Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, and Plotinus, a Neoplatonist. From Plotinus, he embraced the concept that there was an immaterial world completely separate from the physical world, and man has a spiritual sense that allows him to know God and the immaterial world. The philosophy of Plotinus helped Augustine to overcome

IDEALISM AS AN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY: AN ANALYSIS

his former skepticism, materialism, and dualism. He accepted the belief that not all activity is physical, but that there is a spiritual as well as a physical reality. His experience with Neoplatonism helped him to focus on his moral need which Plotinus did not address. However, this was addressed by the sermons of Bishop Ambrose. He converted to Christianity in 386 BC, and thereafter devoted himself to the pursuit of philosophy, crucial to which was the knowledge of God (Fitzpatrick, 2001; Stumpf, 1993). For Augustine, Neoplatonism included the philosophical expressions of Christianity. He compared the City of God and the City of man with Platos concept of the world of forms and the world of matter. The World of God is the world of Spirit and the Good; the World of Man is the material world of darkness, sin, ignorance, and suffering (Ozmon & Craver, 2008, p. 10). , Though their sources were different, Augustine agreed with Plato that humans did not create knowledge but that it already existed and was waiting to be discovered. For Augustine, God already created it and it could be discovered by trying to know God. As a result, he promoted an intuitive approach to education, agreeing with Plato that an emphasis on the physical could lead one astray from the path to true knowledge (Ozmon & Craver, 2008). This aversion to the physical contributed to the development of monastic education that was to play an important role in the preserving of higher education during the Middle Ages. The conversion of Augustine was indeed an important event in the development of the Christian church and the promotion of Platonic Idealism. According to Stumpf (1993), Augustine set the dominant mood and style of Christian wisdom of the Middle Ages (p. 135). The role of idealism in the thinking of Augustine is quite significant because of his commitment to Christ. Christianity represented a separate and unique worldview, which, in the view of its adherents, is not based on mortal initiative. So how did Augustine balance the two

IDEALISM AS AN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY: AN ANALYSIS

worldviews? Whenever he found Platonic writings that were consistent with the Bible, he adopted them, but when he found ideas that were inconsistent with scripture, he amended them (Stumpf, 1993). Modern Idealism The beginning of the Modern period fifteenth to sixteenth century saw idealism being largely identified with systematization and subjectivism. One of the philosophers who contributed to this reality was Ren Descartes (1596-1650 CE). His writings are too extensive to be confined to any one particular philosophical system, however, much of his philosophy is consistent with idealism (Ozmon & Craver, 2008). Descartes, born in Touraine, France, was the son of a councilor of the Parliament of Brittany. In 1628, he settled in Holland, where he wrote his principal works including Discourse on Methods (1637), Meditations of First Philosophy (1641), Principles of Philosophy (1644), and The Passions of the Soul (1649). Because of his significant contributions, he has been called the father of modern philosophy (Stumpf, 1993). He was primarily concerned with the problem of intellectual certainty. Though he benefitted from a privileged education, he came to the point where he felt that all he had been taught were meaningless. He began an intellectual search for certainty, which led him to his famous Cartesian first principle, Cogito ergo sum I think therefore I am (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, & Von-Laue, 1996). All he was certain of is that he existed, for if he could think then he must necessarily exist as long as he was thinking. From his Cogito, Descartes deduced Gods existence, his second principle. According to Perry et al. (1996), God exists because he had in mind the idea of a supreme, perfect being. He argued that this idea had to be put there by the Supreme Being, and not by any ordinary mortal. Gods existence therefore meant that the physical world was real, as no creator could play such a

IDEALISM AS AN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY: AN ANALYSIS

cruel trick on his creation. This propelled him to take an avid interest in science, to the extent that he decried the speculative philosophy of the past centuries, and called for a practical philosophy by which humans could truly become the masters and possessors of nature. Without doubt, Descartes influence extended to Realism. He promoted a revival in science education and in the eyes of many, gave philosophy a fresh start, using only those truths that he could know through his exercise of reason (Stumpf, 1993). This brought about an emphasis on the importance of method in higher education. The Impact of Idealism on the Development of Other Philosophies To gain an appreciation of the impact of idealism on the development of other philosophies, one only needs to highlight a number of persons who have been influenced by the proponents of this system. There are primarily two ways that idealism or any other philosophical system impacts the development of others: (1) The development of a particular aspect of the influencing system, and (2) the opposition to or refutation of the influencing system. Aristotelian Realism is in some ways a break-away from Platonic Idealism (Moseley, 2010). Aristotle argued that there are some ideas and forms such as the idea of God, or of a mountain, that can exist independently of matter, but no matter can exist without form. Furthermore, mountains like any other piece of matter has both universal and particular properties (Ozmon & Craver, 2008). On the former point, idealisms influence on Reconstructionism goes as far back as Plato. Reconstructionist philosophers believe that Plato, in articulating a blueprint for a future society, was himself a reconstructionist philosopher (Ozmon & Craver, 2008). Their basic position was that society is always in need of restructuring and constant change, and that education is the vehicle to ensure that this is done as needed. They also saw in the Christian viewpoint and the philosophy of Augustine, a reconstructionist motif (Ozmon & Craver, 2008). Reconstructionism

IDEALISM AS AN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY: AN ANALYSIS

would later influence Postmodernism. Idealism also influenced the thinking of philosophers who embraced existentialism, for example, Maxine Greene (Thompson, 2001). Idealism and the Current Practice of Higher Education All the various expressions of Idealism have impacted on higher education. Ozmon and Craver (2008) noted that the nineteenth century educational thinking was dominated by German Idealism. Today, the influence of Idealism is not as strong as it was in previous centuries. However, its ideas are still relevant today, particularly in light of: (1) the rate of technological development and its tendency to facilitate the erosion of traditional values; both personal and societal, and (2) the embracing of internationalization in higher education, with the ever present danger of the erosion of less dominant cultures and cultural identities, in the efforts at establishing a global culture. It is also a major consideration in the viewpoint of Christian higher education philosophers like Gangel and Benson (1983), though he focused on mind and reason to the exclusion of revelation, which is considered a legitimate source of knowledge by Christian educators. Conclusion Idealism, the general philosophy that only ideas can be trusted because the senses are unreliable as a source of knowledge, originated in Greek philosophy, and developed historically through the occurrence of events that brought about: Platonic Idealism, Religious Idealism, and Modern Idealism. The philosophers highlighted include Socrates, Plato, Augustine, and Ren Descartes. It has contributed to the development of other theories such as Realism, Reconstructionism, Existentialism, and Postmodernism. Today, it is not as popular as it was in times past but it continues to have an impact in educational philosophy, particularly in Christian education.

IDEALISM AS AN EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY: AN ANALYSIS

References Brightman, E. S., & Beck, R. N. (1963). An introduction to philosophy (3rd. ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. Cooper, D. E. (2001). Plato 427-347 BCE. In J. A. Palmer, L. Bresler & D. E. Cooper (Eds.), Fifty major thinkers on education: From Confucius to Dewey (pp. 10-14). New York: Routledge. Fitzpatrick, P. J. (2001). Saint Augustine 354-430. In J. A. Palmer, L. Bresler & D. E. Cooper (Eds.), Fifty major thinkers on education: From Confucius to Dewey (pp. 25-29). New York: Routledge. Gangel, K., O., & Benson, W., S. (1983). Christian education: Its history & philosophy. Chicago: Moody Press. Moseley, A. (2010). Aristotle (Vol. 21). New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. Ozmon, H. A., & Craver, S. M. (2008). Philosophical foundations of education (8th ed.). Colombus, Ohio: Merrill/Prentice Hall. Perry, M., Chase, M., Jacob, J. R., Jacob, M. C., & Von-Laue, T. H. (1996). Western civilization: Ideas, politics & society (5th ed.). Princeton, New Jersey: Houghton Mifflin Company. Rowe, C. J. (2001). Socrates 469-399 BCE. In J. A. Palmer, L. Bresler & D. E. Cooper (Eds.), Fifty major thinkers on education: From Confucius to Dewey (pp. 5-10). New York: Routledge. Stumpf, S. E. (1993). Socrates to Sartre: A history of philosophy (5th ed.). Toronto: McGrawHill, Inc. Tehie, J. B. (2007). Historical foundations of education: Bridges from the ancient world to the present. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall/Merrill.

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Thompson, C. (2001). Maxine Green 1917-. In J. A. Palmer, L. Bresler & D. E. Cooper (Eds.), Fifty modern thinkers on education: From Piaget to the present (pp. 112-118). New York: Routledge.