CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHY

St. augustine was the first, it seems, to have employed the expression Christian philosophy to designate the
teaching proposed to men by the Church and to distinguish it from the different wisdoms taught by the
philosophers of antiquity. Before him, however, the term philosophy had been used by a number of Christian
writers, ever since tatian, as a means of establishing contact with the speculative and practical thought that
was widespread in the cultivated world in which the newborn Christianity developed. During the Middle Ages,
the relationship between faith and reason was made more precise, to the extent that natural intelligence began
to be seen by theologians as autonomous in the domain assigned to it by God. In modern times, philosophy
claimed a growing independence, aiming at forming a body of doctrine as free from nonrational influences as
possible and thus, in effect, opposing itself to the teaching of revelation. The relations between philosophy and
Christianity have thus undergone changes in the course of time. It was, though, only in the mid-20th century
that the notion of Christian philosophy became an object of explicit discussion. The exposition that follows
reconsiders the essential definitions that explain a priori the difficulties contained in the idea of a Christian
philosophy and makes as precise as possible the meaning of the debate; it then proposes a clarification, in
brief rsum, of the sense of the history of philosophy that is present within Christian revelation and a
concluding summary of the significance of Christian philosophy in present and future thought.

Rationalism

Baruch Spinoza, 17th-centuryPortuguese Jewish philosopher and critic of religion, is regarded as one of the
most influential rationalists of all time,[1] among the forerunners to the Age of Enlightenment.[2]

In philosophy, rationalism is the epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of
knowledge"[3] or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".[4] More formally,
rationalism is defined as a methodology or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but
intellectual and deductive".[5]
In an old controversy, rationalism was opposed to empiricism, where the rationalists believed that reality has
an intrinsically logical structure. Because of this, the rationalists argued that certain truths exist and that the
intellect can directly grasp these truths. That is to say, rationalists asserted that certain rational principles exist
in logic, mathematics, ethics, and metaphysics that are so fundamentally true that denying them causes one to
fall into contradiction. The rationalists had such a high confidence in reason that empirical proof and physical
evidence were regarded as unnecessary to ascertain certain truths in other words, "there are significant
ways in which our concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience".[6]

Empiricism
John Locke (1632 1704), a leading philosopher of British empiricism

Empiricism is a theory that states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience.[1] It is one
of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism and skepticism.
Empiricism emphasizes the role of empirical evidence in the formation of ideas, over the idea of innate
ideas or traditions;[2] empiricists may argue however that traditions (or customs) arise due to relations of
previous sense experiences.[3]
Empiricism in the philosophy of science emphasizes evidence, especially as discovered in experiments. It is a
fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theories must be tested against observations
of the natural world rather than resting solely on a priori reasoning, intuition, or revelation.
Empiricism, often used by natural scientists, says that "knowledge is based on experience" and that
"knowledge is tentative and probabilistic, subject to continued revision and falsification."[4] One of the
epistemological tenets is that sensory experience creates knowledge. Empirical research, including
experiments and validated measurement tools, guides the scientific method.
Pragmatism, school of philosophy, dominant in the United States in the first quarter of the 20th century, based
on the principle that the usefulness, workability, and practicality of ideas, policies, and proposals are
the criteria of their merit. It stresses the priority of action over doctrine, of experience over fixed principles, and
it holds that ideas borrow their meanings from their consequences and their truths from their verification. Thus,
ideas are essentially instruments and plans of action.
Achieving results, i.e., getting things done in business and public affairs, is often said to be pragmatic.
There is a harsher and more brutal connotation of the term in which any exercise of power in the successful
pursuit of practical and specific objectives is called pragmatic. The character of American business and
politics is often so described. In these cases pragmatic carries the stamp of justification: a policy is justified
pragmatically if it is successful. The familiar and the academic conceptions have in common an opposition
to invoking the authority of precedents or of abstract and ultimate principles. Thus, in law judicial decisions that
have turned on the weighing of consequences and probable general welfare rather than on being deduced
from precedents have been called pragmatic.
The word pragmatism is derived from the Greek pragma (action, or affair). The Greek
historian Polybius (died 118 BCE) called his writings pragmatic, meaning thereby that they were intended to
be instructive and useful to his readers. In his introduction to Philosophy of History, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich
Hegel (17701831) commented on this pragmatical approach as the second kind of reflective historiography,
and for that genre he cited Johannes von Mllers History of the World (Eng. trans. 1840). As the American
psychologist and leading pragmatist William James remarked, The term is derived from the same Greek
word pragma meaning action, from which the words practice and practical come. The American
logician Charles S. Peirce, another pioneering pragmatist, may have been the first to use the word to designate
a specific philosophical doctrine. But Peirce had Immanuel Kants German term rather than the Greek word in
mind. Pragmatisch refers to experimental, empirical, and purposive thought based on and applying to
experience. In the philosophy of education, the notion that children learn by doing, that critical standards of
procedure and understanding emerge from the application of concepts to directly experienced subject matters,
has been called pragmatic. Within linguistics, pragmatics refers to the subfield that studies the relation of
the language user to the words or other signs being used.

Educational theory of Reconstructionism

Reconstructionism or Social Reconstructionism emerged in the 1930s under the leadership of George S.
Counts and Harold Rugg, and later achieved consummation by Theodore Brameld. Prior to the 1930s the
Progressive Education movement had made certain advances beyond Essentialism in teacher-pupil relations
and teaching methodology and according to the reconstructionists, become fixated on the child (child-
centered). The reconstructionists charged that the progressivists had failed to develop long-range, compelling
goals for a society that, at the time, was undergoing great social, political, and economic transformations. The
crises that gave rise to the urgency grew out of the Great Depression of the 1930s and later, in the 1950s, the
threat of nuclear annihilation.
It was John Dewey who suggested the term "reconstructionism" by the title of his book, Reconstruction in
Philosophy (1920). During this time some Progressives, such as George S. Counts, believed that Progressive
Education should seek to create a cooperative society in which wealth would be shared more equitably.
Counts's call to "build a new social order" attracted adherents from the ranks of progressive educators.
Eventually, social reconstructionism developed into a distinctive educational ideology that contained both an
analysis of society and a plan for social reform.
They argued that civilization is in a state of profound cultural crisis. If schools are to continue to mirror the
social status quo, then, schooling will merely transmit societal ills and injustices. Schools, then, would be really
training children to play the roles required in an archaic and self-destructive society. Rather than relying of
metaphysics as a theoretical rationale, the reconstructionists used the findings and methods of social sciences
such as economics, anthropology, sociology, and psychology to provide the basis for their plans of social
reform. They want to use education as a means of designing policies that will bring about a new society. Such
an education, they argue, cannot be neutral; it must be committed to bring about deliberate social change. It
must prepare future generations to be social engineers who can use science and technology to create a new
and better world society.
According to Gerald Gutek (1992) reconstructionists educators, teachers, students and schools should:
1. Identify major social problems by critically examining the present condition of society.
2. Analyze social problems, issues, and controversies with the aim of resolving them in ways that enhance
human growth and development.
3. Be committed to bring about constructive social change and reform.
4. Cultivate a planning attitude among students that will be carried into adult citizenship activities.
5. Join in promoting definite programs of social, educational, political, and economic reform.
Gutek also believes that "Social Reconstructionists believe that a new society can be created only as
educators challenge obsolete conceptions of education and schooling and initiate carefully planned change
that will lead to social reform. Because social sciences such as anthropology, economics, sociology, political
science, and psychology are useful in providing the background and methods for planned social change, they
should be emphasized in the curriculum. Education should awaken the students' consciousness about social
problems by encouraging them to question the status quo and to examine controversial issues in religion,
society, economics, politics, and education. By examining rather than ignoring controversial issues, the
Reconstructionists believe, students well develop alternatives to the status quo.
The Reconstructionist teacher should encourage and respect divergent thinking by students. Divergent thinking
should not be purely intellectual but should be used instrumentally to create alternative political, social, and
economic institutions and processes.
Social Reconstructionists assert that a truly progressive education should create a world order in which people
plan their own future. It should be future rather than past oriented. Reconstructionists contend that traditional
schooling is based on the past to the neglect of the future. If people are to control their own destinies, it is
important that schools include futuristic studies in the curriculum.
Reconstructionists insist that teachers lead students to examine critically their culture. They should identify
major areas of controversy, conflict, and inconsistency and seek to resolve them. For example, the curriculum
should include units on such problems as overpopulation, environmental pollution, world poverty, violence, and
war. Education should examine these world problems and seek to resolve them so that people can improve
the quality of life on the planet.
The Reconstructionists believe that technology has created an interdependent world. Events in one region of
the earth will have an impact in other regions. The new education must stress the reality of an interdependent
and international world. Reconstructionists seek to internationalize the curriculum so that students learn that
they are living in an interdependent world culture." (Gutek p 122)
Leading educational proponents include: Plato, Augustine, Karl Marx, John Dewey, George S. Counts,
Theodore Brameld, William O. Stanley, Alvin Toffler, Harold Rugg, John Childs, William H. Kilpatrick, Ivan
Illich, and Paulo Freire.

Confucianism, also known as Ruism, is described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or

rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or simply a way of life.[1] Confucianism developed from what was later
called the Hundred Schools of Thought from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (551479
BCE), who considered himself a retransmitter of the values of the Zhou dynasty golden age of several
centuries before.[2] In the Han dynasty (206 BCE 220 CE), Confucian approaches edged out the "proto-
Taoist" Huang-Lao, as the official ideology while the emperors mixed both with the realist techniques
of Legalism.
A Confucian revival began during the Tang dynasty of 618-907. In the late Tang, Confucianism developed in
response to Buddhism and Taoism and was reformulated as Neo-Confucianism. This reinvigorated form was
adopted as the basis of the imperial exams and the core philosophy of the scholar official class in the Song
dynasty (960-1297). The abolition of the examination system in 1905 marked the end of official Confucianism.
The New Culture intellectuals of the early twentieth century blamed Confucianism for China's weaknesses.
They searched for new doctrines to replace Confucian teachings; some of these new ideologies include the
"Three Principles of the People" with the establishment of the Republic of China, and then Maoism under
the People's Republic of China. In the late twentieth century Confucian work ethic has been credited with the
rise of the East Asian economy.[3]
With particular emphasis on the importance of the family and social harmony, rather than on an otherworldly
source of spiritual values,[4] the core of Confucianism is humanistic.[5] According to Herbert Fingarette's concept
of "the secular as sacred," Confucianism regards the ordinary activities of human life and especially in
human relationships as a manifestation of the sacred,[6] because they are the expression of our moral nature
(xng ), which has a transcendent anchorage in Heaven (Tin ) and a proper respect for the spirits or gods
(shn).[7] While Tin has some characteristics that overlap the category of deity, it is primarily
an impersonal absolute principle, like the Do () or the Brahman. Confucianism focuses on the practical
order that is given by a this-worldly awareness of the Tin.[8][9] Confucian liturgy (that is called r, or
sometimes / zhngtng, meaning "orthoprax" ritual style) led by Confucian priests or "sages of rites" (
/ lshng) to worship the gods in public and ancestral Chinese temples is preferred in various
occasions, by Confucian religious groups and for civil religious rites, over Taoist or popular ritual. [10]
The this-worldly concern of Confucianism rests on the belief that human beings are fundamentally good, and
teachable, improvable, and perfectible through personal and communal endeavor especially self-cultivation
and self-creation. Confucian thought focuses on the cultivation of virtue and maintenance of ethics. Some of
the basic Confucian ethical concepts and practices include rn, y, and l, and zh. Rn (, "benevolence" or
"humaneness") is the essence of the human being which manifests as compassion. It is the virtue-form of
Heaven.[11] Y (/) is the upholding of righteousness and the moral disposition to do good. L (/) is a
system of ritual norms and propriety that determines how a person should properly act in everyday life
according to the law of Heaven. Zh () is the ability to see what is right and fair, or the converse, in the
behaviors exhibited by others. Confucianism holds one in contempt, either passively or actively, for failure to
uphold the cardinal moral values of rn and y.
Traditionally, cultures and countries in the East Asian cultural sphere are strongly influenced by Confucianism,
including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, as well as various
territories settled predominantly by Chinese people, such as Singapore. In the 20th century Confucianism's
influence diminished greatly. In the last decades there have been talks of a "Confucian Revival" in the
academic and the scholarly community[12][13] and there has been a grassroots proliferation of various types
of Confucian churches.[14]In late 2015 many Confucian personalities formally established a national
Hindu philosophy refers to a group of daranas (philosophies, world views, teachings)[1] that emerged in
ancient India. The mainstream ancient Indian philosophy includes six systems (adarana)
Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.[2] These are also called the Astika (orthodox)
philosophical traditions and are those that accept the Vedas as authoritative, important source of
knowledge.[3][note 1][note 2] Ancient and medieval India was also the source of philosophies that share
philosophical concepts but rejected the Vedas, and these have been called nstika (heterodox or non-
orthodox) Indian philosophies.[2][3] Nstika Indian philosophies include Buddhism, Jainism, Crvka, jvika,
and others.[6]
Scholars have debated the relationship and differences within stika philosophies and with nstika
philosophies, starting with the writings of Indologists and Orientalists of the 18th and 19th centuries, which
were themselves derived from limited availability of Indian literature and medieval doxographies. [2] The various
sibling traditions included in Hindu philosophies are diverse, and they are united by shared history and
concepts, same textual resources, similar ontological and soteriological focus, and cosmology.[7][8] While
Buddhism and Jainism are considered distinct philosophies and religions, some heterodox traditions such as
Crvka are often considered as distinct schools within Hindu philosophy.[9][10][11]
Hindu philosophy also includes several sub-schools of theistic philosophies that integrate ideas from two or
more of the six orthodox philosophies, such as the realism of the Nyya, the naturalism of the Vaieika, the
dualism of the Skhya, the monism and knowledge of Self as essential to liberation of Advaita, the self-
discipline of yoga and the asceticism and elements of theistic ideas.[12][13][14] Examples of such schools
include Pupata aiva, aiva siddhnta, Pratyabhija, Rasevara and Vaiava.[12][13] Some sub-schools
share Tantric ideas with those found in some Buddhist traditions.[15] The ideas of these sub-schools are found
in the Puranas and gamas.[16][17][18]
Each school of Hindu philosophy has extensive epistemological literature called pramastras,[19][20] as well
as theories on metaphysics, axiology and other topics.[21]
Buddhist philosophy refers to the philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that developed among
various Buddhist schools in India following the death of the Buddha and later spread throughout
Asia. Buddhism's main concern has always been freedom from dukkha (unease),[1]and the path to that ultimate
freedom consists in ethical action (karma), meditation and in direct insight (praja) into the nature of "things as
they truly are" (yathbhta viditv). Indian Buddhists sought this understanding not just from the revealed
teachings of the Buddha, but through philosophical analysis and rational deliberation.[2] Buddhist thinkers in
India and subsequently in East Asia have covered topics as varied
as phenomenology, ethics, ontology, epistemology, logic and philosophy of time in their analysis of this path.
Early Buddhism was based on empirical evidence gained by the sense organs (ayatana)[3] and the Buddha
seems to have retained a skeptical distance from certain metaphysical questions, refusing to answer them
because they were not conducive to liberation but led instead to further speculation. A recurrent theme in
Buddhist philosophy has been the reification of concepts, and the subsequent return to the Buddhist Middle
Way.[4][5]
Particular points of Buddhist philosophy have often been the subject of disputes between different schools of
Buddhism. These elaborations and disputes gave rise to various schools in early Buddhism of Abhidharma,
and to the Mahayana traditions and schools of the prajnaparamita, Madhyamaka, Buddha-
nature and Yogacara

Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (/frri/, Portuguese: [pawlu feii]; September 19, 1921 May 2, 1997) was a
Brazilian educator and philosopherwho was a leading advocate of critical pedagogy. He is best known for his
influential work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, considered to be one of the foundational texts of the critical
pedagogy movement.[1][2][3]
Freire was born September 19, 1921 to a middle-class family in Recife, Brazil. Freire became familiar with
poverty and hunger during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In 1931, the family moved to the less expensive
city of Jaboato dos Guararapes. On October 31, 1934 his father died.[4] In school, he ended up four grades
behind, and his social life revolved around playing pick up football with other poor children, from whom he
learned a great deal. These experiences would shape his concerns for the poor and would help to construct his
particular educational viewpoint. Freire stated that poverty and hunger severely affected his ability to learn.
These experiences influenced his decision to dedicate his life to improving the lives of the poor: "I didn't
understand anything because of my hunger. I wasn't dumb. It wasn't lack of interest. My social condition didn't
allow me to have an education. Experience showed me once again the relationship between social class and
knowledge".[5] Eventually his family's misfortunes turned around and their prospects improved.
Freire enrolled in law school at the University of Recife in 1943. He also studied philosophy, more
specifically phenomenology, and the psychology of language. Although admitted to the legal bar, he never
practiced law. He instead worked as a teacher in secondary schools teaching Portuguese. In 1944, he married
Elza Maia Costa de Oliveira, a fellow teacher. The two worked together and had five children.
In 1946, Freire was appointed Director of the Department of Education and Culture of the Social Service in the
state of Pernambuco. Working primarily among the illiterate poor, Freire began to embrace a non-orthodox
form of what could be considered liberation theology[weasel words]. In Brazil at that time, literacy was a requirement
for voting in presidential elections.[citation needed]
In 1961, he was appointed director of the Department of Cultural Extension of Recife University. In 1962 he
had the first opportunity for significant application of his theories, when 300 sugarcane workers were taught to
read and write in just 45 days. In response to this experiment, the Brazilian government approved the creation
of thousands of cultural circles[clarification needed] across the country.
In 1964, a military coup put an end to Freire's literacy effort. He was imprisoned as a traitor for 70 days. After a
brief exile in Bolivia, Freire worked in Chile for five years for the Christian Democratic Agrarian Reform
Movement and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In 1967, Freire published his first
book, Education as the Practice of Freedom. He followed it with his most famous book, Pedagogy of the
Oppressed, first published in Portuguese in 1968.[6]
Based on the positive reception of his work, Freire was offered a visiting professorship at Harvard University in
1969. The next year, Pedagogy of the Oppressed was published in Spanish and English, vastly expanding its
reach. Because of political feuds between Freire, a Christian socialist, and successive authoritarian military
dictatorships, the book wasn't published in Brazil until 1974, when General Ernesto Geisel became the dictator
president beginning the process of a slow and controlled political liberalisation.[citation needed]
After a year in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, Freire moved to Geneva, Switzerland to work as a special
education advisor to the World Council of Churches. During this time Freire acted as an advisor on education
reform in former Portuguese colonies in Africa, particularly Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique.
In 1979, he was able to return to Brazil and moved back in 1980. Freire joined the Workers' Party (PT) in the
city of So Paulo and acted as a supervisor for its adult literacy project from 1980 to 1986. When the PT
prevailed in the municipal elections in 1988, Freire was appointed Secretary of Education for So Paulo.
Freire died of heart failure on May 2, 1997 in So Paulo.

Socrates
Socrates (/skrtiz/;[2] Greek: [skrts], Skrts; 470/469 399 BC)[1] is known principally as
being a philosopher alive in Classical period Greece (specifically Athens), who is credited as one of the
founders of Western philosophy. He is an enigmatic figure known chiefly through the accounts of classical
writers, especially the writings of his students Plato and Xenophon and the plays of his
contemporary Aristophanes. Plato's dialogues are among the most comprehensive accounts of Socrates to
survive from antiquity, though it is unclear the degree to which Socrates himself is "hidden behind his 'best
disciple', Plato".[3]
Through his portrayal in Plato's dialogues, Socrates has become renowned for his contribution to the field
of ethics, and it is this Platonic Socrates who lends his name to the concepts of Socratic irony and
the Socratic method, or elenchus. The latter remains a commonly used tool in a wide range of discussions, and
is a type of pedagogy in which a series of questions is asked not only to draw individual answers, but also to
encourage fundamental insight into the issue at hand. Plato's Socrates also made important and lasting
contributions to the field of epistemology, and his ideologies and approach have proven a strong foundation for
much Western philosophy that has followed.
According to history Socrates did not write down anything of his teaching. [4][5] As a result, information about
him and his philosophies depends upon secondary sources. Furthermore, close comparison between the
contents of these sources reveals contradictions, thus creating concerns about the possibility of knowing in-
depth the real Socrates. This issue is known as the Socratic problem,[6] or the Socratic question.[7][8] As a result,
information about him and his philosophies depends upon secondary sources. Furthermore, close comparison
between the contents of these sources reveals contradictions, thus creating concerns about the possibility of
knowing in-depth the real Socrates. This issue is known as the Socratic problem,[9] or the Socratic
question.[10][8]
To understand Socrates and his thought, one must turn primarily to the works of Plato, whose dialogues are
thought the most informative source about Socrates' life and philosophy,[11] and also Xenophon.[12] These
writings are the Sokratikoi logoi, or Socratic dialogues, which consist of reports of conversations apparently
involving Socrates.[13][14]
As for discovering the real-life Socrates, the difficulty is that ancient sources are mostly philosophical or
dramatic texts, apart from Xenophon. There are no straightforward histories, contemporary with Socrates, that
dealt with his own time and place. A corollary of this is that sources that do mention Socrates do not
necessarily claim to be historically accurate, and are often partisan. For instance, those who prosecuted and
convicted Socrates have left no testament. Historians therefore face the challenge of reconciling the various
evidence from the extant texts in order to attempt an accurate and consistent account of Socrates' life and
work. The result of such an effort is not necessarily realistic, even if consistent.
Amid all the disagreement resulting from differences within sources, two factors emerge from all sources
pertaining to Socrates. It would seem, therefore, that he was ugly, and that Socrates had a brilliant
intellect.[15][16]
Plato is one of the world's best known and most widely read and studied philosophers. He was the student of
Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle, and he wrote in the middle of the fourth century B.C.E. in ancient Greece.
Though influenced primarily by Socrates, to the extent that Socrates is usually the main character in many of
Plato's writings, he was also influenced by Heraclitus, Parmenides, and the Pythagoreans.
There are varying degrees of controversy over which of Plato's works are authentic, and in what order they were
written, due to their antiquity and the manner of their preservation through time. Nonetheless, his earliest works
are generally regarded as the most reliable of the ancient sources on Socrates, and the character Socrates that we
know through these writings is considered to be one of the greatest of the ancient philosophers.

Plato's middle to later works, including his most famous work, the Republic, are generally regarded as providing
Plato's own philosophy, where the main character in effect speaks for Plato himself. These works
blend ethics, political philosophy, moral psychology, epistemology, and metaphysics into an interconnected and
systematic philosophy. It is most of all from Plato that we get the theory of Forms, according to which the world
we know through the senses is only an imitation of the pure, eternal, and unchanging world of the Forms. Plato's
works also contain the origins of the familiar complaint that the arts work by inflaming the passions, and are
mere illusions. We also are introduced to the ideal of "Platonic love:" Plato saw love as motivated by a longing
for the highest Form of beautyThe Beautiful Itself, and love as the motivational power through which the
highest of achievements are possible. Because they tended to distract us into accepting less than our highest
potentials, however, Plato mistrusted and generally advised against physical expressions of love.

Educational philosophy of Rousseau/ Concept of Education

His educational philosophy is born out of his philosophy i. e Naturalism there are some characteristics which are as
under.

1. Concept of Education: For Rousseau education does not mean merely imparting information or storing knowledge.
It is not accretion from without. It is the development of the childs natural powers and abilities from within. According
to nature, Men, Things.

A] Education from Nature: It consists in the spontaneous development of our endowment and faculties. i. e of childs
natural tendencies and interests. He gave it the top priority.

B] Education from Man: It consists in influencing our social contacts and various groups. He did not favor it at least in
initial stages.

C] Education from Things: It consists in the acquisition of knowledge and information through contact with physical
surroundings and our experience of dealings with the things.

Rousseau conviction was that education should be considered as the process of development into an enjoyable,
rational harmoniously balanced useful and hence natural life.

3. Types of Education

A} Negative type of Education: He wanted that the first education to the child should be given ion negative. During the
age of 5 to 12, the child should be given negative education. Rousseau held the opinion, I call negative education that
which tends to perfect the organs that are the instruments of the knowledge, and before giving this knowledge directly
and that endeavours to prepare the way for reason by proper exercise of the sense. A negative education does the time
of idleness, far from it. It does not give virtues, it projects from vice. It does not inculcate truth. It projects from errors.
Following are the characteristics of negative education.

1. Time saving not favored: Rousseau said Do not save the time but lose it By running, dancing, playing the child will
have continuous reconstruction of experiences, which is nothing but education.

2. Book learning not favored: Rousseau said Reading is the curse of childhood. He hates books, as they are of no
value. He considers them to be the cause of childs misery and suggest a remedy fro its removal by saying,By relieving
school children of their courses and books, we can take away the cause of their misery.

3. Formal Lessons Not Favored: Rousseau did not believe in the efficacy of verbal lessons. He stated, Get rid of the
lesson and we get rid of the chief cause of their sorrow. Rousseau remarked give me a child of five who know nothing
and at the fifteen I shall return him to you knowing as much as those who have been under instruction since infancy
with difference that your pupil only knows things by heart while mine know how to use his knowledge.

4. Habit Formation Not Favored: Rousseau holds the viewsThe only habit which the child should be allowed to form
is to contract no habit at all. He did not want the children to be slaves of their habits. He wished them to be free in their
unrestricted activities. If any habits are to be formed let the children for natural habits.

5. Direct Moral Education Favored: Rousseau believed that no moral training should be imparted to the child. Let him
get moral training through natural consequences.

6. Social Education Not Favored: He held the view that the society is corrupt and it degenerates him. So he should be
protected from its evil influences.

7. Formal Discipline Not Favored: Rousseau believed in discipline according to natural consequences. If the child
climbs a tree, let him fall and learn not to attempt it again.

8. Old Customary Procedure Favored: Rousseau was dissatisfied with the prevailing conditions of the country and that
is why he remarked. Man was once happy, now he is miserable. Undo what has been done and he will be happy again.

B] Positive Education: Rousseau I call positive education one that tends to form the mind prematurely and to instruct
the child in the duties that belongs to man. The characteristics of positive education are

1. Stress on verbalism

2. Stress on duty, morality and religion

3. Stress on strict discipline

4. Stress on Social education

5. Emphasis on formation of habits.

Rousseau revolted against the positive education and also these characteristics. He termed it as unnatural and inhuman
and opposed it fully. It was in revolt this that he introduced negative education.

4. Aims of Education

1] Development of childs inner facilities

Rousseau says that the most important aim of education is the natural development of the childs inner faculties and
powers. To live is to work, to develop and to properly utilize the various part of the body. In his book, Emile, Rousseau
seeks to train Emile in the profession of living so that he may become a human being before becoming a soldier, a
magistrate, or a priest education aim at making the child a real human being.

2] Different aim at different stages:

In addition to the above mentioned aim, education should be different at each stage in the life of the individual.

A] Development of well regulated freedom

During the period of infancy i.e. .up to 5 years the aim of education is top develop in Emile a well regulated freedom
according to his capacities.

B] Develop sufficient strength at childhood stage

At the childhood stage ie. from 5 to 12 years , the aim of education is to develop in the child sufficient in order to have
well regulated freedom. Rousseaus advice for this period is, Exercise the body, the organs, the senses and powers and
keep the soul lying fellow, as long as you can.

C] Intellectual development in Pre- adolescent Period:

At the boyhood stage ie., from 12 to 15 years, the aim of education is to develop the intellect of the Emile. Education
should help in the acquisition of knowledge which may enable him to the practical needs of life.
D] Emotional, Moral and religious development during Adolescence:

During the fourth stage i.e., from 15 to 24 years Emile, should learn to live for others and to live together in social
relationships. His emotions should be sublimated. Moral and religious bias should be given to education. In short, during
this stage, education should aim at emotional, moral and religious development of the Emile.

5. Rousseaus Curriculum For Emile

Even in framing the curriculum, Rousseau paid attention to these four stages in development, which have discussed
under aims above infancy, childhood, boyhood and adolescence.

A] Infancy state [up to 5 years]

A feeble body makes a feeble mind. All wickedness comes from weakness. Give his body constant exercise, make it
strong and healthy. During this stage of infancy the child should be properly protected.

B] For childhood stage [from 5 to 12 years]

Rousseau says,childhood is the sleep of reason and the educator is not to disturb hi9m in this sleep

So at this stage, neither intellect nor moral or social education is to be imparted to the child. Negative education will
consists of the free development of his physical organs and the exercises of his senses. The child should be given
maximum freedom. There should be no verbal lessons, in language, History and geography. Physical exercises constitute
the core of the curriculum at his stage.

C] For Boyhood Stage [from 12 to 15 years]

Physical sciences, languages, mathematics, manual work, a trade, social relations, music and drawing will constitute the
curriculum at this stage. Sciences will develop heuristic attitude, mathematics will develop precise thinking, manual craft
will develop qualities of character of drawing will train eyes and muscles. However the knowledge of social relations will
impress upon the boy the need of co operation an economic inter dependence of man upon man.

D] For Adolescence Stage(from 15 to 20 years)

Rousseau laid special stress on moral and religious education at this stage. Moral education is to be given through
activities and occupations and not through lectures on ethics Besides moral and religious education, history Geography
sex education, physical culture and aesthetics are to constitute the curriculum. For all these subjects he has specific aims
i.e History is to be taught for the service of moral instructions. Religious education for realizing the existence of god and
sex education about sex affairs. Aesthetics is to be taught for the cultivation and improvement of tastes.

6. Rousseaus Methods of Teaching

A] Learning by Doing

Rousseau says, Teach by doing whenever you can, and only for fall back upon words when doing is out of question. The
child should take part in various activities and learn in natural way. It will help him in satisfaction of creative activity.

B] Direct Experience

Knowledge acquired through books in second hand and easily forgotten. On the other hand knowledge directly
acquired from various learning situations is permanent. He also urged experience before expression and object before
words.

Stoicism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that flourished throughout the Roman and Greek world until the
3rd century AD. Stoicism is predominantly a philosophy of personal ethics which is informed by its system of
logic and its views on the natural world. According to its teachings, as social beings, the path to happiness for
humans is found in accepting this moment as it presents itself, by not allowing ourselves to be controlled by
our desire for pleasure or our fear of pain, by using our minds to understand the world around us and to do our
part in nature's plan, and by working together and treating others in a fair and just manner.
It was founded in Athens by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC. The Stoics taught that emotions
resulted in errors of judgment which were destructive, due to the active relationship between
cosmic determinism and human freedom, and the belief that it is virtuous to maintain a will (called prohairesis)
that is in accord with nature. Because of this, the Stoics presented their philosophy as a way of life (lex divina),
and they thought that the best indication of an individual's philosophy was not what a person said but how a
person behaved.[1] To live a good life, one had to understand the rules of the natural order since they taught
that everything was rooted in nature.[2]
Later Stoicssuch as Seneca and Epictetusemphasized that, because "virtue is sufficient for happiness",
a sage was immune to misfortune. This belief is similar to the meaning of the phrase "stoic calm", though the
phrase does not include the "radical ethical" Stoic views that only a sage can be considered truly free, and that
all moral corruptions are equally vicious.[3]
From its founding, Stoic doctrine was popular during the Roman Empireand its adherents included the
Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It later experienced a decline after Christianity became the state religion in the 4th
century. Over the centuries, it has seen revivals, notably in the Renaissance (Neostoicism) and in the modern
era (modern Stoicism)

Epicureanism is a system of philosophy based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus,
founded around 307 BC. Epicurus was an atomic materialist, following in the steps of Democritus. His
materialism led him to a general attack on superstition and divine intervention. Following Aristippusabout
whom very little is knownEpicurus believed that what he called "pleasure" was the greatest good, but that the
way to attain such pleasure was to live modestly, to gain knowledge of the workings of the world, and to limit
one's desires. This would lead one to attain a state of tranquility (ataraxia) and freedom from fear as well as an
absence of bodily pain (aponia). The combination of these two states constitutes happiness in its highest form.
Although Epicureanism is a form of hedonism insofar as it declares pleasure to be its sole intrinsic goal, the
concept that the absence of pain and fear constitutes the greatest pleasure, and its advocacy of a simple life,
make it very different from "hedonism" as it is colloquially understood.
Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism, though later it became the main opponent of Stoicism.
Epicurus and his followers shunned politics. After the death of Epicurus, his school was headed
by Hermarchus; later many Epicurean societies flourished in the Late Hellenistic era and during the Roman era
(such as those in Antiochia, Alexandria, Rhodes, and Ercolano). Its best-known Roman proponent was the
poet Lucretius. By the end of the Roman Empire, being opposed by philosophies (mainly Neo-Platonism) that
were now in the ascendant, Epicureanism had all but died out, and would be resurrected in the Age of
Enlightenment.
Some writings by Epicurus have survived. Some scholars consider the epic poem On the Nature of
Things by Lucretius to present in one unified work the core arguments and theories of Epicureanism. Many of
the papyrus scrolls unearthed at the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum are Epicurean texts. At least some are
thought to have belonged to the Epicurean Philodemus. Today, there are large Epicurean communities in
Greece, a Society of Friends of Epicurus in the West, and the School has a growing online presence. In the
French-speaking world, Michel Onfray is considered Neo-Epicurean.