REALISM

Main Objective
I. To discuss the philosophy of realism as well
as its background and elaborate its definition.
II. To define the nature of realism and intricate
its fundamental postulates and main tenets.
III. To enumerate the different types of
realism and to describe each concept.
IV. To introduce the chief exponents and to
elucidate their beliefs and ideas about
realism.

OUTLINE
- ABSTRACT/SUMMARY
- Realism Definition
- Central Thesis
- Principle of Realism
-Fundamental
Postulate
- Main Tenets of
Realism


- Type of Realism
- Form of Realism
- Advantages
- Disadvantages
- Chief Component
of Realism
-CONCLUSION
- REFERENCES
REALISM
ABSTRACT / SUMMARY
Etymologically, philosophy comes from the
word "Philos" which means love (love) and
"Sophia" meaning Wisdom (wisdom,
discernment). So philosophy can be
interpreted depth of the wisdom of love,
the love of wisdom.

ABSTRACT / SUMMARY

Philosophizing is one of human
activity that seeks to attain wisdom and
discernment. Philosophizing is thinking,
but not all philosophical thought.
Philosophizing is the thinking that has 3
(three) characteristics, namely radical
(thought up by the roots, not half-hearted),
systematic (logical thinking), and universal
(think overall).
Realism, at it simplest and most
general, is the view that entities of a
certain type have an objective reality, a
reality that is completely ontologically
independent of our conceptual
schemes, linguistic practices, beliefs,
etc. Thus, entities (including abstract
concepts and universals as well as
more concrete objects) have an
existence independent of the act
of perception, and independent of
their names.

What is Realism?
Realism is the belief in a reality that is
completely ontologically independent of our
conceptual schemes, linguistic practices, beliefs,
etc. Philosophers who profess realism also
typically believe that truth consists in a belief's
correspondence to reality. We may speak of
realism with respect to other minds, the past, the
future, universals, mathematical entities (such as
natural numbers), moral categories, the material
world, or even thought.

What is Realism?
Realism believes in the world as it is. It is based
on the view that reality is what we observe. It
believes that truth is what we sense and observe
and that goodness is found in the order of the
laws of nature.
Realism is a philosophy that things exist
objectively: the theory that things such as
universals, moral facts, and theoretical scientific
entities exist independently of people's thoughts
and perceptions.

What is Realism?
Realism explains that reality exists
independent of the human mind. The
ultimate reality is the world of physical
objects. The focus is on the body/objects.
Truth is objective what can be
observed.
Realism means a belief or theory which
looks upon the world as it seems to us to
be a mere phenomenon.

Does Mars Exist?
The Central Thesis
The most central thread of realism is what
can be called the principle or thesis of
independence.

Objects exist whether or not there is a
human mind to perceive them
Principles of Realism as a
Philosophy:
1. All beings, material or immaterial, can be
understood clearly by the human mind as
they appear to be what they are.
2. The familiarity gained by experience and
by human nature is unchanging and
dependable and serves as norm for the
decision and action of the individual and
society
Fundamental Postulates of Realism
1. External world is the reality.
External world is a solid reality, whether
known or unknown to man. Reality is already in
existence and in the invention of man. It exists
independently of being known to perceived by, or
related to mind. Man can only comprehend it,
through senses. One should dip below the surface
to know the reality.


Fundamental Postulates of Realism
2. Man will discover reality with the use
of science and common sense through
education or learning.
Realism places great premium on Man
and human endeavor, which it says, should
be combined with science and common-
sense. It, however, asserts that Man is finite'
and learning is necessary for a finite man.
Education is the process by which he lifts
himself up to the external.

"The Realists wish man to be a man
of affairs, practical and always
seeker of deeper and deeper truth
and reality.

Fundamental Postulates of Realism
3. Mind is functioning and is geared
towards creativity.
The realist say that Mind' like any other
material thing has mechanical functioning.
They discount its creating ability. "Just as
any object of universe can be true' or
false' similarly mind is also true' or false'.
The development of mind is the part of
the process of development of the world."

Fundamental Postulates of Realism
4. Reality can be proved by observation,
experience, experiment and scientific
reasoning.
Realism tries to build up a body of
systematized knowledge, which is certain and
objective and agrees with the standpoint of
physical sciences. It says that every reality
can be proved by observation, experience,
experiment and scientific reasoning.

Fundamental Postulates of Realism
5. Values must be studied to be applied
in the actual setting.
The realists of all brands aver that
values are permanent and objective and
say that although institutions and practices
vary a great deal, the fundamental values
of society should not change
Fundamental Postulates of Realism
The children should be taught
those values, which have proved enduring
throughout history. They should be taught
the nature of right' and wrong' and what is
objectively good and beautiful.

Realism believes in the world which we
see of perceive to be real.
Realists believe in the present life.
They believe that the truth of life and aim
of life are in the development from the
present unsystematic life.
Knowledge is real and can be assimilated
by the human beings.

Main Tenets of Realism
Main Tenets of Realism
The realists distinguish between
appearance' and reality'.
The realists distinguish between
appearance' and reality'.
Realism believes that there is an objective
reality apart from that which is presented
to the consciousness.

TYPE OF REALISM
Platonic Realism
-is the view, articulated by the ancient Greek
philosopher Plato in which it tells that universals
exist. A universal is a property of an object,
which can exist in more than one place at the
same time (e.g. the quality of "redness"). As
universals were considered by Plato to be ideal
forms, this stance is confusingly also called
Platonic Idealism.

Platonic Realism
According to Plato, Platonic Forms
possess the highest and most
fundamental kind of reality. They are
perfect because they are unchanging. The
world of Forms is separate from our own
world (the world of substances) and is the
true basis of reality. Removed from matter,
Forms are the most pure of all things. True
knowledge or intelligence is the ability to
grasp the world of Forms with one's mind.
Moderate Realism
Moderate Realism
is the view that there is no separate realm
where universals (or universal concepts)
exist, but that they a relocated in space and
time wherever they happen to be manifest.

It distinguishes between the thing itself with
the way it exists: a thing exists in the mind as
a universal, and in reality it exists as an
individual. Thus, what our ideas present to us
in a universal does not exist outside the mind
as a universal, but as an individual
Moderate Realism
Moderate Realism
therefore recognizes both sense
and knowledge, in which it presents things
in their individuality, and intellectual
conceptual knowledge, which presents
things in their more abstract nature.
Modal Realism
Modal Realism is the view, notably
propounded by David Lewis (1941 - 2001)
that possible worlds are just as real as the
actual world we live in, and not just
abstract possibilities. The term goes back
to Gottfried Leibniz's theory of possible
worlds, which he used to analyze modal
notions of necessity and possibility
Modal Realism
Lewis claimed that:

Possible worlds exist: they are just as real as our world.
Possible worlds are the same sort of things as our world:
they differ in content, not in kind.
Possible worlds cannot be reduced to something more
basic: they are irreducible entities in their own right.
When we talk of our "actual" world, the term "actual" is
indexical (merely indicating some particular state of
affairs): it does not mean that our world is any more real
than any other.
Possible worlds are spatio-temporally isolated from each
other: they do not exist in the same space or time.
Possible worlds are causally isolated from each other:
they do not interact with each other
Moral Realism
Moral Realism (or Moral Objectivism)

is the meta-ethical view that there are
objective moral values which are
independent of our perception of them or
our stance towards them. Therefore, moral
judgments describe moral facts.

Moral Realism
purportedly allows the ordinary rules of
logic to be applied straightforwardly to
moral statements. It also allows for the
resolution of moral disagreements,
because if two moral beliefs contradict one
another, Moral Realism (unlike some other
meta-ethical systems) says that they
cannot both be right and so there should
be some way of resolving the situation.
FORM OF REALISM
Social Realism
An aristocratic movement in the 16
th

and 17
th
centuries, Social realism explains
that education should equip learners for a
happy and successful life as a man of the
world. The focus of this philosophical
movement is on modern language, travel,
and study of contemporary institutions.


FORM OF REALISM
Sense Realism (Scientific Realism)
Sense realism is the belief that the true
reality is existing and it can be proved by the
use of the concepts, forces and laws of
nature.

FORM OF REALISM
Verbal Realism (Literary Realism)
Verbal realists believed that classical
literature should be studied not for its beauty
but for the information and the knowledge of
the facts of the pasts so that such
knowledge could be used for the
preparation for practical living.

FORM OF REALISM
Neo-Realism
Neo-Realism is really a philosophical
thought. It appears the methods and results of
modern development in physics. They do not
consider the scientific principles everlasting
while they express the changeability in them.
They support the education of art with the
science and analytical system of education
with the humanistic feelings.
Advantages of Realism
Practical and Utilitarian
Related to needs of individual and demand of
society
Importance to Science
Impressionistic and Emancipatory Discipline
Preserves the view that scientific explanations
provide unobservable causes of observed
phenomena.
Science seen as discovery, not invention


Disadvantages of Realism
Great stress upon physical world.
Realism accepts real needs and real feelings
only. It doesnt believe in imagination and
sentiments.
Realism emphasizes on scientific subjects and
neglects art and literature. This creates
imbalanced curriculum.
Doesnt give any importance to ideals and
values.
Fails to answer illusion and faulty knowledge
Chief Exponents of Realism
A. Aristotle (384 322 B.C)
Aristotle Philosophy of Realism
Although Aristotle was a student of Plato for 20 years and was
greatly influenced by him, there is in his philosophy which is a
reaction to Platos thinking.

A. Aristotle (384 322 B.C)
Accepting Nature as a self-evident
reality. He attempted analytical
descriptions of different aspects of the
natural order and so made valuable
contributions to the development of the
sciences.

A. Aristotle (384 322 B.C)
Attempting definition of Soul. He find it
necessary to consider the different levels of life:
1. Plant life the lowest level at which is found
only the nutritive faculty, the power of receiving
nourishment.
2. Animal life has nutritive faculty and has faculty
of perception desiring faculty and power of
locomotion.
3. Human life has faculty of thinking a thinking
animal and true function is to live rationally.

Main Theories:
Believed that both matter and essence are bound up in
physical objects.
Believed that knowledge begins with sense perception
Knowledge can grow beyond the sensory world
when reason is applied to sensory experience
Believed in using inductive reasoning to
arrive at generalizations or universals
Supported scientific inquiry

B. Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 1274 A.D)
C. John Amos Comenius (1592 1670)
Comenius Philosophy of Realism
The interesting conception of
mind which Comenius held is
distinctly realistic, although it
didnt harmonize his religious
beliefs. He said the mind of man
is like a spherical mirror
suspended in a room, which
reflects images of all things that
are around it.

D. Rene Descartes (1596 1650)
His Philosophy:
A. Method
- In this he stated that it is the wrong method
To get traditional education and he also wrote
about the deficiencies of traditional education.
B. Doubt and Existence
- He argued that someone who doesnt believe
because of what they heard can overcome this by thinking on
their own.
C. Cartesianism
- The overall philosophy of Cartesianism is that the mind is
separate from the body and that the body can be better
understood.

E. Baruch Spinoza (1632 1677)
His Philosophy of Realism
Doctrines that affiliates realist
tradition:
1. Substance is extended in time
and space, and there is no thought
apart from it. God or substance has
extension as one of its two attributes. Whereas the
final substance is a thinking thing, it is always an
extending thing. There is no though without
extension in time and space
E. Baruch Spinoza (1632 1677)
2. There is no freedom or chance in the
universe; everything comes to pass as a
result of effects and causes following each
other with an unbroken dependability and
efficiency.

F. John Locke (1632 1704)
His Philosophy of Realism
1. There are no innate ideas in
the mind. All of our knowledge
comes to us by way of expe -
rience. The mind is for the most
part passive in experiencing
the natural world.
2. Primary qualities exist in the external world
just as we experience them.
3. Secondary qualities are different in our
experience from what they are in their
potential forms in the object; they are yet
caused in us by the external world.
4. The external world makes its impression
upon our minds by somehow setting
impulses in motion which reach our minds
through the gateway of the senses.

F. John Locke (1632 1704)
G. Immanuel Kant (1724 1804)
Main Theories
Theory of Perception: understanding
of the external world comes from
experience and knowledge.
Theory of Judgment: Humans can
only understand what is going on at
the present time. It is not possible to
predict the future, where humans are
not involved.
Kants Ethical Theory: Evil cannot produce
happiness. Good qualities are human nature.

H. Johann Friedrich Herbart (1776 1841)
His Philosophy of Realism
Soul a perfectly simple, indivisible
essence without parts of any kind. It has
no innate talents nor is it a tabula rasa (the
mind in its hypothetical primarily blank or
empty state before receiving outside
impression) on which impressions are made by the world. It
is neither concepts, feelings, nor desires, nor does it have
forms of perception and thought.
Mind is a sort of manifold of self-preserving ideas
or concepts (self-preserving for the soul) which the soul
builds up as a result of its contact with the physical
world.

I. William James (1842 1910)
His Philosophy of Realism
1. Consciousness is a function
and not a substantial entity;
2. That when objects are
experienced in consciousness,
they are directly presented in
consciousness, not represented;
3. The universe in many not one

J. Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
Believed we should examine all previously
accepted knowledge; We should rid
ourselves of four idols that we 'bow down'
before:

Idol of the Den (beliefs due to limited experience)
Idol of the Tribe (believing because most people
believe)
Idol of the Marketplace (beliefs due to misuse of words)
Idol of the Theatre (subjective beliefs colored by religion
and personal philosophy)

Conclusion
Realism is a theory that things exist
objectively, such as universals, moral facts,
and theoretical scientific entities exist
independently of people's thoughts and
perceptions, and that there is an objectively
existing world, not dependent on our minds,
and that people are able to understand
aspects of that world through perception. In
realism, physical world alone is objective, and
believes that knowledge acquired through
senses is the only real.
It also conveys that the universe is
independent of ideas, and that things exist
whether or not the human mind perceives
them. Realism emerged as a reaction against
idealism because reality is somehow
dependent upon the mind. It accepts the
existence of real things which can be
comprehended. Reality, knowledge and
values exist independent of the human mind.
Trees sticks and stones exist whether or not
there is a human mind to receive them.
References
Books:
Calderon, J. F. (1998). Foundations of Education.
Manila: Rex Book Store.
Marmysz, J. (2012). The Path of Philosophy: Truth,
Wonder and Distress. USA: Wadsworth Cengage
Learning.
Pande, R. S. (1982). An Introduction to Major
Philosophies of Education. Agra, Vinod Pustak Mandir
Yambao, R. P. (2011). Social Dimensions of Education.
In e. Roel P. Yambao, et. al., Licensure Examination for
Teachers NCBTS Oriented LET Reviewer (pp. 271-293).
Manila: Modern Education for Teachers.

Website References:
http://dictionary.reference.com
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary
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Metaphysical-ferraiolo.pdf
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in-education-1319851.html
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_realism

MANGISEL, Analyn
LUNES, Kathy May
LUCAS, Johan
GUNDRAN, Simon
NATABIO, Gessel