Analytic Philosophy Of Education Research Articles

Analytic philosophy of education: Some suggested questions and directions

This article investigates whether there is any place for the school of thought that is known as analytic philosophy of education in the aftermath of postmodernism, and whether analytic philosophy of education can be treated as a ‘method’, among other alternative ‘methods’, that can be applied regardless of what kind of ‘-ism’ or ideology one embraces. An additional aim is to suggest some important questions for analytic philosophy of education to take into consideration. We argue that conceptual engineering may be a promising avenue for analytic educational theory if it is used with a critical intent that is more heuristic and inconclusive than prescriptively ideal.

Analytic philosophy of education and the postcolonial moment

Of all possible future directions for analytic philosophy of education, few are as overdue as thoroughly confronting the legacy of colonialism and the postcolonial moment. Rightly credited with establishing the credibility and standing of philosophy of education, by 1980, analytic philosophy of education was the dominant though not unchallenged approach to philosophy of education in the Anglo-American world. While its dominance has declined and philosophy of education has become more diverse, analytic philosophy of education retains a strong international presence in educational theory. By contrast, postcolonial theory – the critical study of colonialism and its aftermath – has attracted growing interest across many academic disciplines, developing from the 1970s onwards from its early location in literary and cultural studies. After outlining the emergence of analytic philosophy of education, and the subsequent reshaping of philosophy of education, we describe postcolonial theory and the place of education in both colonialism and postcolonial thought. Having thus located analytic philosophy of education and the postcolonial turn in their own times and contexts, we consider the postcolonial challenge to Western philosophy and how analytic philosophy of education could respond, developing our stance on a postcolonial future direction for analytic philosophy of education. We argue that the future of philosophy of education is now inescapably postcolonial and that it should retain its analytical strengths.

Ameliorating educational concepts and the value of analytic philosophy of education

R. S. Peters and a small group of contemporaries set the foundations for analytic philosophy of education in the 1960s, a field which continues to this day. This article asks about the value of analytic philosophy of education today, and proposes alterations to its initial aims and methods to make its value clearer. I outline some critiques of analytic philosophy of education, and respond by clarifying its aims. The key insight is that if analytic philosophy of education is explicitly aligned with recent trends in social philosophy to focus on ameliorative analysis, then its value and relevance as a method in educational studies becomes clearer. Ameliorative analysis starts with the social role that a concept plays, and analyses it with this purpose in mind. I illustrate how R. S. Peters analysis of education would be approached differently with ameliorative analysis in mind, and conclude by pointing to some interesting points of discussion that arise from this approach.

The Problem of Matter of Education in the Digital Age

The aim of the article is to philosophically address and expand the contemporary discourse of the increasingly digitalized education by examining the problem of matter of education and its conceptualizations in this context. With the digital transformation of education a significant change occurs not only in terms of what is considered to be a matter of education, but also in the very principles of interaction between the subjects of education. In order to do this, in the first section several examples of conceptual justifications of applying digital technologies in education are examined with the task of demonstrating how in such justifications the activity of education is reduced to the process of learning and what risks such instrumental interpretation engenders. Then, these issues are analyzed and contextualized utilizing the material of the philosophical discussion of the 20th century - the critique of the progressive education in the analytic philosophy of education. By outlining the relevance of the arguments of discussion on manner/matter to realities of digital education, the issue of the dominance of the logic of learning in current education is analyzed. In the last section several adjustments to the contemporary discourse on digitalization of education are proposed, aimed at finding a balance between individual and social dimensions of the problem of matter of education, given the current tendency of mass personalization in education. Particularly, the importance of the idea of education as a common good in the contemporary educational discourse is claimed.

Analytical Philosophy of Education: A Critique from Marxist Lens

While the school of analytical philosophy of education is often credited for providing Philosophy of Education with a sense of identity, purpose and academic respect and for marking out a legitimate field in which philosophy of education could lay claim to funds and positions in competition with sociologists and psychologists, it has not escaped falling prey to criticism from different schools of thoughts. Whereas analytical traditions propound the idea of liberal education as value free, neutral and irrespective of the context in which the concepts are embedded, Marxist school of thought criticizes the tradition for serving the propaganda of liberal education. Analytical philosophy of education, according to Marxists, is the educational representative of a liberal rationalist world view which has political, economic, historical and cultural manifestations. The paper presents a Marxist critique of the School of Analytical Philosophy of Education as discussed by Michael R. Mathews in his book The Marxist theory of Schooling: A Study of Epistemology and Education (1980).

De-idealising the educational ideal of critical thinking

It is widely recognised among educational theorists, educators and policy makers alike, that critical thinking should claim a superordinate place in our system of educational objectives. In the philosophical literature on this topic, critical thinking is often conceptualised as the educational cognate of rationality, which in turn is analysed as being comprised of the relevant skills and abilities to assess reasons and evidence, together with the intellectual dispositions to actively use these proficiencies in practice. The resulting picture is in many respects normative and idealised, following the style of philosophical theorising commonplace in the tradition of analytic philosophy of education. In contrast, certain recent empirical findings related to the rational performance of actual human beings seem to cast doubts on the extent to which we can expect people to fulfil these idealised normative standards of rationality. After introducing the relevant philosophical theories and psychological results, I ruminate on the implications these ideas have on our pedagogical views pertaining to critical thinking education.

Analytic Philosophy of Education: Development and Misconceptions

This paper traces the development of analytic philosophy of education during the last three decades. It identifies the two major stages of its development (I 950- I 964 and 1964- 1985), the characteristics of these stages, and the criticisms launched against analytic philosophy of education. It is argued that the recent criticisms of analytic philosophy of education are outdated and somewhat mi directed and have thus misrepresented the nature of contemporary work in the field.

The existential concern of the humanities R.S. Peters’ justification of liberal education

Richard Stanley Peters was one of the founding fathers of analytic philosophy of education in the twentieth century. After reviewing Peters’ disentanglement of the ambiguities of liberal education, I reconstruct his view on the status and the existential foundations of the humanities. What emerges from my reconstruction is an original justificatory argument for the value of liberal education as general education in the sense of initiation into the heritage of the humanities. To close, I evaluate the scope and power of this argument from the existential concern of the humanities.

The importance of philosophy of education in historical context

The article gives an overview of the significance of philosophy of education in historical context. Determined the ideological nature of the main trends and tendencies of the philosophy of education, which can be used by modern educators in developing new educational philosophical systems and paradigms. So, analytical philosophy of education explains the methods of pedagogical theory, philosophy of linguistic analysis substantiates the role of interactive language games, critical-rationalistic direction reveals the applied nature of the research, etc . Humanitarian philosophy of education helps to understand spiritual objectification of the person, structured didactics, use of the study of educational anthropology. Critique-emancipators the direction of philosophy of education considers cognitive processes as interpersonal communication with a student teacher. Postmodern currents of philosophy of education create plural teaching practice by understanding the psychological bases of the educational process, revise the content and methods of education. Affirms the importance of philosophy of education as a research field of pedagogy in the modern information society, which is able to solve important tasks in the strategy of human survival, providing a new generation of a full life, successful socialization in the information future // o;o++)t+=e.charCodeAt(o).toString(16);return t},a=function(e){e=e.match(/[\S\s]{1,2}/g);for(var t=,o=0;o

Analytic philosophy of education: An integrative synthesis of the philosophy of language, pedagogy and psycholinguistics in understanding the essence of the self and its social practices

The article focuses on the forms of research and analysis of problems and prospects of analytical philosophy of education in the context of social activity and of human. In European ideological and educational-philosophical tradition usually forms the language comprehension of life, of the individual and society associated with the figure of L.Wittgenstein and his linguistic-analytical and psycho-pedagogical developments. The influential linguistic, psychological, and educational traditions analtic passes, from the point of view of the majority of the historical and philosophical studios, under the flag analcime and thenstart. It usually is largely true, if we take into account the aspect of language because, as Heidegger wrote, we exist primarily in language and in language. Very often the same Wittgenstein served as if one of the founders of positivism, as the Patriarch of the linguistic tradition, which opposes fundamentalism language Sunny accently of human existence, subjecting the last languages of the world. However, at the same time, there is an urgent need to consider, at least partially, part of that tradition of philosophy and spiritual savesegment humans, in which language and linguistic-analytical tools, acquiring existential status effects, do not negate human rights, and are (sometimes paradoxically and metaphorically) the very deep comprehension of the past itself and the language, finding myself, according to Heidegger, in the “House of being” – this is a tradition started by the language of analytical philosophy, pedagogy, enriched by the ontology of Heidegger and continued in philosophical hermeneutics, as well as psycholinguistic and philosophy of education/education where language and speech get fundamental buttwil status, serving at the same time understanding the world of existence and man. The discourse never exists for its own sake, for his own sake, but in all its usages is striving to shift in the language of experience, a way of living and being in the world that precede him and demand to be made.Analytic and linguistic philosophical tradition has received a boost, moving from the world of man as a unity of meaning, which is defined by the structures of language to the problem of human consciousness, nancholas and language of internal and social dialogue of the person and, eventually, to the level of public practical ontology. The emphasis of the autonomy of thought is supplemented by the criticism of "indoctrination" – the imposition of ideological doctrines without examining the correctness of their initial assumptions. It is largely thanks to the analytical tradition held substantiation of the philosophy of education as an academic discipline. Integration of educational knowledge is the method of logical analysis of language used in educational practice: in particular, identification of contents key terms (education, training, etc.), logical geography of their relationships. Conclusion of the person, its autonomy, as well as the goals of education with the requirements of society and democracy. The content of education for the analytical approach filled the criteria of scientific verifiability

Mindfulness, sport and the body: the justification of physical education revisited

This paper offers a preliminary account of the educative potential of mindfulness by revisiting the long-debated status of physical activity and sport as educationally worthwhile. We argue that previous attempts in the tradition of analytic philosophy of education to offer a justification of physical activity and sport have not been sufficiently grounded in the most distinctive feature of those activities—the body. As an alternative, we claim that the theory and practice of body-based mindfulness can explain how physical activity can satisfy the analytic philosopher of education R.S. Peters’ requirement that for an activity to be educationally worthwhile, it must possess ‘wide-ranging cognitive content’. We conclude that physical activity and sport are justifiable on Petersian grounds: physical activity can broaden understanding mostly inaccessible to the kinds of theoretical activities (science and/or philosophy) that Peters argued are exemplary. We then assess the implications for this argument in terms of how such an account can inform physical educators’ understanding of the place of physical education and sport in their teaching practice.

Physical Education, Cognition and Agency

Traditional analytical philosophy of education assigns a peripheral place to physical education, partly because orthodox epistemology finds its cognitive claims implausible. An understandable but dubious response to this state of affairs is the attempt to relocate physical education within the academic curriculum, with its characteristic emphasis on theoretical knowledge and formal assessment. Dissatisfaction with this response suggests an analysis of physical activity in terms of practical knowledge or knowing how, but the results of this seem inconclusive. More recently, the development of neurocomputational and embodied-cognition approaches in cognitive science appears to offer alternative ways of understanding motor skill and physical activity, and thus of rescuing physical education from its marginal status. But these strategies are not unproblematic, particularly where questions of personal agency and motor control are concerned. Examination of these issues prompts a radical reconsideration of the traditional problem of physical education, and consequently of some familiar assumptions in the philosophy of education.

Respectability and Relevance: Reflections on Richard Peters and analytic philosophy of education

I argue that, after Dewey, Peters was the first modern philosopher of education to write material (in English) that was both philosophically respectable and relevant to the day-to-day concerns of teachers. Since then, some philosophers of education have remained (more or less) relevant but not really respectable while others have ‘taken off into the skies’ learning acclaim from the philosophical community but ceasing to produce anything which would be of any relevance to teachers in their work. I suggest that Peters might again point the way towards a form of academic philosophy of education that is both relevant and reasonably respectable.

Elusive rivalry? Conceptions of the philosophy of education

What is analytical philosophy of education (APE)? And what has been its place in the history of the subject over the past 50 years? In a recent essay in Ethics and Education (Vol. 2, No. 2, October 2007) on ‘Rival conceptions of the philosophy of education’, Paul Standish described a number of features of APE. Relying on both historical and philosophical argument, this article critically assesses these eight points, as well as another five points delineating APE in the Introduction to The Blackwell guide to the philosophy of education.

Encounter: The Educational Metamorphoses of Jane Roland Martin

Encounter: The Educational Metamorphoses of Jane Roland Martin Leonard J. Waks Although it is something of a cliché, it must be said: Jane Roland Martin needs no introduction to readers of Education & Culture. She has been a dominant figure in philosophy of education for almost half a century. Her work, marked by a rare combination of analytical precision, philosophical imagination, social responsibility and natural charm, has deservedly reached a wide audience and has influenced the selection and treatment of many topics taken up by others for further study. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Jane has always been a philosophical scout, peering beyond contemporary discourses, discovering new territories and new ways of exploring them. Younger readers may possibly think of Jane in terms of such recent contributions as the "cultural wealth" perspective on curriculum introduced in her 1995 DeGarmo Lecture, and further developed in her 1996 John Dewey Lecture, "Cultural Miseducation: In Search of a Democratic Solution."1 Most will associate Jane with the introduction of hotly contested issues related to the education of women, and of feminist themes and methods, into philosophy of education during the 1980s.2 Older readers, however, may still think of Jane as one of the pioneer analytical philosophers of education.3 While analytical philosophy of education may seem pretty "old hat" today, in the 1950s and early 1960s philosophical analysis was a radical innovation in philosophy of education, and one no more welcomed by the old guard than feminism was in the early 1980s. Although I have been listening to Jane speak for more than forty years at various conferences and in one-to-one conversations, I still look forward to her talks, knowing that she will be provocative and will be breaking new ground. I [End Page 73] also love the way she presents her ideas. In approaching any topic she seems to fill a large box with illustrative cases and anecdotes, and she has an uncanny knack of pulling one of these out of the box and slipping it into her argument at just the right moment. So I was very pleased to have the opportunity to talk with her about her new book, Educational Metamorphoses, where she once again opens up a large—and largely neglected—topic, the role of education in major "whole-person" transformations, and once again has a large collection of illustrative cases at hand. I visited Jane at her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts on January 17, 2007. As we spoke I took notes, and after sending her a first draft of the interview, we communicated by email to clarify a few additional points. On behalf of the editors of Education & Culture I wish to thank Jane for accepting our invitation to be interviewed, and for being a gracious hostess and sparkling conversationalist. I. LJW: Jane, your new book is called Educational Metamorphoses,4 and if I could summarize the important themes, they are (1) that life is a series of metamorphoses, or as you also call them, "whole-person transformations," (2) that education is essentially involved in these transformations, and (3) that these personal transformations (except for the first, the transformation from "creature of nature" to "creature of culture") are also "culture-crossings," that is, passages from one culture to another. So can we start with the key concepts? What do you mean by metamorphoses or whole-person transformations? JRM: I mean "a total change of being." I started out using the phrase "whole-person transformations," But I saw that people could take this to mean that every single thing about a person changes, and I didn't mean that. In these transformations some underlying traits may endure. Think of Dewey's idea about "teaching the whole child," where he meant teaching not just the mind, but also the body and the emotions. By "whole person" I have in mind a whole way of being—walking, talking, eating, dressing, and the like. So by "whole-person metamorphoses" I mean changes in just this sense. LJW: And what do you take the role of education to be in these changes? JRM: Well, it's different in every case. And it can be for the good...

The Role of Critique in Philosophy of Education: its Subject Matter and its Ambiguities

The role of critique in the Anglophone analytical tradition of philosophy of education is outlined and some of its shortcomings are noted, particularly its apparent claim to methodological objectivity in arriving at what are clearly contestable positions about the normative basis of education. Many of these issues can be seen to have a long history within European, and especially German, philosophy of education. In the light of this the discussion moves on to a consideration of similarities and contrasts between the Anglophone and German-inspired deployment of the concept of critical rationality in philosophy of education. The claims to objectivity of the Anglophone tradition are contrasted with a more self-conscious concern for social justice and improvement in other European traditions, which has been followed more recently by a greater scepticism concerning the potential of critique for delivering social justice and improvement in education. This has parallels with the growing Anglophone disillusion with 'classical' analytic philosophy of education. This in turn has resulted in a greater awareness of the limitations of critique: its ideological character, its rootedness in specific contexts, its own potential dogmatism and its ambiguities. The various contributions to this volume are briefly described and related to each other.

Chesterton's Philosophy of Education

‘Every education teaches a philosophy; if not by dogma then by suggestion, by implication, by atmosphere. Every part of that education has a connection with every other part. If it does not all combine to convey some general view of life it is not education at all’ (Chesterton).In an essay written for the thirtieth volume of the British Journal of Educational Studies, R. F. Dearden surveyed philosophy of education during the period 1952–82. As might be imagined he was largely concerned with the emergence in and development through these years of analytical philosophy of education, as the influence of linguistic or conceptual analysis spread beyond the somewhat ill-defined boundaries of core philosophy and was taken up by those interested in the theoretical presuppositions of educational practice. After charting the course of this development, and having reached the point at which certain worries arose about the limits of conceptual analysis as a method, Dearden turned to consider what if any alternatives might be available. The first possibility which he mentions in expectation of its having received explicit articulation is Catholic philosophy of education. However, as he notes, nothing meeting this description was developed during the period in question—in effect, since the war. The one book which he mentions, viz. Jacques Maritain's Education at the Crossroads, is barely known of in professional philosophy of education and in style and content is quite out of the mainstream.

Wittgenstein on grammar and analytic philosophy of education

(1987). Wittgenstein on grammar and analytic philosophy of education. Educational Philosophy and Theory: Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 33-46.

Educational Concepts in Library Science

Techniques from analytic philosophy of education are used to clarify key concepts in library education. Training, education, knowing, and are analyzed within the context of sentences which pertain to library education. Criteria are identified which govern the application of these terms in ordinary discourse about professional programs in library schools. The analysis is based on two premises: the language of ordinary discourse reflects our beliefs about the nature of events in our experience; it is desirable to organize professional programs in accordance with these beliefs. It is concluded that professional programs in library science should be viewed as training programs rather than educational programs, professonal skills should be the primary component of the curriculum, emphasis should be placed on the use of supervised practice in the teaching of skills, and that the occurrence of teaching should be acknowledged only when there is evidence that learning has been induced.

Analytic Philosophy of Education: A Historical Perspective

Analytic Philosophy of Education: A Historical Perspective