IDEALISM
The observer
Appearance of the world
Meaning of Idealism
Idealism is born out of
Platos Platos Theory Theory of Ideas deas According to which the ultimate supremacy of ideas. As a philosophical doctrine ,idealism recognizes ideas, feelings and ideals more important than material objects and at the same time emphasizes emphasizes that the human development development should be according to moral, ethical and spiritual values so that t hat he acquires the knowledge. Acc to Idealism, the essential nature of man is spiritual which is reveled in mental, religious and aesthetic areas. emphasizes the study of man more and more because man is Idealism emphasizes endowed endowed with higher hig her intellectual powers and show greater level of intelligence and discrimination and and by his own moral moral and spiritual activities he has created Acc to t o Horne- Hor ne-An An Idealistic philosophy of education,then,is an account of man finding himself as an integral integral part of a universe of of mind .. ..
Protagonist s
Socrates.
Plato. Descartes. Spinoza. Burkley. Kant. Fitche. Schelling. Hegel. Green. Gentile. Vedas, Upanishads to the eastern scholars like SriAurobindo Ghosh.
Contd.
Two forms of the real world: Idealist believe that there are two forms of the world i.e. material & spiritual world, according to which spiritual world is real and ultimate .To know the real world is the reality of mind and soul i.e. is the Idea eali lism sm ho hold ldss self realization of the main aim of human life.Id that the order of the world is due to the manifestation in spa sp ace& tim ime e of an eter ern nal and spir irit itu ual rea eali litty .-Horne Ideas
are more important than the objects: Ide deal alis istt have given more importance to idea rather than the ign nif ific ica ance. They are objects.Ideas are the ultimate cosmic sig rather the essence or archetypes which form to cosmos. Thes Th ese e id idea eass ar are e et eter erna nall an and d un unch chan angi ging ng .-Plato.
Definition
Idealism holds that the ultimate reality is spiritualism.
-D.M.Dutta.
Idealistic philosophy takes takes many and varied forms, but the postulate postulate underlying all this is that mind or spirit is the essential world stuff, that the true reality is a mental character. -J.S.Ross.
Idealists point out that the mind that is the central in understanding understandin g the world. To To them nothing nothin g gives a greater greater sense of reality that the activity of mind engaged in trying to comprehence its world .For .For any any thing to give a greater greater sense of reality would contradiction contradiction in terms because to know any thing more real real than mind would would itself be a conception conception mind. mind. -Brubacher.
Growth of Idealism
Its inception took f rom the very time man began to think. In west ,it was born out of the writing of Plato,Socrates,Aristitle and other philosophers. In India ,it was born out of the holy scripts Vedas,Purans,Upanishads. Since then ,it is developing in all the countries f the world in small or great measures.
Fundamental Principles Of Idealism Full support to the principle of unity in diversity
Importance
of Personality development
Two forms of the world
Ideas are more
important than words Faith of Spiritual Powers
Importance
of man over nature
Importance
of man over nature: nature: Man(who us a thinker and can experience about material phenomenon and laws)is more important then the object (nature). Since man is intelligent hence he can create his own world of virtues and his creativity.The spirit or cultural environment is an environment of mans own making, it is a product of mans creative activity -R.R.Rusk Faith in Spiritual Values: Values: They believe in three values truth,beauty,goodness (undying and permanent).When people are in pursuit of these highest spiritual values they achieve their highest spiritual values. values.Goodness,truth,and beauty are seen to be absolute each existing in its own right and entirely desirable in itself .-J. .-J.S.Ross.
Contd.
Importance
of Personality Development: Idealist give too much importance on the SELF of the individual and on the personality of the individual . According to them development of personality means achievement achievement of perfections perfections of an individual which can can be also called as self-realization self-realization of self which can be achieved through the society through love,sympathy,fellow feeling, no discrimination on the basis of caste,creed,race etc.In short Idealism believes believes in the welfare welfare of the whole community.Thus, the grandeur and the worth of human life at its best are emphasized by Idealism. Human personality is of supreme value and constitutes the noblest work of God.J.S.Ross.
Contd. Full support to the principle of unity in diversity: They believe in unity in diversity i.e. i .e. the unifying factor is of supreme nature which can be called as the universal consciousness or divinity. Idealist call this power as power as God which is supreme,omnipresent,omnipotent.Realization of this supreme force is ones self is to attain divinity and the fullest extent of personality which may be called as spiritual s piritual fulfillment.
An Idealisti Idealisticc philosophy of education ,then ,then is an account account of
man finding himself as an integral part of universe mind .Prof .H.N.Horne.
Idealism in Educa Education tion
Credit goes to Plato & Frobel.
According to them,Ideaism pervades creation and it is an undying ,unlimited and ultimate force which reigns supreme over all mind and matter. They
all advocate its greatest importance in education and lay more emphasis on aims and p rinciples of education than on methods, aids ,devices.
Aims of Educa Education tion Self Realization OR Exaltation of Personality Conservation,Pro
motion,and transmission of cultural heritage
To
ensure spiritual development Conservation
inborn into nature.
of nature spiritual
Development of intelligence and rationality
To cultivate Truth,Beauty,Go
odness Preparation for a holy life
Aims of Education Education
Self Exhaltation:Idealist
lay great stress on the exhaltation of the human personality i.e. is Self Realization which involves knowledge of the self .Acc. To Ross, "The aim of education especially associated with idealism is the exhaltation of personality or self realization, the making actual or real the highest potentialities of the self . To ensure spiritual development: development: More importance to spiritual values than material attaintments.Tr should organize education so as to develop the child spi ritually.
Contd.
To cultivate Truth,Beauty,Goodness:
Individual should be in pursuit of high ideals thus he(child) will become more spiritually developed. Edn should st rive to develop the child morally& spiritually so that he achieves self realization. Preparation of holy life: An environment should be provided which is conducive for the development of spiritual values in a child. A holy life will naturally lead the child to spi ritual development and self realization.
According to Frobel, "The object of education is the realization of a faithful,pure,invoilable and hence holy life.
Contd.
Conservation, promotion and transmission of cultural heritage:
Man has an capacity of assimilating knowledge of the world. Hence his mental, intellectual capacities develop cultural, social & artis tistic valu alues in human man lif life. Mans achiev ieveme men nt in diff ifferent fields like art and culture are of great eat signi signific fican ance ce. The
cultural treasure belongs to the whole humanity and its purpose is to preserve, e,de debe belo lop, p,an and d transmit it in all corner of the world. According to idealist the child should get acquainted with the cultural heritage so that he conserves,promot omotes es,a ,and nd transmits it to the future generation.
Contd.
Conservati tio on of inborn nature into spirit itua uall na natu ture:
According to Idealist, the inborn insti nstin ncts and inh inherent
tendenc encies of a child should be sublimated into spiritual itual quali qualitie tiess and and value aluess.
As a resul sult the the child ild will ill be develop loped.
Hence the child will attain
the fullest development of his
personality.
Hence it is necessary to sublimate the inborn raw tend tenden enci cies es
of the child to spiritual itual quali qualitie tiess.
Contd.
Development of intelligence and rationality: According to Adam man can unde rstand the purpose as well as the plan and organization since he understands the purpose of all objects and natural phenomenon. Since there are set principles working in this creation, man tries to discover and understand these principles so that on the basis of moral elements the world remains organized. Out of these principles the idealist give more importance to the principle of unity in diversity which underlines the creation of an implicit fo force in the whole universe. A highly developed (intelligence)mind can perceive and the all prevailing force called as GOD.
Idealism and Curriculum
Curriculum should be conce rned with the whole
humanity and its experiences.
These experiences
From the physical World.
From contacts contacts with other fellow men.
can be imbibed in two ways:
In an idealistic idealistic cu rriculum both the scientific as well as humanities should be included .
Acc. to Plato
INTELLECTUAL Language,
History, Literature,Mat
hs, Geography, Science
AESTHETIC
MORAL
Arts
Religion
Poetry
Metaphysics Ethics,et c
Acc to NUNN Physical,social,Mo ral,Religious .
Physical Culture,Sociology,Ethics,Religion
Literary and Aesthetic.
Literature,Art,Music,Handicraft,History,
Geography,Science,Maths,etc
According to Ross
Idealism & methods of teaching
The
aim of teaching are definite according to Idealist but there are no defi defin nite ite me meth tho ods of teac eaching ing The
follo llowing ing are be the methods as suggested by them:
Socrates: Q uestion answer ,Plato:Discourse, Aristotle: Inductive Deductive ,Hegel:Logical Logical,,Descartes:Simple to Complex omplex,,Pestalozzi:Physical organs allied activities,,Herbart:Instruction activities method,Frobel:Play way method. They
empha em phasiz sized ed on Discussiopn,Lectu re,Talk in groups.
Acc .to Butler, "Id Idea eali list st con onsi side der themselves as creators & determiners of method not devotee of some one method.
Idealism and Teacher
A very important role to teacher. This planned creation has two parts :The Teacher, The child as the student. Their aim is to develop the child spiritually which is possible through education. The
teache cher should have the qualities like high degree of self knowledge, self dynamism& essential qualities of spiritualism. The teacher by her model life should influen uence the the stud studen ents ts. the tr should create conducive envt, and plan acti activi viti tie es, guide ide the the child ildren with love & affection ,sympathy so that he attains mental &spiritual itual develo developmen pmentt. The naturalist may be content with the barriers but the ide id eal alis istt wants fi fin ne roses.So the educator by his own efforts assist the educand,who is developing according to the laws of his nature to attain levels that would otherwise be denied to him.J.S.Ross
Idealism and Discipline
Idealist believe that there is no discipline without spi ritual development. They believe that impressionistic discipline is the best type of discipline. The
teacher is to gain respect, be affectionate & sympathetic ,motivate, sublimate instincts will lead the child to self discipline for development. On one hand idealist emphasize on s ympathetic control on undesirable activities but on the other hand it grants regulated liberty for spiritual development.
Idealism and Schools
School is a place where the capacities of logical thinking, reasoning, evaluating of the child progressively sublimated &developed by teachers and the school environment into desirable ble cha channe nnels so that high spiritual ideas and values are gained ined. Such noble mission acco rding to idealism, may be achieved through proper guidance of teacher given in sch school ool. Hence ence Idea Ideali lisst consi onside der school and its impressionistic environment as greatly essential .
Merits of Idealism
Made significant contribution in the field of education i .e. aims of education. Emphasized on high values satyam,shivam,sudaram which lead to high moral character of the child. Aims at self realization of individuals by their own efforts. Hence promotes universal education. The
teacher is assigned an important role of developing the childs personality to the fullest.
It respects individualit y of the child & stimulates his creative energies. Thus it has influenced othe r philosophies . Emphasizes on the p rinciple of self discipline which leads to the fullest development (self) of the individual. School became an important social organization due to the idealist philosophy.
Demerits of Idealism
Is an abstract philosophy& prepares the child for the next world. Concerned with ultimate end of life& life& avoids real problems of day to day life.
It lays more importance on thinking & mental activities which increases the importance of intellectualism unnecessarily. They
emphasize on the achievement of immortal high ideals( Truth,Beauty,Goodne oodnesss)which are not immortal and condi onditi tion oned ed by the condition of the society & needs of the individual. Idea Ideali list stic ic phil philos osop oph hy gives more importance to the teacher rather th than an the child. Idealistic methods of teaching give more importance to cramming. Ideal Idealis istic tic philos philosoph ophy give more importance to humanities for spiritua ituall dev develop elopmen mentt rather than scie scientif ntific ic subj subjects ects.
