In a recent cartoon strip of Hi and Lois, the teenage son, Chip, is sitting at the dining table doing his homework. He turns to his dad and asks, "Dad, who am I? What am I doing here? What is the meaning of life?" His dad's response was, 'I'm afraid you'll never find the answer to those questions, son. " Chip's response was, "Then why do I have to take philosophy?"

My early beliefs about philosophy were similar to those of Chip, the teenage son in the cartoon strip Hi and Lois. Why should a person study philosophy? To me, philosophy was a bunch of mumbo jumbo, a lot of B.S., bearded university professors in ancient ivy-covered buildings discussing deep abstract concepts, Argh!

Over the years, however, I have discovered that my views and the views of many people regarding philosophy were not accurate. Philosophy is not necessarily some mumbo jumbo or esoteric field of study. Not all areas of philosophy deal with totally abstract concepts. It is also not the exclusive domain of university professors. Philosophy can be interesting, practical, and exciting. There is value and potential benefit for agricultural educators from having a firm knowledge and grasp of philosophy.

The word philosophy was developed by Socrates and comes from two Greek words that translate to "love of wisdom." A philosopher is a lover of wisdom, a searcher for the truth, or one who pursues knowledge.

The first truths sought or philosophical questions raised by people had to do with the meaning and purpose of existence. The Egyptians wondered if there was life in the hereafter. Thales, the first Greek philosopher, pondered about what the substance of life was (he concluded it was water). As we began to search for answers to questions about existence, the questions became more concrete. What causes toothaches? Why does it frost? Questions dealing with naturally occurring phenomena were classified as "natural philosophy." Natural philosophy has evolved into what we call science.

Simply put, the original definition of philosophy was the love of wisdom and philosophers were those who searched for meaning and truth for a variety of questions in a variety of settings. Since then, the definition of philosophy has been expanded to also mean (1) the general beliefs and attitudes of an individual or group and (2) the body of principles underlying a branch of learning or major discipline.

There are three major areas of study in philosophy. Just as agriculture has areas of study such as agronomy and animal science, so does philosophy. Part of my earlier negative attitude toward philosophy was because I was not aware of the various areas of philosophy. My early belief that philosophy was concerned with only one type of problem, those that were only abstract, was as incorrect as those who believe agriculture is only farming.

Metaphysics is concerned with theories of the nature of reality. Why does the earth exist? How did it come into being? Is mankind free? Is there a God? What is real? Some common terms used in metaphysics are theology, creationism, evolution, spirit, free will, atheism, relativism and absolutism. Metaphysics is the area many people think of when they hear the term philosophy.

Axiology is concerned with theories of value. Two major divisions of axiology are ethics (What is right and wrong? What is evil and good?) and aesthetics (What is beautiful and ugly?) Some common terms used that relate to axiology are pessimism, optimism, hedonism, egoism, and altruism.

Epistemology is concerned with theories of the nature of knowledge. How people learn? What knowledge is of utmost value? What are the different types of knowledge? Philosophical questions in the epistemological arena are constantly being raised in school reform reports, in education classes, and even within the agricultural education profession? Some of the agricultural education epistemological questions are: What is the educational value of the FFA? Is the problem-solving method of teaching the best approach? Why should students have an SOEP? Should the educational objectives of vocational agriculture change?

Why is it that some educators believe the most important outcome of education is to produce students who excel in subjects such as history and literature while others believe the ability to work is the most important outcome of education? The answer may depend upon the philosophical school of thought to which the educator most closely adheres.

Idealism is a school of philosophy that values thinking (ideas) and places much emphasis on the cognitive domain. Idealism should not be confused with being idealistic; that is looking at the world through rose colored glasses and expecting the best or ideal situations. It would be more correct to label idealism as idea-ism.

Developing the mind is the goal of the idealist. Idealists favor studying facts and ideas about the past as a sound mental activity. They believe the curriculum should focus on the classics and basics. They don't place much value on the study of vocational subjects because the emphasis is typically "hands on." A summary of the views held by idealists and others toward various aspects of education is found in Figure 1.

A simple way to describe the various schools of philosophical thought is to examine how each school would view a simple object such as a chair. An idealist would view a chair as not being real. A chair can be dismantled or burned and would no longer exist. However, what is real is the concept of a chair that exists in the mind. If a thought or idea exists in the mind, it is real.

Realism is the second oldest school of philosophy. Realists believe your mind can imagine things that don't exist and it is possible to arrive at incorrect conclusions through mental reasoning. Therefore, realists reject idealism and believe what is real is what is actually experienced. By studying actual objects and naturally occurring phenomena, we learn the truth.

Realists favor the sciences. Realism didn't catch on until the 1600s. Then people like Bacon, Galileo, and Newton started conducting scientific investigations to arrive at answers to "natural philosophy" questions. Since certain truths and facts have been verified through the scientific process, realists favor teaching methods that are organized and logical (such as the lecture) to transmit this knowledge to learners.

A realist would carefully study the materials in a chair and subject them to a variety of tests to learn as much as possible about the materials. A realist would also weigh and measure the chair and even analyze the finish.

Pragmatism is a philosophy that emerged during the later part of the 1800s. Pragmatists do not believe in knowledge for the sake of knowledge or science for the sake of science. Ideas and facts are applied to real world problems and have value primarily because of their usefulness. Truth is what works in the real world. Pragmatists want to prepare people to live in the world as it exists. Problem-solving should be used to attack problems, including social problems.

Pragmatism is an American philosophy and was espoused by people like John Dewey, William James, Charles Peirce, and William Kilpatrick. A number of the early, influential leaders in agricultural education studied under these pragmatic philosophers.

A pragmatist would study the usefulness of the chair. Does it seat people adequately? How can a chair be used in the real world? If the chair isn't adequately serving its purpose, what should be done to make it more useful?

Reconstructionism is a philosophy that believes in reform. Reconstructionists believe there are many problems in society and schools should be taking the leadership in correcting these ills. Some reconstructionists are viewed as radical because they want to drastically alter the way education now occurs. To a reconstructionist, education should not only look to the future, but also should be molding the future.

Reconstructionism is a philosophy that has grown since the early 1900s. Some people have classified John Dewey as a reconstructionist. A reconstructionist could be labeled a futuristic pragmatist.

A reconstructionist would dismantle the chair, redesign it, and then rebuild it. He or she would design it in an ergonomic fashion, have a keyboard and computer screen built into the armrest, and be linked via a telephone line and satellite uplink to the rest of the world.

Existentialism was popular during the 1960s and 1970s. Its emphasis is on the individual. Each individual determines what he or she needs to know and how to learn it. Relevance and "do your own thing" are key words in existentialism. The first step of education is to understand yourself.

An existentialist might sit on top of a chair, paint flowers on it, turn it over and lay on it, use it for a bonfire, etc. Whatever the student wanted to do with the chair would be acceptable in existentialism.

Figure 1: EDUCATIONAL VIEWS OF CERTAIN SCHOOLS OF PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy	What is Truth?	Goal of Education	The Curriculum	The Method	The Teacher	The Learner
Idealism	Ideas	Conserve the heritage	Past ideas & symbols (Music, Literature, History, Art)	Discussion, Debate	Transmitter of knowledge & leader of discussions	A Mind
Realism	Observable  Facts	Transmit Settled Knowledge	Physical World (Science, math)	Lecture, Supervised Study	Lecturer & Demonstrator	A Sensing  Mechanism
Pragmatism	What Works in the Real World	Prepare People to Live in the World	Things of the current world (Social Studies, Geography, etc.)	Problem solving	Project Director & Resource Person	An experiencing organism
Existentialism	Each individual decides	?	What the student wants	No set method	Provocateur	An individual
Reconstruct-ionism	What should be in the future	To make a better world, prepare for the future	Cutting edge information needed to correct current societal problems & build a new society	Futuristic problem solving	Social Change Agent	Social Change Agent

 

Philosophy helps provide clarification for what is or has been done. The early leaders in agricultural education were greatly influenced by the pragmatic movement. The problem solving method of teaching and farm projects arose out of pragmatism.

The "back to the basics" movement and the educational reform movements are being led primarily by idealists and realists. By realizing what idealists and realists believe in, it is easier to understand what these people want for education and why. This makes is easier for the pragmatic vocational educator to work with, instead of against, educational reformers. The recent trend in vocational agriculture to move toward agriscience is an example. An in-depth knowledge of philosophy helps us better understand what is happening in education, why it is happening, and the implications of these changes on vocational agriculture.

A knowledge of philosophy can also provide a framework for life and our actions. It can give order to what we do. It helps in the search for meaning and value.

Philosophy can be useful in solving problems. Taking specific philosophical stances when looking at educational problems may shed new light or insight on the problems and this may lead to solutions.

Philosophy is a good mental activity. Some people believe the "mental gymnastics" involved in the study of philosophy is helpful in developing the mind.

In a popular comic strip, Pogo exclaims, "We have met the enemy and he is us!" As a profession we need to get "up to speed" in philosophy. If we are to intelligently discuss the problems and solutions for preparing students for the 21st century, we must be able to converse with and share our ideas with other educational leaders. We need to thoroughly understand our philosophical heritage and the philosophical heritage of other educators. We must be able to communicate using the vocabulary of philosophy. We cannot afford to be our own worst enemy.

As a profession, we also need to reexamine our philosophy. We adopted a philosophy statement back in the 1970s. It is time to dust it off and see if it can provide the foundation to carry us into the 1990s.

Philosophy is not mumbo jumbo. It is the search for truth, meaning, and value. That is something in which all agricultural educators need to be involved.