Philosophy as the Only Reform for Education - Coursework Example

? Philosophy work Week One Question 2. According to Adler’s opinion “the political democracy of each nation is highly dependent on their schools content.” Most schools have a deficient reconstitution and in turn do not produce individuals prepared for high office and the responsibilities of citizenship in a nation that is deemed democratic. If the reconstitution of these schools is not revised, then political institutions will perish because thinking citizens are required to for such institutions to thrive (Adler, 69). Adler suggests philosophy as the only reform that is radical enough to prevent this disaster. Adler as a perrennialist believed that it is vital to educate young people in things that would be important in the long-term to everyone, everywhere (Adler, 69). It was Adler’s belief that it is these important topics that improve a person to become a better version of them and this vital topic is philosophy. Philosophy, according to Adler teaches principles and not facts. Facts entail details that change over time but principles focus on people. Adler believes that everyone was born with the same information, information we consider basic. Even though this information was there at birth, it was hidden and it is through discussion sessions with his students that this hidden information came to suffice. Adler developed a system of education that was based on the classics that was adopted throughout America. He believed that education is meant to focus on prominent works and thoughts that have been there throughout generations and recurs with each generation (Adler, 314). These works can only be taught through the study of philosophy. He believed these past works and thoughts were so profound that they have stood the test of time and are relevant in the present as they were at the time of their conception. Week One Question 3. According to Young, “we can learn from art because the admiration of art is a cognitive process.” Works of art perceived to be very good provide to its admirers knowledge about the universe (young, 86). A person’s engagement with art brings out emotions which in turn produce activities that facilitate the acquisition of knowledge. Good artwork produces great insight and knowledge that cannot be summed in to a propositional language. Even though both Plato and Aristotle agree we can learn from art, Plato believed the knowledge acquired was detrimental while to Aristotle, it was of value. Philosophers like Aristotle argue that both poetry and fiction have a way of engaging the emotions of people in a way that is seen as valuable and not detrimental. Plato suggested that when one indulges in the emotions brought about by some form of art, they are likely to experience an unbalanced soul that can lead to them having bad character. David Novitz believes there are three claims of knowledge concerning art .First claim is of what we know about the art and the imaginary world represented. The second claim is of what we believe to be the emotion response warranted for that art. The third claim is of the information we think the art provides about the world. It’s therefore easy, according to David, to be misled by art. He believes that emotions evoked by a piece of art should be based on our broader knowledge of the world (Sarah, 72) Eileen John believes art arouses moral knowledge. In his first argument, he argues that art presents to us examples of moral activities. Eileen argues that art presents situations that we rarely experience in our daily lives. Simulating our reactions to these works of art helps us get an idea of our future responses to same situations. In his second argument, Eileen claims that we can acquire essential moral knowledge from works of art. Works of art give us imaginative access to experiences relevant to moral judgment (john, 134). Week Two Question 1 Education has no meaning unless it has helped you understand life in its expanse (Wilson, 186). Even though it is true that we need education to help us land good jobs, its main purpose is to enable those being educated to discover their full potential not only as human beings but as citizens in their society. Those being educated are eventually able to not only think but make rational decisions about everyday situations. According to John Dewey, “education is intended to help the student realize they are by no means powerless and enable them to think critically and rationally.” He explains that there is neutral ground between meaningful education and education that is aimless. Beneficial education according to John Dewey makes a connection between the resources and the way the knowledge will be acquired and bombarding the learner with a final philosophy. Education should aim to evoke interest in social relationships and not create disorder. Education cultivates a civil society. It impacts moral and ethical values to individuals that lead to development of a thoughtful and civilized society. That said, we cannot deny that education does help to create self-sufficient individuals by enabling them earn a living and this in itself is social development. It lays the foundation for one to meet their career objectives. Education strives to make one a resourceful and prudent individual who is able through their education to achieve economic growth. The true purpose of education therefore is to broaden one’s mental capacity and helping them develop rational approaches to life (Wilson, 187). Week Two Question 3 According to Adler, it is possible for one to say something false that is not a lie. Adler argues that “lying is a correspondence between what one thinks and what one says”. To lie therefore is to say the contrary of what one is thinking. Therefore, when one tells a false statement, it just means they said what was on their mind which was not a lie but according to facts, the statement is considered false (Adler, 4). A person speaking truthfully may in fact be giving false statements. This is because they simply said what was in their minds, which is what Adler considers the truth but then saying the truth does not guarantee that the person’s mind is free from error. The error in one’s mind is what causes their truth to be false statements. According to Adler, “speaking falsely means putting “is “where“not”should be.” If for example a jeweler selling rings with fake diamonds tells a client the rock is a diamond when it is not, they have given a false statement but it is not a lie since this is the thought that was in their heads. Adler describes a liar as a person who has a habit of speaking falsely when they stand a chance of gaining from the deception (Adler, 4). Week Three Question 3 Happiness according to Adler is to have everything one desires provided they desire nothing amiss. “To desire nothing amiss means to desire only what one ought to desire and to refrain from desiring what one ought not to desire” (Adler, 236). According to Adler, happiness can be achieved by choices and actions that will work towards adding real goods into one’s life and avoiding goods that will interfere with the process of acquiring real goods (Adler, 237) The government also plays a role in aiding the pursuit of happiness by putting in place laws and institutions to provide its citizens with the right conditions to pursue happiness. The government should also permit their members to satisfy their wants if doing so does not interfere with others’ pursuit of happiness. To achieve happiness according to Adler requires “forming the habit of choice consisting of desiring aright and desiring nothing amiss” (Adler, 236). Making the right choices in choosing what goods we need to be happy and letting go of those we do not need, attains us our ultimate goal of happiness. Another factor is virtue. To be virtuous means to uphold morals and ethics this means avoiding desiring anything amiss. Another factor that we require to attain happiness is giving. Adler suggested that true happiness cannot be separated from the feeling one gets in giving. Social human being are said to be much closer to attaining happiness than one who is socially isolated (Adler, 238) This sense of belonging is aroused by involvement in society, cooperating and having the experience of sharing with others. A sense of belonging has a lot in contributing to happiness. Developing a sense of belonging promotes courage, optimism and self-confidence which together promote happiness for an individual. Week Three Question Five In order to distinguish between what is objectively good for all people and what is subjectively good, we need to distinguish real and apparent goods. Both real and apparent goods are desirable. Real goods are natural desires and these are things we need as human beings. They are things which if we do not have, we cannot live well. Apparent goods are acquired desires which according to Adler are the desire s that one acquires during their lifetime due to their individual experiences and circumstances in their life (Adler, 6). The issue is to be able to distinguish individual needs. One thing that appears to be good to one person because they satisfy their needs does not mean it’s the same for another person. Adler felt it is human nature to desire what is really good. There is always tendency by human beings to desire what we need by nature. What we need is considered always good for us and we refer to this as the right desire (Adler, 6). What we want can either be good or really bad. It is good if it satisfies a need we have and bad if it harms us or others. Apparent goods which arise from wrong desire are bad because they reduce our desire for the real goods. I agree with Adler because even though I may need food which is a right desire that is beneficial, desiring and choosing to eat a cheese burger (an apparent good) is a wrong desire that is harmful health wise. I therefore concur with Adler that a need is always good but a want can either be good or bad. Week Four Question 10 Extreme libertarians believe that when one acts, their actions cannot have been predicted by a prior motive. They believe that one’s decision cannot be pegged to their character or values but rather are a random act. Adler believes that there is reason and necessity for all change and nothing happens by chance. According to Adler, “there are four causes to an occurrence.” It could be formal, materialistic, final or just efficient. He suggested that more than usual, there are multiple causes to an occurrence. Some occurrences are a result of necessity, chance (not accident) and personal causes. Personal causes are autonomous while chance is said to be inconstant. Adler as having a problem to free will practiced by extreme libertarians, he categorized three kinds of freedom. First is self-perfection. Adler argues that we are free only if the decisions we make come from reasons and we are not enslaved by our desires. The second is self-determination that discusses the problem of free will and third is self –determination (Adler, 17). Libertarians believe that it is not possible for both free will and determinism to be true. Adler as a critic of the extreme libertarians claims that if one makes decisions that are not connected to their character and personal values then one cannot be held responsible for those decisions. Week Four Question 4 Chapman examined that the constitution respects the majority vote. A voter having voted accepts the principle and result of majority rule whether or not the vote will place him in the majority or minority category (Chapman, 86). Even though they may not agree with the policies that the majority have put in place, the minority will have to conform to the changes and they do so without losing their political liberty. If the law voted by the majority is just, but was contrary to the minority vote, then complying with it does not deprive the minority of their freedom in anyway. We cannot be deprived of personal liberty by just rules of conduct. However, where an unjust rule exists and just rules are not enforced properly, then the minority will have had their freedom violated. The minority even after voting still enjoy political liberty which is the liberty that citizens of a republic enjoy while living under the constitution. After voting therefore, though the minority lost, they maintain their liberty under the constitution and only have to comply with the rules voted by the majority. I agree with Adler’s argument because loss during a national vote does not make the minority lose their liberty since all that is lost is a vote and that just means they have to comply with the majority. The constitution in most republics provides and protects the freedom of voters and does not take it away when they fall in the minority thereafter. Week five Question 9 An individual who desires a good life must make the right choices and choose appropriately the goods he needs and wants which is motivated by moral virtue. Being just in one’s actions towards others makes one morally virtuous which enables them attain a good life as a human being and can be used as a means to gaining personal happiness. Pursuit of happiness cannot be successful without one being morally virtuous which means being able to make the right choices in being just to others. According to Adler, “to achieve one’s ultimate good, one must be just in their actions towards others and be in harmony with community around them.” A person’s decision to either be just to others or not is directed towards an end that can either be good or bad .Given a choice to make to be just or not, the choice we make cannot point into both directions at once (Adler, 136). Moral virtue has many aspects such temperance and fortitude which are in their nature distinct but inseparable. Making decisions to be morally virtuous points us to the same ultimate goal of a good life, whether we are striving for our happiness or that of others. I therefore concur with Adler that it is beneficial to be just in one’s actions towards others since the ultimate goal is a good life and happiness. Week five question 3 One’s individual right is their right to demand things from other men or even an organized society. When these rights are granted to the same person by an organized society through the institution of law, then they become legal rights. Natural rights are moral rights and correlate with one’s natural needs. Legal rights are rights that one is granted by the government and can be annulled through an act of government (Adler, 254). Natural right defines an order that all human beings should conform to. Plato called it “justice” and applied it to the soul and conduct of human beings. If the state law runs counter to the natural law, then it is considered unjust. Natural rights give rise to natural law which sets the moral standards and the basis of moral judgment. It defines a measure of justice by which man-made laws are gauged. According to Adler, natural rights are used to measure how just a legal right is (Adler, 254). Natural rights cannot be taken away by any act of government since a natural right is a moral right, and then we develop a moral obligation to strive to attain it since it is a real good (Adler, 255). For example, I may have a natural right to decent living which is real good and therefore indispensable to having a good life. One may have a legal right to citizenship of their country by birth but the same government can take away this legal right in case one takes up another country’s citizenship. A natural need makes one desire the real goods. The desire to attain real goods impose moral obligations for one to lead a good life which accord that person natural rights. Possessing natural rights morally obligates others towards me. References; Adler, M.J. (2010). How to Think about the Great Ideas: From the Great Books of Western Civilization (volume 1 of 2).Retrieved from ReadHowYouWant.com. Adler, M.J. (1998). Paideia Proposal.New York: Simon and Schuster. Adler, M.J., & Institute for Philosophical Research. (1961). The Idea of Freedom: A dialectical examination of the controversies about freedom. New York: Doubleday. Adler, M.J. (1997). Six Great Ideas. New York: Simon and Schuster. Adler, M.J. (1997). Aristotle for Everybody. New York. Simon and Schuster. Adler, M.J. (1993). Great books of the western world. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Adler, M.J. (1969). The Annals of America, Volume 10. Encyclopaedia Britannica. Chapman, R. (2010). Culture wars: an encyclopaedia of issues, viewpoints, and voices, Volume 1.New York M.E. Sharpe. Fuller, T. & Hittinger, J.(2001). Reassessing the liberal state: reading Maritain's Man and the state. Washington, D.C.: CUA Press. Hollinger, D.A. (2006). 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