Exploring Human Education, Philosophy, and Knowledge
Education: Focus
The art of driving, to guide others to improve their qualities and develop all their features.
Pedagogy
Reflection on the educational event in all its dimensions. It deals with theoretical science for purposes, principles, and standards, and practical science for resources, procedures, and technologies for educational activities.
Philosophical Anthropology
Knowledge about man, synthesizing insights from biological, human, and social sciences at a philosophical level, leading to a metaphysical understanding of human beings. (Definition from Jacinto Choza’s Handbook of Philosophical Anthropology, 1988).
Reductionism of the Human
Rationalism
Claims that what is not rational is irrational, ignoring emotions and the affective side of the human person. Von Hildebrand (1997) in The Heart defines this as the “impertinence of the intellect that does not admit realities it cannot penetrate.”
Voluntarism
Asserts that radical human action stems from will, not intelligence, leading to the misconception of freedom as independence and individualism.
Emotivism or Sentimentality
Views human action as solely the product of emotional impulses, replacing value with feeling. Feelings are variable and cannot guide decisions alone; they need reason for direction.
Culture
Colere (Latin) means growing. It is the art of cultivating the spirit, like agriculture cultivates land. It refers to the intellectual, volitional, and moral improvement of humans and the legacy of knowledge.
Nature
From Latin and Greek physis, meaning what emerges and develops in order. Human nature is physical, psychological, and spiritual, allowing for improvement through understanding and action.
Soul
Aristotle in De Anima: “In the cause of life, we know only its effects: we live, feel, move, and understand.” José Ramón Ayllón (1992) in Around the Man: “We still keep the secret nature of the program that gives life to his creatures. We’ve only been able to give a name: poetic soul.”
Truth
The fit between reality and intelligence. It involves adapting to reality through abstract ideas. Dangers include eclipsing reality with abstractions and assuming our thoughts fully represent reality.
- Truth is contextual and partial but can be true and correct.
Truth is not majority opinion; consensus can be artificially created.
Relativism
Claims truth is relative to the knowing subject. This is contradictory as the claim itself is presented as a truth.
Opinion
An estimate of what may or may not be. Not all opinions are of equal worth.
Certainty
Based on evidence, either immediate or mediate.
Belief
Believing in the testimony of someone, a rational experience.
Positivism
Founded by Auguste Comte, it acknowledges only facts and their relationships, avoiding questions of who, why, and when.
Science
Demonstrated knowledge using theoretical constructs and controlled experiments.
Philosophy
Love of wisdom, seeking ultimate and universal knowledge about reality. Metaphysics explores what is beyond physics. Key questions involve the meaning, origin, and purpose of things.