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has to do something desper and more serious. It has to address itself to the immanent problems facing the mankind.
Against this background we can formulate three important tasks of philosophy, namely; (i) to study the nature and phenomenology of our knowledge, and to formulate the norms and
criteria of its truth and validity; (ii) to ascertain in the light and by the means of the equipment and instrument so developed, the
nature of reality, and (iii) finally on the basis of the knowledge so acquired to formulate and develop, for life's guidance, the goals or values and the ways of life.
(ii) What is Education ? Education is a purposeful, deliberate conscious and systemetic process of modification of the natural development of man. Man is imperfact by nature. His life is a process of development that tends towards something which is more perfect. This results in the modification of his behaviour pattern.
In order that this modification may not fall short of its goal, it must be well engineered. Education, moreover, is a medium through which the society transmits its heritage of past experiences and modifications, systems of values, and the modes of skills of acquiring it.
Thus, all education is a means for the attainment of human life. It is the fruitful utilization of the knowledge attained by the mankind for the enhencement of human-existence.
(iii) In what why Philosophy can contribute to Education ? If a general philosophy is a systemetic reflection over the entire life to understand its nature then educational philosophy is also a systemetic reflection comprehending the phenomenon of education in its entirety. Every system of education has to base itself on certain ends and policies, and it is the business of philosophy to provide these ends and policies to education. The framing up of the educational ends and policies presuppose value considerations and value-judgements. The science of education because of its positive nature cannot make normative decisions. Hence, there is the need of a philosophical frame-work.
All the major issues of education are at bottom philosophical. We cannot examine the existing philosophical ideals and policies, or suggest new ones, without considering such general philosophical problems,
as
(i) the nature of good life, to which the education should lead, (ii) of man himself, because it is man we are educating, (iii) of society, because education is a social process, and (iv) of the ultimate structure of reality which all knowledge seeks to penetrate. Thus, philosophy is helpful to education in three important ways, viz.,
(i) in suggesting the ends and means of educational system, (ii) in providing the theories of the nature of man, and (ii) in examining the rationality of our educational ideals, their consistency, and the part played in
them by wishful or unexamined thinking, in testing the logic of our concepts and their adequacy in explaining the facts they seek to explain, and in demonstrating the consistencies among our
आचार्यरत्न श्री देशभषण जी महाराज अभिनन्दन अन्य
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