2.1.3 EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY AREAS

Areas of Educational Philosophy

There are following three areas of philosophy.

  • Epistemology
  • Ontology
  • Axiology

(i) Epistemology

It is the branch/area of philosophy which deals with the nature of knowledge. It discusses the nature, sources, scope and applicability of knowledge. It also discusses:

  • What we know,
  • How we know,
  • What is the difference between knowing and believing?
  • How can we show that knowledge is true?

The task of epistemologist is to consider what is meant by the psychological concepts as "feeling", motivation, learning etc.

(ii) Ontology:

It is the branch/area of philosophy which deals with the nature of reality. It asks the question, what is real? The major areas of discussion in ontology are

  • Existence
  • Reality
  • Cosmology
  • Nature
  • Nature of human being

(iii) Axiology:

It is the branch/area of philosophy which deals with the nature of values, the types of values and the problems of values. It asks the questions like

  • What is good?
  • What is attributable to humans?Axiology is divided into

(i) Ethics:

It is concerned with concepts of good and bad, right wrong;

(ii) Aesthetics:

It is concerned with beauty and enjoyment. It asks questions like

  • What is beautiful?
  • What aspects produce enjoyment?