Existantialism
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- Existentialism is a philosophy focused on free will, choice, and personal responsibility in finding meaning and purpose through self-determination. It emphasizes subjective experience and rejects the idea that humans are defined by external forces. - According to existentialist educational philosophy, the aim of education is self-realization. It seeks to help students understand themselves and strengthen their sense of being through a child-centered approach tailored to individual needs and abilities. - While acknowledging the importance of science education, existentialism argues the curriculum should also include humanities, ethics, and religion to foster character development and help students find inner truth and peace beyond what can be gained through objective knowledge alone.
Existantialism
- 1. Educational Philosophy Dr. Hina Jalal hinansari23@gmail.com
- 2. EXISTENTIALISM • The notion is that humans exist first and then each individual spends a lifetime changing their essence or nature. • In simpler terms, existentialism is a philosophy concerned with finding self and the meaning of life through free will, choice, and personal responsibility. • It is a form of philosophical inquiry that explores the problem of human existence and centres on the experience of thinking, feeling, and acting.
- 3. The Chief Characteristics of Existentialism 1. Criticism of Idealism. Existentialism has emerged and developed as a reaction against idealism. 2. Criticism of naturalism. The existentialist philosophers are also critical of the philosophy of Naturalism. 3. Criticism of the scientific philosophy. Science abstracts from the immediate data and brings them under some universal law or general rule, whereas, according to existentialists, all abstraction is false, reality is in the immediate data only. 4. Born of despair. As has been indicated above, on account of an unparalleled progress of science and technology, huge, industrial complexes and townships have sprung. Everywhere man is losing touch of nature. 5. Value of human personality: As a matter of fact, for an existentialist "man" is the centre of the universe and nothing else is equal to it. 6. Importance of subjectivity: The Danish philosopher S. Kierkegaard has said that truth is subjective, truth is subjectivity: objectivity and abstraction are hallucinations. 7. No construction of philosophical system: the existentialists distrust system making and theorization. 8. Emphasis on the problem of the relation of individual and world: The existentialist's account of man is neither mystical nor philosophical. Man and world both are unbound and free. The existentialists consider man to be the centre of all value and activity. That is why their view is also called anthropocentrism. 9. Emphasis on the problem of inner conflict. The central problem of the modern highly complex world is not ideological but practical.
- 4. The Aim of Education • The aim of education, according to existentialism, is the realisation of inner truth. Contemporary mechanical and industrial life has alienated modern man. He is full of anxieties, frustrations, fears and guilts. He is lonely though in the crowd. His individuality is being corrupt. The education should make him realise his subjective consciousness. The existential aim of education is humanitarian and humanist. It aims at self-realisation. It provides knowledge of self- existence.
- 5. Child-Centred Education • Existential education is child-centred. It gives full freedom to the child. The teacher should help the child to know himself and recognise his being. Freedom is required for natural development. Education should convert imperfection into perfection. Education should be according to the individual's needs and abilities of the child. The relation of the child to himself should be strengthened by education.
- 6. Curriculum • Existentialist's approach to education is almost an inversion of the realist approach. In the field of curriculum while the realists exclusively emphasise science, the existentialists find out that science and objective education serves our relation with ourselves. Science cannot help in inner realisation and achievement of peace. This, however, does not mean that science education should be ignored. It only means that besides science the curriculum must include humanities, ethics and religion. In keeping with this viewpoint contemporary engineering colleges have included some philosophy, ethics and social studies, in their curriculum. Without this synthetic approach to curriculum the aim of character formation and personality development will be defeated.
- 7. Contribution to Education 1. Total development. The existentialists have aimed at total development of personality through education. Education should aim at the whole man. It should aim at character formation and self-realisation. 2. Subjective knowledge. The present age of science has made too much of objective knowledge, so much so that the term subjective has come to mean unreal, non-sense, ignorant and irrelevant. The existentialists rightly point out that subjective knowledge is even more important than objective knowledge. 3. Importance of environment. The present industrial, economic, political and social environment is valueless. Therefore, it helps confusion and corruption, tensions and conflicts. The existentialists seek to provide an environment proper to self- development and self-consciousness. This environment in the school requires contribution from humanities, arts and literature.
- 8. Dr. Hina Jalal (hinansari23@gmail.com)