Lesson 6: Schools of Thought

Topic: Schools of Thought

Learning Outcomes: At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Enumerate and define the four main philosophical schools of thought;

2. Discuss the characteristics of the different philosophical schools of thought;
3. Give a critique of the different philosophical schools of thought; and
4. Identify which school of thought has a greater influence on you.

LEARNING CONTENT

Introduction:

There are varied philosophical thoughts and systems but the four main philosophical schools of thought
include idealism, realism, pragmatism, and existentialism. What can be learned from these philosophical
thoughts is relevant in the evaluation of one's own principles in life. In one way or the other, these schools of
thought influence the behavior of human persons.

Lesson Proper:

Why should one know the different schools of philosophy or philosophical schools of thought? One
simple answer is for you to be able to determine where a person is coming from in his contentions. Another
one is for you to be able to figure out how to deal with the concerned person. For example, when somebody is
too angry with capitalism, he/she might have been influenced by the philosophical dictum of Marxism. A person
who is too dubious with human senses and gives more emphasis to the idea that "knowledge must come
primarily from reason and thought" is, on the other hand, under the influence of rationalism (Scotty, 2017).

There may be five or more schools of thought in philosophy but we limit the discussion to the four main
philosophical schools of thought according to Narejo (2015). These are the following:

1. IDEALISM

Idealism is a philosophical system within the field of Metaphysics. It claims that

reality is dependent upon the mind rather than independent of the mind. Thus,
as the mind and soul are unobservable aspect of reality, idealism is a
metaphysical system. There are extreme versions of idealism. They deny that
any world exists outside of our mind. But the narrow version of idealism claims
that our understanding of reality, it reflects the workings of our mind first and
foremost. That is to say that the properties of the object have no standing
independent of the mind perceiving them. Idealism is based on the early
writings of Plato. It says that ideas are the only true reality. Every material thing
is an idea or a form of an idea. Mental phenomena are what is fundamentally
important and real, all other things reflect ideas. There are different types of
idealism which include subjective idealism, divine idealism, ontological
idealism, and epistemological idealism ([Link]

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a. Subjective Idealism d. Epistemological Idealism

Maybe it doesn’t actually matter whether

For some idealists, it means that nothing is truly real other than
consciousness and its contents. That is, when you look out on there’s a physical world beyond the mind.
the world what you are really seeing is a world created by the After all, the mind is our only tool
mind. Perception, in other words, is reality. That doesn’t mean for understanding that world, and therefore
that you’re stuck in your own mind, though, since we’re lucky all of our perceptions and understandings
enough to have other minds that we can communicate with. will be constrained by the structure of the
Thus, the truth may lie somewhere in between your mind and mind. When we try to understand that
mine (but still not in any external physical world). We can callstructure, we may not be exploring the
this intersubjective idealism. most basic truths of the universe (as
ontological idealists would claim); rather,
b. Divine Idealism we’re just trying to understand the human
mechanisms and tools that make all
Alternatively, the world may be seen as manifestations of understanding possible.
some other mind, such as the mind of one God. (However,
remember that all of physical reality would be contained in the
mind of God on this view — so God would have to be a
consciousness outside of the physical multiverse!)

c. Ontological Idealism

Others don’t take it quite as far: they argue that the material
world exists, but that at its most basic level it’s made out of
ideas. For example, some physicists believe that the universe, at
its most basic level, is made of numbers. So scientific formulas
don’t just describe physical reality; they are the physical reality.
E=MC2, for example, would be seen as a fundamental aspect of
reality which Einstein discovered, rather than a description that
he invented.

• Idealism can be considered as an ontological school of thought whereas rationalism is an epistemological

one. In idealism you assert that reality is fundamentally made of ideas. This thinking can be opposed to
materialism, according to which reality is fundamentally made up of matter. It should be clear that there is a
necessary relation between metaphysics and epistemology. Our conception of reality depends on our
understanding of what can be known. Conversely, our theory of knowledge depends on our understanding of
ourselves in relation to the whole of reality.

• Idealism flourished in the Ancient Period during the time of Plato. He is well known for the Platonic
Idealism where there exists a perfect realm. We talked about this in the forms and ideas. So, there is this
perfect realm in Plato’s mind, forms and ideas that are world merely contain the shadows of that realm.
• Subjective idealism, according to this system, only ideas can be known or have any reality.
• Transcendental idealism is developed by Immanuel Kant and he argued that all knowledge originates and
perceived phenomena which is organized by categories.
• Absolute Idealism, according to this system, all objects are identical with an idea. They claim that
knowledge is itself the system of idea. It is also known as objective realism. This sort of idealism is
promoted by George Hegel. Unlike the other forms of idealism, there’s only one mind in which reality is
created.

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2. REALISM

Realism is based on the thinking of Aristotle. Reality exists independent of the

human mind. Character is developed through training in the rules of conduct.
You are looking at a computer screen. Pixels are glowing and changing before
your eyes, creating patterns that your mind transforms into words and
sentences. The sentences and ideas are in your mind (and mine, as I write
them), but the computer, the server, the pixels, and your eyeballs are all real
objects in the real world.

“The materialists hold the complete opposite view to the idealists on the nature of reality. Materialists
believe that everything that exists is either matter or depends on matter for its existence. The real world is out
in the street, not in the head.”

This is the position of philosophical realism: the view that whatever we perceive is real, truly out there.
It’s not an illusion, or “all in our minds” ([Link]

This is most people’s common-sense view of the world. We use our senses to gather information about
real objects that are around us. Those objects are really out there, and they have physical properties that we
can sense – they reflect light for us to see, or they emit odor particles for us to smell. Then the mind directly
connects with these objects through memory, thinking, etc. Reality is a collection of objects that we sense.
Idealists reject this picture of the world. They argue that the universe is not a collection of objects that human
minds can perceive, but rather a collection of ideas that human minds can grasp. All physical objects, they say,
are manifestations, or a kind of physical clothing on top of the idea.

Realism is a philosophical school thought affirming that universals are real—they exist and are distinct
from the particulars that instantiate them while. Empiricism, on the other hand is holds that the only or, at least,
the most reliable source of human knowledge is experience, especially perception by means of the physical
senses. To differentiate further between realism and empiricism, an advocate of realism is concerned for facts
or realities and rejects the impractical and visionary, while an advocate of empiricism pursues knowledge
purely through experience, especially by means of observation and sometimes by experimentation
([Link]

In consideration of the above it is good to keep in mind that you can’t be an Idealist and a Materialist
and you can’t be a Rationalist and an Empiricist. On the other hand, you can be an Idealist and a Rationalist or
an Idealist and an Empiricist. You can also be Materialist and a Rationalist or you can be a Materialist and an
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Empiricist. That is because Idealism and Materialism are statements of ontology which means they are
statements about what you believe is real. Rationalism and Empiricism are statements of epistemology which
means statements about what is the best way to know what is real (Carreira, 2010).

3. PRAGMATISM

PRAGMATIC ETHICS
Pragmatism was founded by the American philosopher Charles Sanders
Peirce and was developed by another American philosophers namely: William
James and John Dewey. Pragmatic ethics is the result of the application of the
principles of pragmatism to moral issues. Pragmatism is epistemological by nature.
It holds the belief that the true and meaningful from of knowledge is one that is:
practical, workable, beneficial, and useful. Thus, in pragmatism, if an idea works
and brings good results, then it is true and meaningful. If it does not, then the idea
is useless and meaningless, that is, it has no value. According to the pragmatist, an
idea is practical if it produces good results; it is workable if it can be put to work; it
is beneficial if it benefits people; and useful if it can be used to attain good results.
But how do we know if an idea is practical, workable, beneficial, and useful? In
other words, how do we know if an idea is true or meaningful? William James said
that ideas are proven true and meaningful through the process of experimentation
or testing. On the contrary, John Dewey said that ideas are proven to be true and
meaningful if they proved to be an effective instrument in attaining something. This
Charles Sanders Peirce
model of pragmatism is a form of Instrumentalism.

Application of Pragmatism to Ethics

When applied to moral issues, a pragmatist may view the morality of the human act from the vantage
point of its practicality, workability, beneficiality, ad usefulness. Hence, in pragmatic ethics, an action is
considered morally right if it is practical, workable, beneficial, and useful; otherwise, it has no moral worth. An
example of a moral issue is aborting a deformed fetus. Christian ethics, through St. Thomas Aquinas, believed
that abortion in whatever form is absolutely immoral. While is pragmatic ethics, it is better to abort a deformed
fetus than let is suffer for a lifetime. So, the act of aborting a deformed fetus for the pragmatists, therefore, is
practical because the act will produce good results such as sparing the parents and child from physical,
mental, or emotional suffering that may be brought by the deformity; workable because the act of aborting a
deformed fetus can be put to work; it is beneficial to both parent and the child especially in terms of freedom
from emotional and physical suffering that may be brought by the deformity; and useful if it can be used to
attain good results sparing the parents and the child from physical, mental, and emotional suffering that maybe
brought by deformity. In pragmatic ethics, a human act is always a value-neutral, and the morality of a human
act depends on the quality of the results: practicality, workability, beneficiality, and usefulness. So, morality
does not seek final and absolute answers; yet it is not relativistic. Pragmatic ethics is not relativistic in the
sense that, it recognizes that there are different circumstances and that different circumstances, different
actions might be appropriate.

In popular usage, a “pragmatist” is someone who always thinks about the practical side of things and
doesn’t worry about theory or ideology. In philosophy, the term has a significantly different meaning
([Link] Pragmatism is based on the thoughts of a number of nineteenth-
century American philosophers like William James and John Dewey. For a pragmatist, knowledge is
subordinate to action. Meaning and truth of ideas are determined by their relation to practice. Pragmatists
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believe that reality is constantly changing and that we learn best through applying our experiences and
thoughts to solve problems.

Even though the pragmatists saw words as vague tools rather than eternal truths, they still believed in
an important “pragmatic” notion of truth. They saw the human search for truth as similar to a doctor’s search for
a diagnosis: the doctor will never know with absolute certainty what disease you have. But in order to treat you,
she has to make a decision, so she does the best she can with the information available and then treats you on
that basis. Similarly, for the pragmatists, we’ll never know the absolute truths of the universe — all we can do is
try to understand things as best we can and then act, even though our information will always be incomplete
and there’s always the real possibility of error ([Link]

John Dewey William James

4. EXISTENTIALISM

Existentialism is based on the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre. Individual

persons interpret the world from their own perceptions and create their
own realities (Narejo, 2015). Accordingly, people must create their own
values in a world in which traditional values no longer exist. Choices
must be made arbitrarily by individuals who thus create themselves
because there are no objective standards to determine choices.

Existentialism is a philosophical theory that people are free agents who have control over their choices
and actions. Existentialists believe that society should not restrict an individual's life or actions and that
these restrictions inhibit free will and the development of that person's potential.

People who uphold existentialism consider themselves as free persons who must be in control of their
own choices or actions. They don't want much restriction from social norms for these will inhibit their free
will and the development of their potentials. Thus, an existentialist is prone to "existential crisis". For
example, "you identify yourself as an athlete and have a promising career. Then you have a severe injury
and your career is over. At that point, you would have an existential crisis because you have defined
yourself as an athlete" ([Link]

-End of Lesson 6-

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REFERENCES

Online Reference

1. Schools of Philosophy: The Materialists. Retrieved on September 25, 2021 from

[Link]

2. Carreira, J. (2010). "Eight Confusing Philosophical Terms Explained" in Philosophy is Not a Luxury.
Retrieved on September 25, 2021 from [Link]
philosophical-terms-explained/

3. Narejo, Irshad (2015). Philosophical School of Thought. Retrieved on September 25, 2021 from
[Link]

4. Scotty, Hendrick (2017). 10 Schools of Philosophy and Why You Should Know Them. Retrieved on
September 25, 2021 from [Link]
know-them

5. PHILO-notes (2019). What is pragmatic ethics? Retrieved on September 25, 2021 from
[Link]

6. PHILO-notes (2020). What is Rationalism? Retrieved on September 25, 2021 from

[Link]

Picture Reference:

1. Schools of Philosophy: The Materialists. Retrieved on September 25, 2021 from

[Link]

2. Tasseel, Nailia. The Story Tellers. Plato on Story telling. Retrieved on September 25, 2021from
[Link]

3. Philosophy Terms - Realism. Retrieved on September 25, 2021 from [Link]

content/uploads/2016/09/[Link]

4. Jabeen, Munira. Pragmatism. Retrieved September 25, 2021 from

[Link]
[Link]?cb=1438515396

5. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Jean-Paul Sartre. Retrieved on September 4, 2020 from

[Link]

6. Wikipedia. Charles Sanders Peirce. Retrieved September 25, 2021 from

[Link]

7. Wikipedia. William James. Retrieved September 25, 2021 from [Link]

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