INTRODUCTION TO

PHILOSOPHY
MPU 3193 PHILOSOPHY AND CURRENT ISSUES
PHILOSOPHY

Greek word: Philosophia

Philo-
Sophia- Wisdom
Love
the knowledge that is gained by having
being crazy or obsessed with someone or many experiences and using it to discern
something. qualities, relationships and make good
decisions and judgement
PHILOSOPHY

• an activity in which a person probes and seeks to understand

the fundamental principles of things and ideas (not superficial
or trivial details) using his or her knowledge and experiences.
• Philosophy begins when we ‘wonder’ and continue to
‘wonder’.
PHILOSOPHY
BIG QUESTIONS
• Philosophy is rooted in the
desire to understand the “What is truth?”,
world, in the desire to find “What is beauty?”
patterns in events and to
answer problems which “What is justice?”
occur to the mind in
“What is the right thing to do?”
connection with the world.
PHILOSOPHY

• Philosophy is rooted in the desire to understand the world, in

the desire to find patterns in events and to answer problems
which occur to the mind in connection with the world.
• Philosophers are always ‘wondering’ and asking lots of
questions.
• But philosophy is not for philosophers only but for everyone It
is likely that you may have asked some these questions
yourself.
ALL QUESTIONS
ARE
PHILOSOPHICAL?
PHILOSOPHICAL QUESTIONS
• It looks like philosophers • a child may ask which toys will
question everything and float and which toy will sink. To
anything but not all questions answer this question, an
are philosophical questions. experiment can be conducted
to determine which toy floats
and which toy sink.
not philosophical questions because they • when someone were to ask
can be proved empirically unlike
philosophical questions which are answered what is the area of a circle, it
using rational thinking. can be proved mathematically
using a formula
• Philosophy is all about QUESTIONS that open our minds and
gets you thinking about the world and how we view it.
• Philosophy is not like a topic you would read and write about
(like you would do in subjects such as history, economics,
biology, geography and so forth) rather it aims to SPARK
YOUR IMAGINATION ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND YOU.
• Philosophy can be a fascinating subject because it teaches us
to THINK ABOUT THE WORLD IN A DIFFERENT WAY.
• Philosophy encourages us to LEARN BY DOING an activity
based on a philosophical question.
• We have to be realistic because for many of the philosophical
questions, we cannot arrive at a single answer that is
agreeable to all.
• There will always be someone giving an alternative answer.
• Nevertheless, we persist in asking these questions and trying
to answer them.
• Sometimes, just asking a question is more important than
answering one because it can lead us to a better
understanding of the issue.
• Questioning long held beliefs, practicing and engaging in
philosophical reasoning, can lead to meaningful
understanding of the philosophical questions
WHY STUDY PHILOSOPHY?
• It has often been said the “all philosophers do is to argue without
arriving at any conclusions of importance and they discuss about
the same issues that were discussed some 2000 years ago”.
• If that be the case, then why bother studying philosophy. It has
been suggested that the contribution of philosophy to society is
minimal compared to other disciplines such as psychology,
education, computer science, biology, economics or engineering.
• Some even go to the extent to say:
• What is the point if a person can discuss the philosophy of Plato, Confucius,
Al-Farabi or Vivekananda but he or she cannot fry an egg!
• Despite these criticisms, it is still worth learning philosophy.
• For one, we are “natural philosophers” because we are curious
about the mysteries of the human experience and about
questions such ‘‘what is our purpose in life’ or ‘what is right or
wrong?’ or ‘what is the truth?’
What did Socrates, the famous ancient
Greek philosopher mean by this statement?
• To Socrates, living meant to be able to question the world around him
and that gives a person freedom. When a person examines oneself and
understand who he or she is, then the person can take control of his or
her life.
• Socrates believed that the asking questions to understand makes a
person’s life complete.
• He believed that the purpose of life was to grow both physically and
spiritually.
• Being able to explore and understand would lead to deeper
understanding of the world around us as well as a deeper
understanding of ourselves.
• Studying philosophy makes us think more clearly and more
deeply about a wide range of issues.
• It encourages us to analyse arguments and to come to a
conclusion ‘for’ or ‘against’ the argument.
• These are skills that are useful in daily life and applied to
disciplines such as law, management, journalism, education,
computer programming and others where clarity of thought is
essential.
• Studying philosophy encourages abstract thinking which is
the ability to understand what we cannot see, hear, feel, touch
or smell (using your five senses) and not directly tied to
concrete objects or experiences.
• For example, to understand what is ‘freedom’ we need to
engage in abstract thinking. In day-to-day life, most of us
engage in a blend of concrete and abstract thinking which is
important for a plural society like Malaysia.
• Studying philosophy teaches us to be aware that there are several ways to
understand the world and in particular current issues in Malaysia.
• Our daily lives are about navigating through a world of ideas.
• To listen to a politician’s speech, a critic’s analysis of a movie, or even your
friend’s business plans, is to be confronted with ideas and arguments.
• These ideas and arguments are meant to get you to see the world in a specific
way and thus influence your actions.
• Philosophy enables you to reason through these often convoluted and
complex ideas in a reasonable and logical manner, allowing you to consider a
topic independently of rhetoric and flash.
• Studying philosophy cultivates reflective thinking where we
learn to question the assumptions that underlie our thinking
and behaviour.
• Philosophy trains us to evaluate the claims based on reason
and analysis rather than unsupported beliefs and prejudice
which is important for a multicultural society like Malaysia.
Malaysian National Philosophy
of Education
INTRODUCTION

• It is an area that will be close to our heart because we have

spent a great deal of time in preschool, primary, secondary
school and now we are in college or university.
• Hence, it is worth examining this area to see if your experience
in school is aligned with what was stipulated in the Malaysian
philosophy of education. .
• The word education originates from the Latin word educare
which means to train and to mould.
• People interested in the philosophy of education are
concerned with the aims and objectives of education, i.e. the
kind of students desired.
• How are these aims and objectives translated in the subjects
taught, the teaching-learning activities employed in the
classroom and how students are assessed.
MALAYSIAN NATIONAL PHILOSOPHY OF
EDUCATION

Education in Malaysia is an on-going effort towards further

developing the potential of individuals in a holistic and integrated
manner, so as to produce individuals who are intellectually,
spiritually, emotionally and physically balanced and harmonious,
based on a firm belief in and devotion to God. Such an effort is
designed to produce Malaysian citizens who are knowledgeable
and competent, who possess high moral standards, and who are
responsible and capable of achieving high level of personal well-
being as well as being able to contribute to the harmony and
betterment of the family, the society and the nation at large.
• The Malaysian National Education Philosophy (or NEP) which
was officially introduced in 1988 by the Ministry of Education
Malaysia which was aligned with the Rukun Negara (which we
will discuss in more detail in Unit 6).
• The NEP was tailored in accordance with the needs of
individual citizens, family, society in the country as a whole.
The unity and betterment of its citizen was one of basic
consideration of NEP
Key Emphasis

Intellectual •focuses on the various subjects student learning and their understanding
Development of main concepts, principles and theories.

Emotional •refers to developing the ability to recognise one’s feeling, express and
manage feelings, to have empathy for the feelings of others and
Development inculcation of positive emotions.

•refers to the process by which students learn to interact with others around
Social Development them, gain skills to communicate with other people, the development of
friendship and the ability to handle conflicts with others.

Physical •is the growth and development of both the brain and body of students
Development and involves developing control of muscles and physical coordination.
Key Emphasis

Spiritual • a process by which students realise that besides

Development having a body and the mind, they also have a soul.

• having the knowledge, skills or experience to do

Competence something well enough to meet a basic standard.

• showing a clear understanding and insight of many

Knowledgeable different facts about the world or about a particular
subject.
A High Level Of Well-being

• in which students will be guided by their religious beliefs or

Strong Belief in God teachings

• refers to the rules that will guide the behaviour of students to be

High Moral Standards morally good

• refers to getting students to organise themselves, be punctual, can

Be Responsible be trusted, consistent, admit their mistakes and are self-disciplines.

Contribute to Betterment • refers to students making life better for someone else such as
parents, siblings, friends and the multicultural structure of Malaysian
of Family and Society society.
How the Philosophers’ Views on
Education?
Confucius
• believed that education should aim to produce citizens who are capable,
practice high moral values and accessible to all. He emphasised the need
for moral instruction based on the principles of benevolence (ren), filial
piety (xiao), frugality (jian), kindness (liang) and others.
• He suggested that the teaching of music, calligraphy, archery and
mathematics.
• He believed that a good teacher should be conscientious, committed to
his work, must have fully mastered the subject to be taught, must love his
students, understand their psychological peculiarities, use effective
teaching methods and develop the personality of students
How the Philosophers’ Views on
Education?

Al-Farabi
• believed that education should focus on producing the perfect human being (insan-al-
kamil) who has acquired both theoretical and practical virtues. Virtues is defined as states
of mind in which the human being carries out good and kind deeds such self-control,
courage, generosity and justice
• Al-Farabi proposed that schools should teach languages, logic, mathematics, science,
Islamic studies focusing on jurisprudence (fiqh), law (qanun) and theology (kalam) and
music.
• He emphasized that education should be available to all and the method of teaching
should be adapted according to the level of students.
• The ‘demonstrative’ method should be used for teaching acquisition of theoretical virtues
while the ‘persuasive’ method should be used for teaching practical or applied virtues
How the Philosophers’ Views on
Education?
Swami Vivekananda
• believed that education plays a vital role in curing the evils in society and it is critical
in shaping the future of humanity.
• He argued that “Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man”
which means that education should seek to bring out the potential of students which
is already in them.
• He wanted students to cultivate the habit of concentration and strong will power and
emphasized the teaching of religion, inculcation of moral values and character
building.
• Education should be accessible to women and the poor and emphasized the need
for technical and vocational education. The teacher should cultivate the spirit of
shraddha which is having faith in one’s own ability and being humble and respectful
RUKUN NEGARA
(NATIONAL PRINCIPLES)
• Rukun Negara considered at
the macro level Belief in God
• Malaysian National Loyalty to the King and Country
Philosophy of Education
Supremacy of the Constitution
considered at the micro level
The Rule of Law

Good Behavior and Morality

1- Belief in God

• Belief in God is a belief that possessed by all Malaysian that

come from various religions and beliefs.
• It can be considered as common denominator; mutual dot
between multi culture and multi ethnic society that come
different religious beliefs.
2- Loyalty to the King and Country

• Concept of nation-state
• Nation-state composed of own tradition and history which
include monarchical system
• The concept of loyalty is important to ensure the unity among
the Malaysian. The unity among the people is the basis of
loyalty to the YDPA as Constitutional Monarch as well as the
loyalty to the country.
3- Supremacy of the Constitution

• Constitution is a part of the component of nation-state.

• The supremacy of the Constitution will solve the dispute.
• Constitution is important to ensure the stability of the country.
• Constitution will cultivate the society that based on the law
and order.
4- The Rule of Law

• Constitution is the highest form of law

• No one is above or can against the law.
• Can ensure the harmony in the country through the existing
legal system.
5- Good Behavior and Morality

• More personal and related to relations between human.

• Ensure and maintain the harmonious relationship among
people through non-legal approach.
• This principle will produce Malaysian who is tolerant, have
good behavior and morality to the human beings and fellow
citizens.
 FALSAFAH SEJAHTERA
(PROSPEROUS PHILOSOPHY)
SEJAHTERA

• Sejahtera in the Malay language is not easily rendered into

other languages because of its comprehensive and multi-
layered meaning and nuances.
• It underscores that indigenous knowledge and wisdom have
had their own context of uniqueness and strength that is
relevant to the local community over the years.
• Although it is often cursorily translated as “wellbeing” or even
“prosperity”, its inherent meaning is much deeper than that
• In fact, it is “beyond prosperity and wellbeing”. It is human-centric
in that it spans the macrocosmic-microcosmic nexus.
• The latter because it relates humans to the external environment —
nature, fellow beings, including other species. And microcosmic
because it embraces the “self” and the inner (esoteric) dimensions,
including spiritual consciousness, and the Creator.
• Taken together it describes the status of sejahtera as a balanced
and harmonious way of life that is underpinned by the promotion
and preservation of life, intellect, lineage, wealth and faith as its
ultimate outcome.
1- continuous
2- comprehensive
3- integrated
 PROSPEROUS PHILOSOPHY

NATIONAL PHILOSOPHY

MALAYSIAN NATIONAL
EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY

PROSPEROUS PHILOSOPHY (FALSAFAH SEJAHTERA) IS A

MANIFESTATION OF MALAYSIAN NATIONAL
EDUCATION PHILOSOPHY