PHIL 115Philosophy and Education

3 credits · Philosophy · Penn State

This course surveys the core philosophical questions that arise when thinking about education and teaching: What ought people to learn? How are instruction and experience related? What counts as knowledge and truth? How do we discover the human nature that underlies our educational theories? What are the moral implications of leading young people out of innocence or ignorance? What is there to education beyond classrooms, schooling, and reading? How much education ought a society to require or expect of its population? How important is intellectual and moral maturity? The course also considers the historical contexts from which philosophical theories about education have arisen and their ideological, political, social, and economic implications.