Philosophy in the Curriculum

7/29/2019 Philosophy in the Curriculum

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PHILOSOPHY IN THE

CURRICULUM Rationality in Science and in Science Classroom

Ernst Mach: Philosopher, Scientist and Educator

Thought Experiment







Rationality in Science and in Science

Classroom

Science represents, a sphere of rational

inquiry and rational appraisal of competing

beliefs; and that there are departures from

rational thinking in science, such

departures are criticized as regrettable

aberrations.



Science teaching introduces children into

a sphere of rational thought and debate

that has laudable “carryover” effects in the

rest of their studies and life.



If the adjudication of scientific dispute is

truly a matter of mob psychology, and if

scientific advances are just whatever a

community decrees them to be,

independently of its epistemic worth, then

the rationale for the inclusion of science inthe curriculum is greatly diminished .



Thomas Kuhn’s 1962 The Structu re of

Scient i f ic Revo lut ions , was interpreted as

saying that scientific transformations oftendepend us much on mob psychology and the

mortality of the aged as they do upon rational

persuasion, and that progress in science need

not be construed as advancement towards a

fixed goal of the truth about nature.



Edinburgh school of Sociologists of Science-

David Bloor, Barry Barnes, Steven Shapin,

Michael Mulkay and others- further criticizedrationalism in their externalist account of

scientific change, the so called “strong

program” in the sociology of knowledge.



French postmodernist philosophy,

particularly the work of Michel Foucault,

asserts that all systems of ideas were the

consequences of the distribution of power in

society, and that changes in ideas were notto be accounted for by epistemological factors,

but by sociological ones.



Knowledge is power to…. Power is knowledge



The role of elites in a scientific community,

their control over publication, the function of

rhetoric in scientific argument, the influencethat economic power and interest have in the

funding of research, and the determination of

which problems to investigate and which to

avoid.



Francis Bacon-

“The Idols of the Mind”

These were the various ways in

which the effort to understand the world can be thwarted:

By the inadequate language available to think and write in

By the corrosive effects of self-interest whereby people morereadily believe what they want to believe

By the direct exercise of social power wielded by dominant

groups.



Are such mechanisms, procedures or

influences desirable in science?



If power is knowledge, then the white ruling

class and the Communist Party certainly had

power, and consequently the operation of this

power must, by definition, result in knowledge.



Siegel defends rationality and the giving of

reasons as the hallmark of science education.

Eger, addresses the question of how such a

conception can allow for the role of

commitment, or faith, that has been so

important to the development of science.



Ernst Mach: Philosopher, Scientist and

Educator

Ernst Mach



Ernst Mach: Philosopher, Scientist and

Educator

Ernst Mach

• the first person to deal systematically with thecontribution that philosophy can make to

science education.• His contribution to science education has been

almost entirely ignored in the English-speakingworld

• The current trends in the practice and theory of science education are in many respectsrepeating Mach’s century old arguments.



It is Mach, the educationalist whom we must

bring to the attention of our readers,

particularly the younger ones, and not assomeone who has passed on, but as a man

who seed is destined to put down ever further

roots in physics. Teaching, and, with that, in all

teaching about real things, and to fructify the

whole spirit of this teaching.



Mach was one of the great philosophers-

scientists of the turn of the century. He was

fluent in most European languages, anenthusiast of Greek and Latin classics, a

physicist who made significant contribution to

such diverse fields as electricity, gas

dynamics, thermodynamics, etc



Mach’s contribution to philosophy was also

enormous, both through his influence on

philosophical scientists, and on professional

philosophers.



Mach’s Educational Contributions

Mach’s understanding of science and

philosophy bore upon his educational ideas.

He was influenced by the ideas of the German

philosopher-psychologist-educationalist

Johann Herbart.

• Physics for Medical Students



Psychology was a long-standing interest of

Mach’s.

At 15 years of age Mach had read Kant’s

Prologomena .

His teaching was the occasion to unite

pedagogical, psychological and scientific

concerns. The first of his many science textbooks for

school students, published in 1886, was widely

used and went through several editions.



These texts provided a logical and historical

introduction to science, they sought to present

students with the most naïve, simple, andclassical observations and thoughts from

which great scientists have built physics.



Mach did not write any systematic work on

educational theory or practices: his ideas are

scattered throughout his texts and journalarticles.

• On Instruction in the Classics and the Mathematico-

Physical Sciences.

• On Instrucion in Heat theory

• On the Psychological and Logical Moment in Scientific

Instruction



Mach had notable political involvement ineducational reform.

He addressed teacher organizations, spoke inthe Austrian Parliament on the need for schoolcurricular change, and was an active in thestruggles to transform the entrenched German

gymnasium pattern of separating languageand classics studies into separate schoolsfrom those for science and mathematics.



Well-founded curricular and pedagogical

proposals in school science are based upon

two foundations: views about nature andscope of science and views about the nature

and practice of education.

Other matters to be considered in drawing upcurricula – political, social and psychological.



But what one thinks, explicitly and implicitly

about the philosophy of science and about the

philosophy of education will largely determinethe form of the science curriculum.



His view of the nature of science are the

following:

• Scientific theory is an intellectual construction for economizing thought and thereby conjoining

experiences.

• Science is fallible; it does not provide absolute truths.

• Science is a historically conditioned intellectualactivity.

• Scientific theory can only be understood if its historical

development is understood.



Mach’s educational ideas are fairly simple, and

relatively uncontroversial:• Begin instruction with concrete materials and

thoroughly familiarizes students with the phenomenadiscussed.

• Aim for understanding and comprehension of the

subject matter.

• Teach a little, but teach it well.

• Follow the historical order of development of a subject.

• Tailor teaching to the intellectual level and capacity of

students.



• Address the philosophical questions that science

entails and which gave rise to science.

• Show that just as individual ideas can be improved, so

also scientific ideas have constantly been, and willcontinue to be, overhauled and improved.

• Engage the mind of the learner.



Mach firmly believed that abstractions in the

science classrooms should, as Hegel said of

philosophy, take flight only at dusk.

For him the principal aims of education were todevelop understanding, strengthen reason and

promote imagination.I know nothing more terrible than the poor creatures

who have learned too much. What they have acquired is

a spider’s web of thoughts too weak to furnish sure

support, but complicated enough to produce confusion.



Mach believed in presenting science

historically, or as he put it, teaching should

follow the genetic approach.



Thought Experiment

A special feature of Mach’s view of science

education was his advocacy of thought

experimentation. Experimenting in thought is important not only

for the professional inquirer, but also for

mental development as such; not only thestudent but the teacher gains immeasurably by

this method.



Each edition oh his Zeitscrift carried thought

experiments for his readers to perform.• What is expected to happen to a beaker of water in

equilibrium on a balance when a suspended mass islowered into it?

• What happens when a stoppered bottle with a fly on

its base is in equilibrium on a balance and then the fly

takes off?

* Theses are thought experiment of an anticipatory type.



• Newton’s bucket experiment

• Galileo’s well through the center of the earth.

• * These are some thought experiment of non-

anticipatory type.



Mach encouraged such exercises, believing

that the exercises of imagination and creativitywas another way of bridging the gap between

humanities and science.

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Philosophy in the Curriculum