Most art teachers are puzzled about what educational philosophy is and why it is needed. On the one hand, they feel that they should be able to articulate a guiding philosophy for what they do in the classroom. But just as typically, they perceive philosophy to be "a difficult study of obscure subjects," remote from their practical concerns as educators. In this article, the author attempts to explain one major approach to educational philosophy, normative philosophy, and how it functions in current thinking about art education. In doing so, he hopes to show that philosophical thinking is at the very heart of intelligent and thoughtful art education practice.