ERIC Number: EJ685771
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Nov
Pages: 12
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0013-2004
EISSN: N/A
Plurealism and Education: Israel Scheffler's Synthesis and its Presumable Educational Implications
Holma, Katariina
Educational Theory, v54 n4 p419-430 Nov 2004
Israel Scheffler, one of the most important figures in the history of philosophy of education in the United States, has recently introduced an interesting idea in terms of the long-standing debate between constructivism and realism. Scheffler's idea has its roots in his debate with Nelson Goodman, his Harvard colleague, who defended thoroughgoing constructivism and pluralism (a fusion he termed irrealism). Scheffler describes his plurealism as a synthesis of Peircean monistic realism and Goodmanian pluralist irrealism. This article elaborates the possible educational implications of all three of these positions: constructivism, realism, and plurealism. Scheffler's idea of plurealism is educationally rewarding since it preserves Goodmanian pluralism without slipping into his voluntarism or relativism. In educational terms, plurealism implies, first, the value of different ways to both see and describe the world and, second, the independent importance of different realms of science as well as other areas of human understanding. As a version of realism, it indicates that we can evaluate and improve our understanding of reality.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Realism, Constructivism (Learning), Cultural Context, Educational Philosophy
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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