KNOWLEDGE ISSUES OF EDUCATION

Specific Foundation

General Foundation

By the end of the course, students will be expected to •understand the basic forms of consciousness and their specific participation in the cognitive process •know the main stages of cognitive process and some typical problems encountered in it •be able to move from empirical to theoretical thinking •develop dialectical thinking skills

1. THE BIOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS Consciousness as a form of psyche. The biological substrate of consciousness. Consciousness and labour. The relationship between theory and action. Idealist and materialist interpretations of consciousness. The development of consciousness in human history. 2. SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS AND ITS FORMS To know and to conscientize. The practical form of consciousness (politics, law, ethics). The aesthetic form of consciousness. Art and its pedagogical dimension. Religion as a form of consciousness. The philosophical form of consciousness. 3. CONSCIOUSNESS AND PERSONALITY Consciousness and self-consciousness. The unconscious aspects of human psyche. The cognitive and emancipatory dimensions of imagination. 4. LANGUAGE AND CONSCIOUSNESS Language and symbolic - generalizing thinking. Language as the universal form of communication. Language and labour activity. 5. THE EVERYDAY EMPIRICAL CONSCIOUSNESS Experience as knowledge. The cognitive limitations of experience. Experience and mass feelings. Everyday consciousness and dominant ideology. Everyday consciousness and educational purposes. 6. THE EVERYDAY EMPIRICAL CONSCIOUSNESS The inverted forms of consciousness. The phenomenon of fetishisation of social relations. The ideas of “human value” and “natural gifts”. Dogmatism as an element of everyday consciousness. The social and cognitive conditions of overcoming everyday consciousness. 7.THE KNOWLEDGE The concept of knowledge. The subject and object of knowledge. The theory of agnosticism. Kinds of knowledge. Science as advanced knowledge. The cultural and social significance of the relationship between the sciences of nature and the humanities. 8. THE PROCESS OF KNOWLEDGE Sensual knowledge. Feelings, perceptions, presentations. The unity of sensual knowledge and intellectual ability. From sensual knowledge to conceptual thinking. (Concepts, judgments, syllogisms). 9. STAGES OF KNOWLEDGE: INTELLECT AND REASON The place of intellect and reason in the cognitive process. The cognitive significance of the distinction between phenomena and essence. The dialectical thought. 10. THE ASCENDING OF MIND FROM THE ABSTRACT TO THE CONCRETE The distinction between abstract and concrete thinking. The movement of mind from sensual data to abstract concepts. The ascending of mind from abstract concepts to a concrete system of concepts. 11. TRUTH AND FALLACY Truth and fallacy as moments of the cognitive process. Relative truth, fallacy, absolute truth. Criteria of truth. The issue of verifying the acquired knowledge. 12. KNOWLEDGE AND IDEOLOGY Theories about ideology. Ideology and social contradictions. Ideology and science. The issue of irrationalism. 13. KNOWLEDGE AND IDEOLOGY Knowledge and authority. Dogmatic thought. The problem of dogmatic indoctrination and intellectual manipulation. The dominant ideology within the educational system: contradictions and possibilities. 14. CRITICAL THOUGHT Critical thinking in the history of philosophical ideas. Cultivating critical thinking as a purpose of education. The specific characteristics of critical ability

consciousness, knowledge, ideology, education

17-02-2024