Philosophy class

The philosophy teaching is the teaching and learning of philosophy . It is the state of investigation of the didactics of philosophy .

history

Philosophy has been taught since the beginning of philosophy in ancient times . In the ancient times also arise for the first time different philosophical schools, u. a. the Platonic Academy . In the Middle Ages philosophy was taught in monastery schools. Since the introduction of the modern grammar school in German-speaking countries in the 19th century, philosophy has also been taught at the grammar school.

Teaching paradigms

The French didactic specialist Michel Tozzi distinguishes five teaching paradigms based on an empirical study:

• Dogmatic-ideological: The purpose of the lesson is to convey an ideology .
• Historical-patrimonial: The purpose of the class is to convey the history of philosophy .
• Problem-oriented: The purpose of the class is to develop one's own philosophical thinking .
• Democratic-discussing: The purpose of the lesson is to educate the responsible citizen.
• Praxeological-ethical: The purpose of the lesson is to act according to certain values .

Philosophy as a school subject

Germany

In various federal states in Germany, philosophy is a subject in grammar schools that can be chosen as a basic or advanced course. In many federal states, the substitute subject for religious education is also called “philosophy” (see ethics classes in Germany ). Separate from this is the compulsory elective subject philosophy, which is given in the Saarland in the GOS in addition to general ethics (counterpart to the above-mentioned substitute subject philosophy), which deals with the history of philosophy and philosophy education.

Austria

In Austria, grammar school philosophy classes have a long tradition that goes back to 1849. Initially it is referred to as "philosophical propaedeutics" and later as "philosophical introductory lessons". Today it is part of the subject “Psychology and Philosophy” and is taught in the 8th grade, but psychology and philosophy are not taught in every school.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, teaching philosophy has a long tradition, especially in the Catholic and French-speaking cantons. Since the Matura reform in 1994, philosophy has been a compulsory basic subject in some cantons, in other cantons it is part of the focus subject Philosophy / Psychology / Education and a supplementary subject .

France

In France, teaching in the upper level (the Lycée ) also includes compulsory teaching in philosophy. Around half a million high school graduates take a final examination in philosophy every year.

Ethics as a school subject

Germany

→ Main article : Ethics education in Germany

In the 1970s, a substitute subject for religious education was introduced in Germany . In most federal states, philosophy or ethics lessons in lower secondary level serve as a substitute for religion , while philosophy is sometimes offered as a compulsory elective in secondary level. “Philosophy lessons are basically defined as analytical-reflexive lessons, ethics lessons, on the other hand, take more into account the affective and social components. […] The discourse and the orientation function aimed at by the teaching [play] a central role in all conceptions. ”Ethics is a sub-discipline of philosophy. In German schools there are subjects under the names "Philosophy", " Practical Philosophy ", "Ethics", " Values ​​and Norms " and " Lifestyle - Ethics - Religious Studies ". In the concepts of the curricula for philosophy or ethics classes in the various federal states, different priorities are sometimes set. Exactly how the philosophy or ethics class is called depends on the respective federal state.

Ethics (practical philosophy, values ​​and norms, ...) as a subject was introduced politically, partly as a compulsory subject. In fact, there are no classes in this subject at many schools or at many levels. If lessons are given, it is often by non-specialist teachers. This leads to a marginalization of the subject as a purely substitute subject that anyone interested can teach - e.g. B. the situation of ethics teaching in Bavaria.

The French philosopher Raphaël Enthoven has the fact that in a country with such a great tradition of philosophical thinkers like Germany, philosophy lessons in most federal states is only an optional or substitute subject for religion, as “completely crazy”, “absurd” and “shocking” " designated. While in France every student has to deal with the thoughts of central philosophers, it can happen in Germany, a motherland of the Enlightenment, that a student passes the Abitur without ever having read a philosophical text by Kant, Nietzsche or Marx.

Austria

→ Main article : Ethics education in Austria

In Austria, too, there is a subject ethics as a substitute for religious education.

Philosophizing with children

→ Main article : Philosophizing with children

Philosophizing with children is the teaching of argumentative skills with regard to philosophizing. In one federal state, philosophizing with children is a school subject: In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, philosophizing with children or philosophy (in upper secondary level) is taught as a substitute subject for religion from the first grade onwards. This school subject tries to combine philosophical with teaching methods, so that “teacher and pupil form a research community”. The topics and methods should “do justice to the level of experience and understanding of the students as well as the philosophical approaches developed in the past and present”. The main aim of the philosophy class is to make students think. The main focus is on action-related thinking, the four Kantian questions:

• What can i know - ( epistemology )
• What should I do? - ( ethics )
• What can I hope for? - ( philosophy of religion )
• what is the human? - ( anthropology )

literature

• Eduard Fey (Ed.): Contributions to teaching philosophy in European countries . Munster 1978.
• Jürgen Hengelbrock: Lenseignement de la philosophie en Europe: périmé ou indespensable . In: La philosophie en Europe . Paris 1993, pp. 671-761.
• Jürgen Hengelbrock: Alternative subjects to religious instruction in schools in the Federal Republic of Germany . In: Jörg-Dieter Gauger (Ed.): Conveying meaning, orientation, values ​​education . Sankt Augustin 1998, pp. 61-120.
• Jonas Pfister: Subject Didactics Philosophy . Haupt / UTB, 2010.
• Anne Schippling: Reason in the course of education . A qualitative study of European philosophy teaching using Portugal as an example. Studies on Educational Research, Vol. 22. B. Budrich, Opladen u. a. 2008, ISBN 978-3-86649-171-7 .
• Ingrid Stiegler: Philosophy and Pedagogy. The path of philosophy to the high school subject . Duisburg 1986.
• Peter Vogel: The History of Grammar School Philosophy Lessons in Germany: Comments on the State of Research . In: Journal for Philosophy Didactics , 1980.
• Peter Vogel, Ingrid Stiegler: Bibliographical handbook for teaching philosophy . Duisburg, 1980.

Web links

• In other European countries philosophy is of course part of the school canon - just not in the country that produced a large number of famous philosophers . In: FAZ , 2013

Individual evidence

1. ^ Jonas Pfister: Subject Didactics Philosophy . Haupt / UTB, 2010, pp. 119–128.
2. ^ Jonas Pfister: Subject Didactics Philosophy . Haupt / UTB, 2010, pp. 135-137.
3. ↑ Very questionable. FAZ, April 21, 2013, accessed on May 6, 2017 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Anita Rösch: Competence orientation in philosophy and ethics lessons. Development of a competence model for the subject group Philosophy, Practical Philosophy, Ethics, Values ​​and Norms, LER . Lit Verlag, Vienna / Zurich 2009, p. 23 f.
5. ↑ Anita Rösch: Competence Orientation in Philosophy and Ethics Lessons. Development of a competence model for the subject group Philosophy, Practical Philosophy, Ethics, Values ​​and Norms, LER . Lit Verlag, Vienna / Zurich 2009, p. 97.
6. ↑ Philosophy class Very questionable . In: faz.net
7. ↑ Martina Scherf: Ethics - the Bavarian disaster subject . In: sueddeutsche.de . 2012, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on March 11, 2018]).
8. ↑ Philosopher Raphaël Enthoven - "I have pity on you Germans" . In: Cicero Online . ( cicero.de [accessed on March 11, 2018]).
9. ↑ Framework curriculum, philosophizing with children, grades 7–10  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , ed. Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Trial Version 2002, p. 13 f.