Necessity for Precision in Meaning

This necessity for precision in meaning is especially apparent in the field of educational philosophy, or "philosophy about education." As Cornel M. Hamm demonstrates in his Philosophical Issues in Education: An Introduction, "questions of meaning are always logically prior to questions of truth." The author precedes later chapters on what we mean by "teaching," "learning," and "education," with convincing arguments on the need for clarity and vigilance in any philosophic endeavor. The philosopher must carefully avoid the errors of logical argument resulting from imprecise or ambiguous language.

If we examine a question relevant to educational philosophy, "What conditions must be met before one can describe an activity as a teaching activity," we must first define our terms. It will not be enough to simply consult a dictionary. As Hamm points out in the first chapter of his introductory text,

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udents." Here we can see that these acts of encouragement to students are not necessary to the "task" of teaching, in that limited sense. Students may learn better by such encouragement, but Hamm would argue that if subject-matter has been adequately displayed so as to insure intentionality, then teaching as an activity has, in fact, occurred. The third condition for teaching, according to Hamm, is what he calls the "readiness" condition and refers to the learner's cognitive state. To combine both the second and third conditions for teaching is to reach the conclusion that "teaching is an act of appropriately displaying some subject-matter with the intent that someone learn it." Here the keyword is "appropriately." After the teacher assesses the cognitive state of the learner, it will then be possible to teach at some acceptable level. Hamm notes that this "points to the wisdom of the old adage that a good teacher places the subject within the grasp of the student but makes him stand on tiptoes to get it." It appears that the above three conditions still presuppose that the learner has some intent to learn at some appropriate level. In case the learner is in no way participatory, it likewise appears that in no way can Ham
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Approximate Word count = 3381
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page)

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