Connections to Adult Learning

Connections to Adult Education
January 23, 2022
Worldview Foundations
Reflection
The revision process involved several changes to the paper that incorporated the instructor’s feedback into the revised version. The following bulleted list enumerates the specific changes that were made to the paper:
Integration of Instructor Feedback
* A brief overview of the nature of monistic and dualistic/pluralistic as the three primary philosophic views on reality was included. This section aimed at answering the question: What are the fundamental components of each type of worldview?
* A synopsis of how holding a monistic or dualistic/pluralistic worldview influences my personal teaching practice was added: each philosophical view was discussed in relation to how it influences instructional policies.
* A clear contrast of monistic and dualistic/pluralistic worldviews was included.
* Appropriate titles as well as subtitles were added throughout the paper for easy reading.
Revision of Writing Mechanics
* The body paragraphs were developed to include a topic sentence (introducing the point to be covered in the paragraph), the argument in question, sufficient evidence to support the argument, and a conclusion (a brief summary of the points made in the paragraph).
* The sections were improved upon to clarify what the body paragraphs were covering according to rubric criteria.
Revision of Thesis and Argument
* An introduction containing the thesis statement was added: the purpose statement was introduced with the statement, “The purpose of this paper is ….” The thesis statement was then identified by saying, “The Thesis Statement of this paper is…”
* A conclusion section summarizing the content of the essay was also included. The content covered in previous paragraphs and sections concerning monistic, dualistic, and pluralistic perspectives, over and above, their influence on teaching practices, was presented briefly and concisely. The conclusion also included the thesis statement to reiterate the essay’s main point.
Introduction
Conceptions of reality date back to the Greek notions of the ultimate essence of reality. Even though the Greek conceptions of reality differ from contemporary Western ideas about the mind and mental phenomena, they laid critical ontological frameworks for philosophical and scientific speculation. The three main views employed in the philosophy of reality are monism, dualism, and pluralism. Monistic idealism maintains that there is only one reality and that either mental substance or physical substance constitutes the only entity in the universe. On the other hand, dualism posits that reality comprises two basic kinds of substance: mental and physical. Dualists hold that no single substance can explain both mental and physical phenomena, and therefore, both mental and physical substances are the only entities in the universe. Conversely, pluralism maintains that there are diverse ultimate principles and that various states, sources of authority, or principles coexist in the universe.
Thesis Development and Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the three worldviews and examine how each one of them influences teaching practice. Holding a monistic, dualistic, or pluralistic worldview is bound to underlie cause of practice and an educator’s philosophy of education, administration policies, and school organization. The thesis statement of this paper is: The three philosophical theories of reality, along with the four branches of philosophy (epistemology, axiology, and metaphysics), over and above, anthropology, possess educational value in that they serve as a guide to further instructional inquiry.
Monism
Monism refers to the metaphysical and theological view that all reality is one and indivisible. It is used to refer to all philosophical positions that posit that all is one and that this one thing has no fundamental divisions. The term was first used by the German philosopher Christian von Wolff to refer to all theoretical views that assert that everything is either idealism or materialism to disrepute the division of mind and body. However, not all monistic perspectives hold to the strict idea of one reality but tend to acknowledge that their monasticism is founded on how the rational element is characterized in the unity to be attained (Guardiano, 2017). For this reason, monism as a worldview is split into several primary types: idealistic monism, materialistic monism, and neutral monism. Idealistic monism holds that the mind is the only existing substance and that the outside world is nothing but an illusion. Consequently, there is just one unending and unchanging reality, which is often labeled as God or “the One.” Therefore, monism can take the form of idealistic monism, materialistic monism, or neutral monism.
Materialistic monism and neutral monism differ from idealistic monism in marked ways. For instance, materialistic monism maintains that matter is the only reality, irrespective of how many units constitute it. This camp posits that the mind can be reduced to the physical, which is the only real thing. Conversely, neutral monism holds that one kind of primal substance, neither physical nor mental, constitutes reality, although it may possess physical and mental characteristics. Both mind and matter are properties of this neutral substance that can be taken to be nature or God. On the other hand, reflexive monism maintains that reality is composed of one substance that can take both physical and abstract forms (Schaffer, 2018). The latter is often taken to refer to a conscious experience that can perceive the rest of the universe as well as itself. Consequently, as a worldview, monism can be interpreted to mean only one reality where all diversity is an illusion or one reality consisting of various distinct entities or only one substance and being.
Dualism
Dualism is a philosophical position that tries to explain reality using two contradictory but irreducible principles: the worldview holds that two central types of things are more or less equal but independent. Rather than perceiving reality as one fundamental thing, dualists take it to constitute two forces that balance each other. Dualists stress the radical difference between mind and matter. However, there are several dualistic arguments: for instance, some dualists insist that the mind is distinct from the brain while others consider the mind to be the consequence of the brain. Substance dualists maintain that the mind and the body constitute diverse matters. While the mind is a thinking organ, it lacks the typical characteristics of physical objects such as size, motion, location, shape, and solidity, and it does not follow the laws of physics (Robinson, 2020). The mind, therefore, occupies a separate “realm” of existence outside the physical world. On the other hand, interactionists hold that mind and body balance one another: mental phenomena such as desires or beliefs can result in material effects, and vice versa. Therefore, dualism can be contrasted as a metaphysical or epistemological construct, although more than one form of dualism can be applied simultaneously.
There are similarities as well as differences between different forms of dualism. For instance, occasionalists and parallelists are interested in conserving the veracity of physical science and therefore refuse to assign any apparent interaction between mind and body to God. However, occasionalists believe that there is no material foundation for communication between the material and immaterial and communications between the two are the result of God’s intervention in each instance. Conversely, parallelists hold that physical causes can only result in physical effects while mental causes can only result in mental effects according to a pre-determined manner established by God, which makes it seem as if physical and mental events produce and are produced by each other. On the other hand, epiphenomenalists posit that bodily events tend to result in mental events and deny the reverse to be true. Physical events can cause both physical and mental events. However, the latter cannot result in anything since they are essentially inert derivatives of physical events happening in the material sphere of the brain (Dika, 2020). Suppose epiphenomenalists refuse to accept the common place idea that we act for reasons to preserve the law of energy conservation. In that case, property dualists maintain that mental states are complicated characteristics of brain states. They consider mental circumstances such as consciousness to be non-physical characteristics of physical things. Although there are other forms of dualism, such as predicate dualism and epistemological dualism, the primary ones are the ones highlighted above.
Pluralism
Pluralism is another philosophical worldview that differs from monism and dualism. It postulates that reality entails many disparate things: the worldview posits a profligate ontological diversity of nature itself, each worthy of consideration. It assumes that reality can only be comprehended as an interplay of contradictory and competing positions that are impossible to reduce to one another or one institutional arrangement. The worldview can be taken to suggest that reality is established by the observer so that each inquirer has his or her own reality. It can also be assumed to mean that even if there is one reality, there are different ways of perceiving it and that these competing perspectives avail partial access to it. Consequently, people do not experience the same world but their own reality or different perceptions of a single reality (Ganeri, 2019). Although multiple explanatory systems or perceptions of reality exist, pluralism is often rendered as a political, cultural, or philosophical position. However, each rendering takes the empirical notion of irreducible diversity at the very least.
Still, each of these renderings differs from one another in noticeable ways. For instance, cultural pluralism denotes the fact that cultures represent diverse values, beliefs, and practices, resulting in ethical diversity. This heterogeneity in values, beliefs, and practices may or may not yield a philosophical position about the essence of values or how people experience them. On the other hand, political pluralism focuses on the structural and institutional ideation of multiple individual and group aims. Theorists dispute the independence and unity of the state by citing empirical and philosophical views about the differences in values between state and private groups. Conversely, philosophical pluralism goes further than asserting political or cultural variety to a philosophical view about the nature of values and the awareness people have of them (Linding & Wright, 2012). Theorists posit that cultural, political, and moral diversity is an enduring and inevitable consequence of the historical and political ideation of human experience as well as the nature of the values that constitute it. Therefore, social diversity is explained using either value pluralism (the plurality and incomplete nature of values) or radical pluralism (the structured, political, and historical sense of people’s identity and experience). Therefore, the three primary renditions of pluralism are cultural, political, and philosophical.
The Contrast of Monistic, Dualistic, and Pluralistic Worldviews
The difference between monism, dualism, and pluralism relates to how each worldview perceives reality. Monism recognizes just one reality or Supreme Being and denies any existence of duality or plurality in some sphere, particularly between mind and matter. This one reality is indivisible in that the substance that constitutes it has no fundamental divisions. On the other hand, duality regards reality as a domain consisting of two independent spheres or dichotomous principles. Dualists hold that the universe consists of two opposing but balancing powers. Reality is not one fundamental substance but two central types of things that are more or less equal but independent. Conversely, pluralism maintains a plurality of principle and that the diverse states, sources of authority, or values coexist together, each worthy of consideration. Pluralists believe that reality can only be comprehended as an interplay of contradictory and competing positions that are impossible to reduce to one another or one institutional arrangement. On the whole, monism posits that reality can be conveyed in unitary terms. Dualism posits that reality constitutes two primitive principles that are contrary to one another but relatively equal. At the same time, pluralism affirms that reality is a systematic whole of disparate principles.
Synopsis
An educator’s worldview is bound to reflect on their educational practices. For instance, an educator who subscribes to monism will strive for unity in his or her teaching and teach in either a rationalistic or deterministic manner. On the other hand, the dualistic educator will be idealistic and materialistic or empirical and rationalistic but never one thing or even pragmatic. There will always be a dichotomy between curriculum and student, effort and interest, or thought and action. Conversely, the pluralistic teacher will be democratic and employ diverse instructi...