HUMAN PERSON AND THE METAPHYSICS OF EDUCATION

Abstract

The nature of the human person as a subject of lived experience and as an indispensable agent of rational knowledge presents to the society the necessity to duly and reasonably educate the individual in order to have proper knowledge of the whole existence. With metaphysics as the Theory of Reality the human society understand that the conceptualization of knowledge is indispensably dependable on the knowledge of the human person, beyond the power of physical/sensible perceptibility. As such, the idea of metaphysics makes the education of the human person very concrete, robust, holistic and integral in understanding the workability of nature, due to the power of the human mind. Adopting phenomenological method of analysis in assessing the implications of metaphysics as a Theory of Reality in education, the paper concludes that the societal integration of the metaphysical imports of education will concretize the realization of integral human development and engineer proper advancement of the society

Headnote

Abstract: The nature of the human person as a subject of lived experience and as an indispensable agent of rational knowledge presents to the society the necessity to duly and reasonably educate the individual in order to have proper knowledge of the whole existence. With metaphysics as the Theory of Reality the human society understand that the conceptualization of knowledge is indispensably dependable on the knowledge of the human person, beyond the power of physical/sensible perceptibility. As such, the idea of metaphysics makes the education of the human person very concrete, robust, holistic and integral in understanding the workability of nature, due to the power of the human mind. Adopting phenomenological method of analysis in assessing the implications of metaphysics as a Theory of Reality in education, the paper concludes that the societal integration of the metaphysical imports of education will concretize the realization of integral human development and engineer proper advancement of the society

Keywords: Education, Human Person, Metaphysic, Knowledge, Integral Human Development

Introduction

The aspect of knowledge in philosophy of education or educational philosophy interests itself with the value of metaphysics, popularly referred to as: Theory of Reality. With this classification of metaphysics as the theory of reality, we derived the indispensable placement of education, for what is realistic is what can be educated or being educated as knowledge. As the study of reality, it becomes education itself. Here, we situate it in the development of the human persons through education of the minds. It equally assesses its implications in the education of students as persons whose socialization, civilization and innovations are driven by the effects of the lived-experiences. Metaphysics as a branch of philosophy is directed to seek the truth inherent in realities.1 It is about making the fullness of reality to humanities, and through such truth discovered, the human person as subject of knowledge develops the world in accordance with his or her worthiness and rights invested by human persons themselves existentially.2

Such understanding of the human person posits that, it is in seeking the nature of reality that knowledge of the world is developed and obtained. The nature of reality is known because it is experiential, and to metaphysics, every reality can be known as such reality can be perceived sensationally, rationalized or idealized. The theory of reality as mode of knowledge posits that, it is by understanding the philosophical conceptualization of realities as metaphysical and existential entities that the human persons as subjects of knowledge are greatly and fully understood, especially in reference to the development of the human society through educational pedagogies, creativities and innovations, as products of human intelligibility and rationality.

Linking the valuation of integral human development with the metaphysical interplay of faith and reason, through ontological and existential capacity and capability of the human mind, John Paul II asserts that; "metaphysics should not be seen as an alternative to anthropology, since it is metaphysics which makes it possible to ground the concept of personal dignity in virtue of their spiritual nature." With the spiritual capacity and capability of the human mind, the sociological imports of development are hinged on the valuation of the individual as a subject of creativity and innovation. In a special way, the person constitutes a privileged locus for the encounter with being, and hence with metaphysical enquiry.3

Such mental passage of learning directs us to explain the meaning and societal conception of metaphysics as a core branch of philosophy for the development of intellectual minds of learners, with special reference to its applications and consideration in education of the minds.4 It situates education within the societal workability of philosophy as a discipline which help the individual as a teacher and learner in making good use of mental (spiritual and moral) capabilities.5 It recognizes that ideas can be developed or generated from every perceived or idealized reality, and this allows the individual to assess the contents of knowledge and wisdom beyond one's professed discipline of specialty. Metaphysics is about the truth of life and of the valuation of living, which education is to always expatiate it in bringing out the ingenuity in human creativity and innovation.

Understanding Education

From the valuation of human lived experiences, we understand that there are many sides of the meaning of education. They depend on its values at a particular time and situation. They also depend on the interest groups that are concerned. The belief in the universal benefit of education is entrenched in almost all cultures of the world. Education is taken as the bringer of light and all the ideals that make our earthly existence less cumbersome.6 But the central point is that it is about the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. It is about the development of the human person. Philosophically, the term 'education' has been defined and described in various ways; all of which cannot be correct. We often speak of the person as having received his education from a certain school. In this sense, education is equated with schooling or what goes on in the school.

Etymologically, the word 'education' is derived from the Latin word 'educere' which means 'to lead out from' or 'bring out from'. This ideal implies the liberation of the individual who is been educated from the shackles of ignorance and illiteracy and acquitting such person with some forms of knowledge.7 Education is not limited to what is mainly done in an academic institution or a formal gathering. It also involves the whole process of transmission of intellectual, cultural, moral, religious and social values from an individual to another or a group of individuals for continuity and proper ordering of the society. This is on the conception from another school of thought which holds education is derived from the Latin word "educare" which means "to form" or "to train". They believe that the child's or learner's mind is a "tabula rasa". In other words, when a child is born, the mind is like a blank or erased slate on which to write. It is the sensation which comes from external objects that put impressions on the mind and give it pieces of information and knowledge.8 Hence, education involves the training of individuals in order to acquire a particular skill or skills and also the formation and development of moral character and mental power.

Hence, the whole aspect of education is centred towards the formation of the human person in order to make such person or persons capable of utilizing their entire resources for the good of the society to which they belong. Education is mainly divided into formal and informal education. This definition of education further connotes that individuals must be exposed to all forms of knowledge which are expressed through various school subjects. Education is about the all-round development or formation of the individuals, and in extension, to the development of the society which they belong.

Metaphysics as the Theory of Reality

The word "Metaphysics" is believed to have Greek origin in about 70 BC with the Greek philosopher, Andronicus of Rhodes when he was editing the works of Aristotle.9 Etymologically, the term metaphysics is derived from the Aristotelian philosophic expression: "after the things of nature" (subsequent to physics). The two Greek words that form the word "metaphysics" are "meta" (after) and "phusis" (physics or nature). Aristotle called it the "First Philosophy," and as the study of being qua being. It takes God as the Ultimate Reality that be studied. Metaphysics is usually based on the perspective of philosophers. It is identified to be a philosophical method that regards phenomena as unchanging. The object of metaphysics is to determine the actual natures of realities, material and spiritual, mundane and divine. Amongst those championed metaphysics as a branch of philosophy are: Plato, Aristotle, Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas, G. E. Moore, W. T. Stace, George Berkeley and John Paul II.

Through the social placement of metaphysics as a Theory of Reality, we understand that, human person with his or her conscious valuation of his or her life is at the centre of reality-of history. The manifestation of being is generally reckoned in time and space, and that the existential or cosmological events of the past; whether properly recorded or not, are factual, time-bound, and are irreversibly cast on the sands of time.10 Such mental-developmental consciousness directs the nature of history, especially through human creativity and innovation. With metaphysics in the education of the human person, we understand that the possibility of the realization of integral human development is beyond the contents of thinking or reasoning, but on the values of the human person who does the thinking and reasoning.

With the considerations of the peculiarity of culture for human sense of values and dignity, John Paul II speculates that placement of integral human development is within the harmonization of faith and reason in pursuance of true knowledge, and that; "every people have its own native and seminal wisdom which, as a true cultural treasure, tends to find voice and develop in forms which are genuinely philosophical. One example of this is the basic form of philosophical knowledge which is evident to this day in the postulates which inspire national and international legal systems in regulating the life of society."11 Proper knowledge of any society in developing its native and seminal wisdom and philosophical tradition cannot be devoid of its cultural and metaphysical imports in understanding nature. Through ontological and culture consciousness of the human persons, the human society understands that, metaphysics as the Theory of Reality is concerned on the knowledge of realities through free exercises of the human minds as seats of rationality and intelligibility. With freedom from education, societal issues in relation to integral human development are greatly understood. Education is a process of selfrealization which aims at reformation of the human minds.

Metaphysics as a Theory of Reality develops the capacity and capability of the human person to speculate and assess the nature of realities beyond their sensory perceptibility. According to Uduigwomen and Jeje, as a mode of development of the human mind, "metaphysics aspires to bring to our knowledge 'what there is' in the world or to determine the 'real world' of things, since things, as they present themselves to us, must be investigated to enable us to comes into contacts with the real nature (knowledge) of things, which in most cases, if not all the time, transcend appearance.12 As a mode of education, it helps the human minds to assess in the connectedness and interrelatedness of the ontological and cosmological natures of realities and directs the possibilities of and in sustaining the values.

Metaphysics is the philosophical science that studies the ultimate causes and first principles of all things (or all reality). It studies the ultimate causes of things (the four causes, namely material causality, formal causality, efficient or agent causality and final causality, as well as the First Cause of all things, namely, God). Metaphysics also studies first principles, like the principles of non-contradiction; excluded middle; sufficient reason, and Identity.13 Metaphysics is popularly defined as the science of being as being. What is metaphysics' material object and formal object? Its material object (that is, its subject matter) is being, that is, all reality. Its formal object (or the particular point of view or aspect in which the subject matter is studied) is being as being (ens in quantum est ens). Hence, it remains a speculative science of realities. It has absolute value of the knowledge of reality, especially those realities that are beyond human physical perceptions.14 With metaphysics, the spirit, angels, God, gods, ideas, the dead, and the likes, are regarded as real things, simply based on the projections of the human minds beyond the world of experiences. It renders secure the ultimate foundation of all science. It is the task of metaphysics to examine all absolute principles. The norms of life ultimately depend upon metaphysical principles.

Methodologically, metaphysics explores both induction and deduction. It does not implore deduction exclusively nor induction exclusively, though induction is used principally, as a method at arriving at knowledge, it adopts the elements of inductive and deductive methods of enquiry. With such methodology of epistemic enquiry, metaphysics asks questions like: What is reality? Does God or devil exist, and if so, is there any evidence of such existence? What is evil? What is the true nature of the human person? Are human actions free, or are the human persons determined or being controlled by external forces? What is the meaning of life? Is there life after death? Hence, as a system or mode of knowledge and for the development of the human person, metaphysics answers the above questions and others alike by placing primacy of importance on the inseparable unity of the material and spiritual natures of reality (for this, we have idealistic and Materialist Metaphysics). With this conviction, idealism is regarded as a metaphysical view that reality is mental and solely depends on the capacity and capability of the human mind. The human mind becomes the seat of enquiry and knowledge, for the mind and spiritual values are fundamental in the world of experience as a whole.

Human Person and the Existential Perceptions of Development

To assess the metaphysical disposition of the human person, the psychological classifications of the individual need to be put into perspectives, and these perspectives of it did not escape his or her existentialists' conceptions of development. These perspectives as perceptions centred on how the human person as a subject of lived experiences and as an agent of development has been able to express his or her dilemmatic beingness, that is, the values of his or her own existence within his or her intelligibility, rationality, choice-making, freedom, freewill, authenticity. More surely, with these psychological observations, humanity looks for the conclusive analysis to justify its existence as a 'special animal' in creation, and then seeks peace and justice in development.

There are many socio-psychological and existential classifications or conceptions15 that show the complexity of the nature of the human person, a being capable of many things and functionalities, In all, with existentialist mindset, but, on the negation of its existence and possibilities of essential exaction, Olajide asserts that; "there is no necessity to his or her existence, no law of logic or that of physics that insist that he or she must be. He or she is therefore like his or her choices and values contingent, unnecessary and accidental. His or her existence is superfluous."16 And that, all these qualities exemplify the complex nature of humanity that cannot be fully defined, the composition of body and spirit that are in unity for its wellbeing, in controlling the contents of its desires, interests and dispositions. But contemporarily, for the sake of ethical and communal living, humanity is today anthropologically called Homo sapiens (the wise man- the last and highest degree of evolutional development).17 On this sense of its indispensable importance; it is classified as homo veritatis (the man of truth), homo pacis (the man of peace). Because, without peace and its collaborative justice, no meaningful or authentic human development can be envisaged or seem to be possible.

With metaphysics as a Theory of Reality, we better understand the existentiality of the human person in relation to his or her authenticity and subjectivity in the presence of fears, anxiety, indifference, indecision and absurdity. The fear of not being alienated has necessarily and indispensably plunge the human person as an agent of development and as a subject of lived experiences into relationship, relationships with other persons, with God and with nature. Hence, it is not lost on me to recognise that the subjectivity of the individual must be situated in objectivity of the others for communitarian consciousness of purpose and development, even beyond death of the individual, because, the mind of the individual must regenerate in the family lineage which a part of the community of persons.18 This explains that the human development transcends physical death because the human mind never dies, but continuously in the domain of relevance due to its metaphysical perceptibility.

Education, Metaphysics and Valuation of the Human Person

There is always an indispensable link between the values of the human person and any mode of experience, and metaphysics as a branch of philosophy or as a way of understanding realities beyond their physicality is not an exception. Education is seen in every mode of experience, for as one experiences the world around him, he or she is educated. For education belongs to the human person as a subject of livedexperience. To some lay persons on the street, and to so many other supposed scholars especially those who are scientifically inclined, at the mere mention of the word, 'Philosophy' what spontaneously comes to their minds is, 'can anything good come from Nazareth?' Their attitudes are not somewhat that of curiosity, rather of disdain and apathy.19 It was Dewey, who plausibly asserted that, philosophy and education are intrinsically interwoven to the point that the two concepts cannot be extricated without the other.

In all, right from the dawn of philosophical excursus to this moment, philosophers have being rationalizing and postulating varied perspectives which in their respective bent they consider veritable to teaching and learning, for guidance as a blueprint towards achieving meaningful, effective and efficient education.20 These perspectives include (but not limited to) the following: idealism, realism, perennialism, essentialism, reconstructionism, progressivism, experimentalism, etc. In a nutshell, they depend on its metaphysical values of the realities, especially the human person. They also depend on the interest groups that are concerned. Hence, the belief in the universal benefit of education is entrenched in almost all cultures of the world. Education is taken as the bringer of light and all the ideals that make our earthly existence less cumbersome. But the central point is that it is about the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. It is about the development of the human person.21

It is germane to note that the aforementioned philosophical perspectives on education reflects and recommends what is to be taught, the curriculum, modes of teaching, methods of teaching and other modalities that are germane to integral teaching and learning through proper understanding of the actual natures of realities as metaphysics suggests. Consequently put, it demands that every groups and agencies for the formations of human minds and for the shaping of the human society through education, should plan diligently and effectively discharged their duties and responsibilities based on the respects, promotion and protection of human life, rights and dignity, the tents of metaphysics projects.

Implications of Metaphysics as a Theory of Reality in Education

With metaphysics, we have to see realities as they really are, in order to proper educate them. With such clarity in learning, any model of development is to direct our consciousness to the values of living and to avoid any acts of dehumanization. It has to do with learning how humankind has survived the fear of the reality of death, cope with disease and even found cures and the principles of survival. In a nutshell it has to do with transmitting the culture of survival of a particular generation to the next and improving on them. Philosophy with metaphysical imports of learning then comes to look at how a particular generation has done very well in the process of transmitting its mode of survival and adaptability of interests and values.

The metaphysicians as the idealists maintain that education should train the human persons as subjects of lived-experiences and to use their abilities for the betterment of the society, having the capacities to assess realities as they are, and enhance them meaningful to better their world. As Plato introduced the idea of universal and compulsory education for all free citizens in Athens, he therefore initiated the idea of State control of education realizing the benefits the society would gain from well-trained, well-educated persons.22 This is simply because everyone possessed mind, and at such, he or she has the ability and capacity to think or rationalized based on the knowledge of the realities of the world around him or her.

Therefore, the metaphysical imports in education indispensably direct The learners' consciousness to meet the educational challenges of their time through the development pragmatic ideologies in changing their world positively and sustaining the ontological values which help to develop and sustain the culture of human anthropology rather than robotic anthropology. It thereby posits the need to adjust learners' thoughts in accordance with the realities of their time and civilization, existentially. In a nutshell, Metaphysics as Theory of Reality helps to develop rational ideologies, and it favors schools teaching subjects of the human minds as is found in most public educational institutions. With the adoption of metaphysics as learned in the philosophy of education, the schools' function is to sharpen intellectual processes, to present the wisdom of the ages, and to present models of behavior that are exemplary. Students trained strictly with the tenets of the theory of reality stand the chance of having insight on the connectivity of all things, the oneness of humanity and the unity of knowledge.

Conclusion

From the foregoing, we tried to explicate the indispensable link of education and metaphysics in understanding the human person and the needs to sustaining metaphysical imports in education. We started by establishing the dynamism of philosophical influences of metaphysics as a Theory of Reality, the intricacies of development of the human person inherent in education as a way of enlightening the human minds and in metaphysics as a branch of philosophy used in interrogating the values of realities beyond their physicality, and the summation on the implications of metaphysics as a theory of reality in education of the human persons as subjects of lived experiences. Each day of our living, the nature of some realities continues baffle us and challenge our level of intelligibility and rationality, in reference to our existence. With this condition of living, the human persons as subjects of lived-experiences continue to learn from realities around them.

With metaphysics as a branch of philosophy has its flaws, simply being too abstractive in attaining knowledge, it does have its strength, especially in providing true meaning of life and living. As long as we continue to seek a better understanding of the nature of reality and as new realities in discover in nature, metaphysics continues to add values to life and living, and continue to advance the knowledge of all realities. Through the theory of reality, we seek to evolve ideologies to guide our political, environmental, legal, educational, economic and cultural policies of development though proper understanding of true nature of realities around us. Metaphysics provide the philosophical base from which an understanding of issues of development can be obtained.

Human's critical quest for meaningful and integral living and development remains inevitable and endless or continuous, as human person never cease to learn. Metaphysics as a Philosophy of Life has not just being concerned about problem solving and answers providing, but always to footing ground for human quest for knowledge as new realities are discovered in nature every day. It provide viable and critical apparatus of understanding realities as they as discovered, and always focused on the nature and questions and answers given in order to plausibly decipher the connection of the human person and other realities in nature. To develop some reflective and critical minds in learning and studying, even in teaching place heavy demands on all educational institutions to adopt the values of metaphysics in innovative and creative learning and development in order to avoid the culture of dehumanization of the human persons in education.

Footnote

1 See, C.K. Ogonnaya, Man knows thyself: an inward life in practical living. IMSU Journal of Philosophy, 1(2), 2012, pp. 70-80.

2 See, P. Iroegbu, Communalism towards justice in Africa. Owerri: Int'l Universities Publications, 1996, pp. 366-7.

3 John Paul II, Fides et Ratio. Vatican City: Librería Editrice Vaticana, 1998, no. 83.

4 M.M. Uzomah and P.O. Isanbor, Philosophies and Theories of Education. Kaduna: Eizy, 2019, p. 123.

5 See, Kai Nielsen, Philosophy and the search of wisdom. Teaching Philosophy, 16(1), 1993, p. 6.

6 See, G.O. Ozumba, Branches of philosophy and education. In A. F. Uduigwomen and K. Ogbinaka (eds). Philosophy of education: an analytical approach. (pp. 47-64). Lagos: JERP Ltd, 2011.

7 G.O. Ozumba, Branches of philosophy and education, p. 48.

8 M. M. Uzomah and P. O. Isanbor, p. 5.

9 S. U. Attoh, p. 42; M.M. Uzomah and P.O. Isanbor, p. 30.

10 C.N. Ogbujah, The Culture of Death and the Crisis of Modernity. Igwebuike: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities, Vol. 6, No. 7, 2020, p. 124.

11 John Paul II, Fides et Ratio, no. 3.

12 A.F. Uduigwomen and K.O. Jeje, Metaphysics and education. In A.F. Uduigwomen and K. Ogbinaka (eds). Philosophy of education. Lagos: JERP Ltd, 2011, p. 97.

13 Attoh, p. 42.

14 Attoh, p. 44.

15Man as the human person or individual is said to be "a rational animal" (Aristotle), "a chained Prometheus" (Sophocles), a fallen soul" (Plato), "an image of the Logos" (Philo), "an image of God" (Origen), "a rational subsistent" (Aquinas), "a thinking reed" (Pascal), "a mode of the substance" (Spinoza), "An agent for the will of power" (Nietzsche), "a symbolic being" (Heidegger), "an alienated essence" (Cassirer), "an incarnate spirit" (Mounier), "an utopic being" (Bloch), etc.15 On a more existential note, humanity is: "the modifier of living" (Scheler), "the highest ground of Being" (Kant), "the working intellect" (Augustine), "a being seduced by glittering and attractive life", "a promising being" (Marcel), "a being-in-relationship" (Buber), "a being as a stranger" (Jasper), "the essential being" (Camus), "the original fruit of Wisdom" (Oredipe), "the extended reality" (Kierkegaard), "the nurtured spirit" (Benedict XVI), "instinctive and fixated agent" (Freud), "conditional embodied personality" (Fromm), "faith essence" (John Paul II), "a freak of chance"; "an "evolutionary specimen"; "a product of mutations" (Sartre).

16 Francis A. Olajide, In Defence of the Unborn and the Limit of Existential Option. Being 47th Inaugural lecture, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, 2017, p. 17.

17 A.C. Dimkpa, Is pacem in Terris really Possible?. West African Journal of Ecclesial Studies, Vol. 10, 2013, pp. 47-68. See, p. 48.

18 Anthony Echekwube, A metaphysical Analysis of the Concepts of Reincarnation: Towards Global Harmony and Peace. Inaugural Lecture, Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, 2002.

19 Uzomah and Isanbor, p. 126.

20 Ibidem, p. 123.

21 See, G.O. Ozumba, Branches of philosophy and education, p. 52.

22 See, Uduigwomen and Jeje, p. 105.

References

REFERENCES

Attoh, S.U., (2018), Basis of metaphysics, In M.A. Izibili, et al. (eds). Studies in philosophy and society. Kagoma: Philosophy Dept., Albertine Institute.

Dimpka, A.C., (2013), Is pacem in Terris really Possible? West African Journal of Ecclesial Studies, Vol. 10.

Echekwube, A., (2002), A metaphysical Analysis of the Concepts of Reincarnation: Towards Global Harmony and Peace. Inaugural Lecture, Ambrose Alii University, Ekpoma.

Iroegbu, P., (1996), Communalism towards justice in Africa. Owerri: Int'l Universities Publications.

John Paul II, (1998), Fides et Ratio. Vatican City: Librería Editrice Vaticana.

Kai, Nielsen, (1993), Philosophy and the search of wisdom. Teaching Philosophy, Vol. 16, No. 1.

Ogbujah, C.N., (2020), The culture of Death and the Crisis of Modernity. Igwebuike: An African Journal of Arts and Humanities, Vol. 6, No. 7.

Ogonnaya, C.K., (2012), Man knows thyself: an inward life in practical living. IMSU Journal of Philosophy, 1(2).

Okeke, C.C., (1989), Philosophy of education: concepts, analysis and applications. Owerri: Totan Publications.

Olajide, F.A., (2017), In Defence of the Unborn and the Limit of Existential Option. Being 47th Inaugural lecture, Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, 2017.

Ozumba, G.O., (2011), Branches of philosophy and education. In A.F. Uduigwomen and K. Ogbinaka (eds). Philosophy of education: an analytical approach. Lagos: JERP Ltd.

Uduigwomen, A.F. and Jeje, K.O., (2011), Metaphysics and education. In A.F. Uduigwomen and K. Ogbinaka (eds). Philosophy of education. Lagos: JERP Ltd.

Uzomah, M.M. and Isanbor, P.O., (2019), Philosophies and theories of education. Kaduna: Eizy Print and Publishing.