Philosophical and Psychological Foundations of Education

QUOTATIONS BY TOPIC

On the PARTICULAR
and the UNIVERSAL

Greater conversation with its philosophical roots would help educational psychology shift its emphasis from the accumulation of facts in the pursuit of universals to the cultivation of judgment—a process that I believe could provide the discipline with an opportunity to overcome its derivative and divided character and to place the study of human functioning within an integrated view of the study of all material reality. ~ Frank Pajares, In Search of Psychology's Philosophical Center

Nor is practical wisdom concerned with universals only—it must also recognize the particulars; for it is practical, and practice is concerned with particulars. This is why some who do not know, and especially those who have experience, are more practical than others who know. ~ Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

One can draw no specific rules for all this. It depends on close observation in the particular case. ~ William James, Talks to Teachers

As long as psychology deals only with universals and not with particulars, it won't deal with much—least of all human personality. ~ Gordon Allport, "Geneticism Versus Ego-Structure in Theories of Personality," p. 66

The problem lies in the credo that one can do everything with a generic model as long as it is sufficiently trained. ~ Steven Pinker, The Blank Slate, Chapter 5

It would seem, then, that the detail is worked out with more precision if the care is particular to individuals; for each person is more likely to get what suits his case. ~ Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

There is nothing in which an untrained mind shows itself more hopelessly incapable, than in drawing the proper general conclusions from its own experience. ~ John Stuart Mill, Inaugural Address at Saint Andrews

The general account being of this nature, the account of the particular cases is yet more lacking in exactness; for they do not fall under any art or set of precepts, but the agents themselves must in each case condsider what is appropriate to the occasion, as happens also in the art of medicine or of navigation. ~ Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

Every rigid aim just because it is rigidly given seems to render it unnecessary to give careful attention to concrete conditions. ~ John Dewey, Democracy and Education

There are two truisms that must be balanced both in education and in understanding the world: one is that everything is different from everything else; the other is that, in some way, everything is similar to everything else. ~ Robert Audi, On the Ethics of Teaching and the Ideals of Learning

It is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way. Questions about the meaning of life can never be answered by sweeping statements. ~ Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, p. 98

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Last updated:
January 25, 2009 8:13 PM