Philosophical inquiry

Philosophical inquiry into education is one of the oldest of the educational disciplines in the Western tradition, going back at least to the ideas of Socrates and Plato. For these thinkers, reflection on the purposes and methods of education was inseparable from reflection on morality, knowledge, or the nature of a just society: The question of howto foster the desirable qualities of a good person, a good thinker, or a good citizen were part and parcel of thinking about what those qualities should be-and these qualities of the good person, good thinker, and good citizen were also closely tied with each other. Philosophers often had very immediate and "practical" things to say about how to promote these qualities. The domain that came to be known as philosophy of education in the early 20th century was before then seen as continuous with philosophical thought generally, and of fundamental significance.