1PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY IN TEACHER EDUCATION1

Philosophical discussion is the bringing out of latent opposing forces, like arriving at a decision and not like learning what is behind a closed door or whether 235 x 6 = 1420. (Wisdom, 1969, p. 181) No sharp boundary separates philosophical inquiry in teacher education from other forms of inquiry. Studies that make prominent use of philosophical methods also often draw on other branches of inquiry and knowledge, such as the social sciences and common sense. Because writers seldom alert readers to all the types of inquiry or knowledge they draw on, and because much of philosophical method is a refined version of reasoning that all people do, the philosophical component of a study often goes unnoticed. If philosophical dimensions of inquiry remain unnoticed, they are less likely to be critically examined by readers, or improved by writers. In this paper, attention is called to philosophical inquiry, in writings by both philosophers and nonphilosophers. Examples illustrate philosophical activities (such as conceptual and logical analysis, positing and explaining distinctions, evoking shared ideas and values), as well as showing that philosophy plays an important part in arguments not obviously philosophical. Commentary included here on these examples clarifies ways in which people can be moved to do philosophical inquiry, ho