Home – Home – Jornals – "Philosophy of Education" 2021 number 3

Introduction. The expediency of practical emphasis in teaching philosophy at a university is caused by a general “practical turn” in the purpose and forms of the existence of modern philosophy. This “practical turn” does not mean abandoning the theory, but it requires a practical element in the perception of philosophy. For philosophical courses at a university it is extremely important to change the very conception of their construction in order to bring it in line with philosophical practice. This paper attempts to clarify the fundamental concepts and norms that form the foundation of a practically-oriented vision of a philosophy course. Methodology and methods of the research. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research was constituted by metaphilosophical attitudes, linking philosophy with mainly a human-creative function, tasks of spiritual self-transformation of a personality. The authors rely on personalism as an orientation that has manifested itself in many forms of theoretical and practical construction of reality, as well as ideas of P. Hadot, M. M. Bakhtin and M. Foucault. This generalized approach allows us to consider the spiritual experience of an individual as openly and multilaterally as possible, avoiding the risks of abstract theorizing, and hence the concomitant impersonalism, arising in the implementation of metaphilosophical approaches of scientific and “prophetic” philosophy. The results of the research. If the result of the study of “pure” philosophical theory is a thought-out theoretical position of a student on any philosophical issue, the result of the study of a practically-oriented philosophy course is a certain life position, which is associated with a theoretical position. The paper differentiates the concepts of theoretical and life positions, presents a typology of the relationships between these positions, justifies the need for harmonious interaction between them. In the practically-oriented purpose of teaching and learning philosophy, it is possible to distinguish at least two interrelated forms of philosophical practice: philosophical praxis-2 as the most important task - spiritual and personal practice, self-transformation of a personality, achieved through the fruitful mutual enrichment of theoretical and life positions, and philosophical praxis-1, aimed at identifying practical consequences from theory and representing an intermediate step on the way from “pure” theory to philosophical praxis-2. Conclusion. The practical emphasis in teaching philosophy at a university can help to achieve better learning, increase the level of students’ motivation and the importance of philosophy as a discipline, forming a holistic outlook of students on the basis of various methods of philosophical practice.