Резюме. This paper is a product of long contemplation and elaboration of the goal and many other issues that emerged through the eras of education, with the sole purpose, by an approximate effort of philosophical and social aspect, for the education to be established in the group of universal sciences as impetuses of the modern society in Europe and further.
The education is a philosophical and sociological immanence, which the pedagogic principles, attitudes and ideas typified and transcended in the area of education and the educational being of the humans, are based on.
The education is a great necessity and a need, in which the presence and the future of the modern societies are incorporated for the development of the personalities of people and society in general. In other words, the people may become individual, personal, family, and social beings only if they are educated.
The global education of people is the main condition for the globalization of the humane values. This is a conscious activity, which opens new horizons in the development of the modern European societies. The great sociological and philosophical basis, with great material and spiritual values could not be created without education. From this we can see the great importance of the education, which has a factor influence that connects all material, spiritual, sensory, thinking, intellectual and spiritual activities in people.
All this means that the versatile education becomes a necessity for the further development of the democratic European society, and at the same time, provides enrichment with scientific knowledge because science is an integral part of the progress, since it has a connection to all forms of social awareness. On the other hand, as we have already said, knowledge is gained and obtained though all forms of the educational process, which is a guarantee for a healthy development of people and societies.

Ключови думи: education, sociology, philosophy, society, humanity, literacy

The Philosophical Basis of Education

I was preoccupied with educational issues protected to the point of paradox and animalism for a long time. One of these issues is how the education can be elevated to the global dimensions and transformed into a tool for progress of people in general. According to an idea in an explicit study, the first and the most important thing that needs to be done is an immediate, complete and final elimination of all types of violence, pressures, threats and activities of interest in education, because education cannot be imagined where this kind of issues occur.

In other words, everything depends on education, all the forms that elevate the human beings above the earthly determination, make them sensual, flexible, reasonable and social beings. The education represents a main current for all the other characteristics, values and peculiarities which are singular, individual, special, general, and which characterize the human being.

The global phenomenon of education is covered in the schools of philosophy and many philosophical minds. Sophism created an illuminating educational movement in entire Ancient Greece and education appeared there for the first time in Europe. The sophists themselves were not just carriers of the educational spirit by creating frequent and communicative illuminism, but the real creators of a new anthropological science for the people.

The educational problematic, ever since the time of Plato, was one of the many philosophical and social teachings, because the education represented one of the crucial social institutions necessary for a complete realization of the spiritual human potentials and needs. The knowledge is primary for Plato and it is followed by doing good deeds. Namely, knowledge can be acquired only through an organized education. In his work „Republic“, Plato stresses that there is nothing more beautiful in a state than educated citizens. Ultimately, the primary function of the state and its main goal is education for the citizens. The education depends on the type of the state. In this world, people should make efforts for a better life, and this can be achieved by permanent and immanent education, whereas the ideas must be mastered for the other world – and this is the main goal of the upbringing, because if the education creates a type of this world called Paideia, then the upbringing creates a type for the other world called paradigmatic ideation. According to Plato, the true life of the educational system starts in the family and is realized in the state.

According to Aristotle, the real conceptual educative upbringing may only be a matter and a preoccupation of the state and not the family (Aristotle, 1960, 260). He distinguishes physical, moral and intellectual education. The activity of the factors responds to the following three harmonic components: for physical education – nature and exercises, for moral education – the ethical good-doing, and for the intellectual education – the theoretical education.

According to Aristotle, the education, ethics, normative ethics and the gooddoing have an immediate influence on the development of the citizens as state constituting elements. „Studying the forms and possibilities of the education in the frames of the theories of the state, Aristotle stresses that each state has one goal, and that is education which must be uniform and with equal opportunities for everyone, although he shares the same opinion with Plato. This is due to the fact, that for Aristotle, philosophy is a way of life as well“ (Uzelac, 2012: 19).

The ancient idea had a crucial role in the forming of the educational area. Plato established a system believing that without education, the state would be blind, wild, uncivilized. Aristotle is even more concrete. The education is a matter of the state completely, and if this is not the case, the state will not exist. Both, Plato and Aristotle determined not only the educational subjects, but their areas such as the physical, intellectual, moral and aesthetic education, as well.

However, according to the basic principles of philosophy regarding the education, the new era starts with the work „Some thoughts concerning education“. He expresses his opinion about the education in an articulate way and stresses that the force of reason and the abilities of the students need to be developed and used without the use of any compelling means by the educators (Locke, 1950, 25). The physical, moral and intellectual education, and the elimination of the medieval punishments of the students, as well as creating discipline of the spirit of all the students is the basis of Locke’s moral and civil concept of an educational system. Locke was convinced that without a complete removal of the medieval method and without overall changes in the educational system, there would be no changes in the existence and awareness of humanity. Locke stresses „Punishment by a rod is a discipline used in slavery, thus it creates the character of a slave“.

These are only some of the basic postulates of Locke’s empirical–illuministic view of the world, containing many values and amazing importance for the entire period following Locke.

The European educational system distinguishes two great periods in its history: Sophism in the Antics and the Illumination of the XVIII century. The present educational system is only a branch of the previously mentioned systems. The French educational philosophy represents a spiritual use of the great French civil revolution in 1789. Therefore, the spreading of the educational philosophic thought was the work of many European creators, and they managed to elevate the most productive illusionistic thought to the highest pedestal.

The philosophical component of the educational component is clear in the basic principles of the work of Jean Jack Rousseau, „Emile or on education“, where he stresses that the state does not bring happiness to its citizens, but empowers inequality. Humanity can avoid inequality only by abandoning the civil condition and going back to the natural one. This process supports the education, which is absolutely in harmony with nature (Rousseau, 1965: 21). Rousseau states that the basic goal of education is to educate a being, and the educators must be educated and also very wise, moderate, just, and exemplary to the highest degree.

Many creators of the educational system of the XVII–XIX century stressed the great factor influence on the current and new civil society. „How is it possible not to get closer to the perfection of our nature considering all we do for others and all that the others do for us“ – this is the goal of the education according to John Stuart Mill. Kant stresses, „The goal of the education is each individual to achieve the highest possible degree of perfection“. There are many other views and theories, which point out the great role of the educational system with a constant tendency to determine and transcend the development of the society in its complete improvement.

The Sociological Basis of Education

The philosophical theories and concepts for the education are followed by a great paralipomena, scientific and sociological paradigm for complex axiological and gnoseological matters, issues, categories, phenomena and events regarding the basis of the education. Although, Sociology of Education, as a special sociological discipline is established in the XX century, the idea for society and education dates back to ancient times and exists up to now with the modern understandings of society and education, and their relation.

The sociological bases of the education were established by classics such as Emile Durkheim, Max Weber etc., as well as the contemporary sociologists such as Talcott Parsons, Robert Merton, Anthony Giddens, and the theories they represented.

Without doubt, Emile Durkheim stands out in this scientific area, and is considered to be the founder of the Sociology of Education with his sociological and pedagogic works, especially with the work „Education and Sociology“, where he states that „the main function of education is the transfer of the norms and moral values of the society on the young population“ (Durkheim, 1981, 40). According to Durkheim, a certain social homogeneity can be achieved only through education. There are two beings in each of us, and although they cannot be separated in any way, except by abstraction, they are not different at all. The uniformity consists of all mental conditions, and it refers only to them and the conditions, i.e. the things that happened in our personal life. This is what may be called an individual being. The second being is a system of ideas, feelings, habits which do not express our personality, but the group or the different groups which we belong to; such as the religious beliefs, moral values and actions, national or professional traditions, collective opinions of different sorts. They constitute the social beings. Emile Durkheim, one of the greatest creators of the modern civil socio-pedagogical and philosophical concept says that the goal of the education is to create such a being in each of us.

The explanation of society and education begins from two aspects: the relation between society on one hand and the relations in the system of education on the other hand. The theoretical sociological orientations make efforts to explain this complexity and their connection, depending on the scientific and social connotation. The functionalists analyze the function of the education and the other social subsystems, and the contemporary sociologist Talcott Parsons states that the school is a link between the family and society. Just like Durkheim, Parsons considers that the school is a miniature society. The structural theory explains the structural positioning in the society and the educational system. Kokovic, rightfully concludes that the sociological study of education, including the analysis of the essence, structure, function and quality of education are studied in terms of the social context, such as the surrounding, social environment, family relations, class structure etc. (Kokovic, 1992, 10).

All these social components, as subsystems of the global social system are intertwined in a dialectical way. Their development, conditioning and connection need to be observed.

The influence of culture is stressed in the further development of the sociology of education. The sociologist Bourdieu is prominent in this field. He stresses that „the education should create two general circumstances: the social condition and the culture of the individual, group, family, state, nation, and to unite the ethnos of the social categories and the demographic and biological flows with the use of reproduction“ (Flere, 1976, 49). The sociology of education does not create myth and legend from the ethnos, but renders the whole social sphere a (re)production and renders it essential to culture.

The sociology of education, from the empirical point of view, including the conditioning of the education, the functioning of the education in society, the position and role in the social system, and also the influence of education in the different areas of the social life is characterized by the mutual influence and the relations with the global society, as well as the complex process of education. Since, education is a complex social phenomenon, the interdisciplinary approach and connecting the sociological, philosophical, anthropological, pedagogic, and socio-psychological knowledge and research of the role, function and importance of the education in society, are very important.

The primary task of the sociological theories and the researches of education is to find solutions, scientific and sociological answers to the many enigmas and questions which occur and manifest in the system of education, because it represents an immanence which is the basis of the educational principles, concepts, opinions and ideas typified and transcendent in the educational area and the educational existence of humans.

Conclusion

There is almost no period in which the educational cores are not stimulated and implemented in the history of civilization. Simultaenous to their implementation and immanent involvement in the life and work, continuity is created as a living link of the discontinuing values filled with creative energy of the progress.

The education as a function, a tool, and a goal of the education with great factor influence on the social environment, simply creates the human being by continuous existence of this very being, which transcends and is tempered by the eternal word of the education as an essential core of the human’s civilization in general. The education is the only factor, which influences human beings by connecting all material, spiritual, sensory, intellectual and thinking activities.

People create their most general social totality and become social beings in the process of education. No living being on the planet Earth has this privilege, except for the human. This means that the versatile education becomes a necessity for the further development of the modern society and simultaneous enrichment with scientific socio-philosophical knowledge, because science is a part of the development and it is connected to all forms of social awareness.

I will end my paper with the ingenious thought of the Russian author, philosopher and one of the greatest novelists of all time, Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy, who said: „The teachers who love their profession and work, and who love their students as they love their fathers and mothers, are better than the teachers who had read all books, but neither love the profession nor the students. When the teachers merge the love for the profession and the love for the students, they become perfect teachers“.

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