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This dissertation is a comparative study of the educational philosophy of four major thinkers: Plato and Aristotle in the West, Rumi and Mulla Sadra in the Muslim world. This study examines their educational philosophies in the light of essentialism. For insight into their perspectives on epistemology, four major dimensions i.e., knowledge, love (eros), excellence (arete), and action (praxis) are considered. In the case of Plato and Aristotle, recent translations of their works call for a reconsideration of their viewpoints. Utilizing these translations, this study takes the position that essentialism is not fully supported by their thought. Some modern essentialists and progressive pedagogues have associated Plato and Aristotle with essentialism partly because they have relied heavily upon Medieval Latin translations of classical Greek works. In the Muslim world, the renowned philosopher Avicenna (Ibn Sina) advocated an essentialist position based on Plato and Aristotle. In fact, he was the first philosopher who propounded the conception of the duality of essence and existence, and asserted that essence precedes existence. Thus, the birthplace of essence as a philosophical notion is to be found in the Medieval Islamic philosophy. However, Rumi and Mulla Sadra of the Muslim world challenge essentialist deductions of Ibn Sina. As a final point, pedagogical assumptions of an essentialist viewpoint are critiqued in the light of the thinking of Plato, Aristotle, Rumi and Mulla Sadra.

This dissertation is a study of the implications for education of the concept of dialogue as it is analyzed in the philosophical writings of Martin Buber, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Karl Jaspers. In Part I of the study, the philosophical writings on the concept of dialogue are analyzed to provide a set of guidelines for thinking about dialogue. The premise on which this work is based is that philosophical analysis of the concept of dialogue can enhance the effectiveness of confluent education, which attempts to integrate affect and cognition in the educative process. Part II of the dissertation attempts to demonstrate that an understanding of dialogue can provide both a general philosophical grounding for confluent education and specific implications pertaining to pedagogical obligations, teacher-student relationships, content selection, and teaching methodology. The premise on which this work is based is that education is most effective if it is ontologically rooted. From the philosophical perspective used in this study, human beings self-actualize through and in dialogical relationships. To be ontologically rooted, education must include dialogue as a central dynamic. Three pedagogical obligations that follow from this perspective are: first, education should heighten students' awareness of themselves as unique, emergent, self-actualizing persons; second, education should enhance students' understanding of the human tradition; third, education should enhance students' ability to participate in dialogical relationships. The teacher-student relationship described models a dialogical relationship in an education setting. Content selection is discussed from the perspective that content is a tool for self-actualization and, as such, should help the student understand the human tradition in a personally meaningful way. The possibility of implementing a variety of teaching methods from a dialogical orientation is discussed. A specifically dialectical-dialogical teaching approach predicated on Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics is described.

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