Establishment of Schools

[Tierçéu Rôibeardescù]

My Good Fellows of the Society.

As the law allows, I hold the power at my own discretion to establish schools within the society.

I wish to ask the membership how they would feel about the establishment of schools around the main schools of knowledge, which refers to the different groups of philosophical thought that explain how human beings gather, test, and understand truth.
Basically put:

1. Empiricism (Truth from Senses)The Core Idea: You gain knowledge only through your physical senses (sight, touch, hearing).Analogy: Your mind is a blank notebook. The world draws pictures and writes notes in it as you experience life.
2. Rationalism (Truth from Reason)The Core Idea: You gain knowledge through logic, math, and clear thinking. You do not just rely on your eyes or ears, which can sometimes trick you. Analogy: Solving a math problem in your head. You find the answer by using the rules of your brain, not by looking outside.
3. Constructivism (Truth from Experience). The Core Idea: Knowledge is not just facts waiting to be found. People build knowledge actively by mixing new information with their past experiences. Analogy: Building a house of blocks. Each new block (lesson) is added to the blocks you already put down.
4. Scepticism (Truth through Questioning)The Core Idea: Sceptics question whether absolute, certain knowledge is possible. They challenge beliefs to see if they hold up to heavy testing. Analogy:  A detective at a crime scene. They do not accept the first story they hear. They look for proof before trusting any claim

[Tierçéu Rôibeardescù]

For example,

Health and Health science would fall under constructivism, as health itself is fundamentally a human construct; "wellness," "illness," "disability," or "mental health" changes completely depending on culture, societal standards, and individual perspective. This is separate from the study of biology, which is foundationally empirical.

[Tierçéu Rôibeardescù]

My design philosophy here is to avoid limiting specialisms purely to just knowledge bases alone (like just "science", "literature", etc.) and instead to the wider knowledge expansion within each field.

Another example could be philosophy, which cannot be empirical because you cannot put a concept like "justice," "beauty," or "the meaning of life" under a microscope. It cannot be constructivism because it actively seeks to critique how we build concepts. If forced into one box, philosophy is pure rationalism: it is the practice of arriving at fundamental truths entirely through logic, reason, and deep internal thought.

[Tierçéu Rôibeardescù]

If forced to assign Education to exactly one school exclusively, it belongs to Constructivism.

Why Education fits here exclusively: Knowledge is Built, Not Given: Modern education relies on the fact that students do not just passively absorb facts like a sponge. Instead, they learn by taking new information and actively connecting it to their own past experiences to build their own understanding. Social Interaction Drives Learning: True education happens through language, culture, collaboration, and dialogue. This aligns perfectly with social constructivism, where truth and meaning are co-created within a community or classroom.The Role of the Teacher: In a constructivist framework, a teacher is not an all-knowing lecturer filling empty minds. They act as a facilitator, creating environments and experiences that allow students to discover and construct knowledge for themselves.

[Tierçéu Rôibeardescù]

Now I am aware that this design philosophy in itself limits, as all schools can use the same concepts and elements as others; a philosophical text on religious practices can include empirical evidence, yet be about a constructivist topic within a rationalist foundational framework. I feel, however, that dealing with each subject's base/foundation framework of said knowledge means that we as a society hold to our mandate of "The function of the Royal Society is to conduct and promote research and academic study in all areas of human endeavour."