Philosophical sense: An ampliative twist in gifted education

Philosophy has not been widely recognized as a means of approaching theory development in gifted education. This article provides an historical overview of the foundations of philosophy related to the field, as well as a structural means of developing philosophical sense for exploring the Natures of knowing, being, and values and valuing through sensitivities of social, political and economic factors of life. The goal is to explore issues beyond the psychologized (developed from theory but not sufficient for reality) manner prevalent within the field. A dichotomy (talent development vs. giftedness) is used as an example of how philosophical sense can structurally organize exploration of controversial issues, enabling scholarly work and adding varied viewpoints to understanding rather than fractionalizing focus into theoretical camps incessantly promoting prized viewpoints at the expense of divergent opinions (and evidence).