Ever since eighth grade the author was deeply interested in his own education at a self-conscious level, wondering how he could find out educationally what human life was all about and how he should live his life. In this article, the author provides a self-portrait of his intellectual life. He contends that philosophy of education, as educational theory, is about problem areas of education because educating the young is helping them develop into mature, adult human beings. Asking what is an adult human being, however, is a normative question about what a human being should become to be an adult. It is a substantive question because it is about growing, developing beings who enlarge their lives through learning about things and how to do things. Education is therefore a substantive, normative matter and its theorizing requires thinking about normative, substantive matters. Thinking about education is therefore substantive, normative thinking, about promoting good life and good society.