Prof. Alfredo P. Co, PhD has started tracing the developments of one of the longest academic programs in the University and in the country in a bid to address the persistent question: “What is Filipino Philosophy?”
Last March 2, 2016 at the UST Civil Law Auditorium, Professor Co delivered his inaugural lecture as the first occupant of the Oscar Picazo Professorial Chair in the Social Sciences and the Humanities. The lecture’s title was “The University of Santo Tomas and the Birthing of Philosophy in the Philippines.”
In his discourse, Co underscored that Filipino Philosophy should be evidenced by serious literature by Filipinos doing philosophy—those who are trained and have published in and about the field.
“If there is anything we can call Filipino Philosophy, this can only be the product of the hard work of Filipino philosophers and scholars,” Professor Co asserted, stressing that many academics who search for indigenous philosophy seem to forget that many Filipino scholars have already made their contribution to philosophy through their publications.
He added that this body of literature “now makes a new philosophical landscape in Southeast Asia.”
For Professor Co, the inception of Filipino Philosophy kindled when the Filipino scholars in the country started publishing that resulted in the shift of consciousness, from colonial to Filipino. It began between the mid-’50s to the ’80s, he said.
“What marked this period in the history of philosophy in the Philippines is how these Filipino scholars transformed the landscape of philosophy in the country,” said Professor Co. “Suddenly, universities, even with their specific strength in their emerging philosophical tradition, shaped an entirely new environment.”
He also urged those who truly want to study Filipino Philosophy to “take the painful task of reading their writings.”
Post-colonial consciousness
Having reviewed the historical events in the field of philosophy, Professor Co identified one important conference that had triggered the new concerns of philosophical discourse: the Bandong Conference in 1955.
“There emerged the new interest in many post-colonial countries to reconstruct their shattered identity,” he explained. “Former colonies started to search for self-identity and the new postcolonial intellectuals were challenged to search philosophy in culture and ethnicity.”
He cited that after the conference, Australian scholars searched for Aboriginal Philosophy; African scholars for Ghanaian Philosophy, Kenyan Philosophy, Nigerian Philosophy, and Ugandan Philosophy; and Brazilians for Brazilian Philosophy; among many others.
Filipinos were not an exception. However, there were challenges that they had to face.
“The first challenge was to build our shattered pride by asserting our presence as a cultural identity,” said Professor Co, who also underscored that some intentionally neglect the Spanish Era in the search for Filipino identity.
“Historical information also allows one to better regulate the present and gain insights into the trajectory into the future,” he said. “It provides the vital context on which many great thoughts came to emerge.”
Meanwhile, scholars of Philosophy had different approaches to address the challenge of rediscovering the Filipino identity: some taught Philosophy in Filipino; some improvised on the method of identifying Filipino thought, such as using the popular concepts of “bayanihan” and “utang na loob”; and some stayed in the trail of further inquiring about Filipino philosophy.
Among the scholars, who responded to this call, were Professors Emerita Quito, Fr. Leonardo Mercado, SVD, Fr. Roque Ferriols, SJ, Ramon Reyes, Br. Romualdo Abulad, SVD, Florentino Timbreza, Manuel Dy, Jr., as well as Professor Co.
Although he mentioned that most of the earlier efforts seemed not to have reached far, as some of those who had embarked on teaching Philosophy in Filipino later went back to teaching and writing in English, Professor Co was quick to acknowledge that the first Filipino philosophers’ enduring attempt at an indigenous system of thought greatly contributed to the post-colonial consciousness that dominates the academic atmosphere today.
“In fact, the Philippines has been singled out as the only country in Southeast Asia that has consistently engaged in Philosophy since early years of its independence from colonial masters, and this is owing to the publications [of the first wave of Filipino philosophers],” he said.
The first wave includes Professors Quito, Claro Ceniza, Manuel Piñon, Co, Mercado, Timbreza, Ferriols, Benito Reyes, Ricardo Pascual, Armando Bonifacio, Abulad, Reyes, Dy, Leovino Ma. Garcia, Quintin Terrenal, Magdalena Villaba, Josephine Acosta Pasricha, and Tomas Rosario, Jr.
For his second lecture, Professor Co is expected to discuss the contribution of UST in strengthening Philosophy as an academic field in the country.
The professorial lecture was organized by the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters-Department of Philosophy and the UST Research and Endowment Foundation, Inc. through the Office for Grants, Endowments and Partnerships in Higher Education.
Levine Andro H. Lao
#ThomasianResearchers
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