The Department of Philosophy of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters and the Department of Philosophy of the Ateneo School of Humanities co-hosted an international conference on Paul Ricoeur from November 19 to 21, 2015, to commemorate the 10th death anniversary of the French philosopher whose thought became the subject of many studies and research. Dr. Leovino Ma. Garcia, the conference convenor, conceived the idea of two institutions collaborating to mount an academic conference, which featured eight internationally renowned philosophers who delivered keynote lectures based on the conference theme “Paul Ricoeur: Reflections on Politics, Society, and Religion.”
The opening day of the conference, held at the Escaler Hall of Ateneo, featured Dr. Richard Kearney from Boston, College, USA, who delivered his paper entitled “Reimagining the Sacred” via Skype video conferencing. This was followed by Dr. Olivier Abel from Institut protestant de théologie, Paris, who presented in French his paper entitled “Un christianisme epique”. The last keynote address was delivered by George Taylor from the University of Pittsburgh, USA, who discoursed on “Practical Hermeneutics: The Legal Text and Beyond.” The first day of the conference ended with a generous dinner, sponsored by the President of the Ateneo de Manila University.
The remaining two days was held in the Ballroom Hall of the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building, UST. After the welcome remarks of Dr. Paolo A. Bolanos (Chair of the UST Department of Philosophy), two plenary speakers delivered their keynote lectures. Dr. Boyd Blundell from Loyola University, New Orleans, USA, presented his paper entitled “Summoned to Heaven: The Narrative Subject of Salvation.” This was followed by Dr. Roger Savage, from the University of California, Los Angeles, who delivered his piece entitled “Exemplarity and the Law of Superabundance.” Following him was Dr. Cristal Huang from Soochow University Taiwan, who shared her scholarly reflections on “Paul Ricoeur’s Approach to Narrative Theology.” The day ended with a cultural exhibit prepared by the organizing committee and a dinner service hosted and sponsored by the Office of the Rector of UST.
On the third day, Dr. George Taylor presented his research, entitled “Reading Ricoeur with the Methods of Digital Humanities.” This was then followed by Dr. Morny Joy from the University of Calgary, Canada, who delivered her address, entitled “Paul Ricoeur: From Fallibility to Fragility and Ethics.” The conference convenor, Dr. Leovino Ma. Garcia, was the last to present a keynote address entitled “Between Responsibility and Hope: The Legacy of Paul Ricoeur.” The program culminated with the closing remarks of the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, Prof. Dr. Michael Anthony Vasco. The event came to a final close with a dinner sponsored by the Faculty of Arts and Letters.
In addition to the keynote speakers, who are well-known in Ricoeur studies, local and some international scholars (composed of academics and graduate students) took on the challenge of engaging the experts by presenting their Ricoeur-themed papers. Among those who presented were Dr. Julius Mendoza of the University of the Philippines, Baguio; Fr. Prudencio Edralin of the Lyceum of Aparri; Dr. Paolo A. Bolaños of UST; Dr. Jove Jim S. Aguas of UST; Mr. Guillero R. Dionisio of the University of Asia and the Pacific; John Carlo P. Uy of the Charles University, Prague; Dr. Jovito V. Cariño of UST; Dr. Ruby Suazo, of the University of San Carlos, and president of the Philosophical Association of the Visayas and Mindanao; Mr. Christopher Joseph G. An of Ateneo; Mr. Joseph Emmanuel Sta. Maria of Ateneo; Mr. Jecko G. Bello of UST; Mr. Adrian Remodo of the DLSU; Fr. Luis S. David of Ateneo; Ms. Athena E. Gorospe of the Asian Theological Seminary; Mr. Jessie Joshua Z. Lino of UST; Ms. Noelle Leslie Dela Cruz from DLSU; Mr. Jose Ruben Garcia of Ateneo; Mr. Veronica Louise B. Jereza of Ateneo; Dr. Ming Yeung Cheung of the University of Saint Joseph, Macau; Ms. Gian Carla D. Agbisit of UST; Mr. Marlone Araneta of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University; Mr. Virgilio Rivas of PUP; Mr. Jeffrey L. Bartilet of PUP; Mr. Dennis O. Temporal of Ateneo; Mr. Jefferson M. Chua of Ateneo; Ms. Elaine M. Lazaro of UST; and Mr. Ranier Abengana of UST. In turn, each of the plenary speakers took his/her time to listen to our local scholars and helped them in one way or another, improve their research projects. True to the title of Ricoeur as the “philosopher of all dialogue,” the spirit of dialogue was indeed alive during the three-day event.
This gathering had an attendance of more than 300 participants, half of which were faculty or academicians while the rest were students of the graduate and undergraduate schools.
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