Doing Good in this World

by Mao Tan

In an era where our own talents are what define us, it is understandable how humans could have done so many to change the world. Nowadays especially because of technology and numerous skills that people can acquire very easily, the world has already changed a lot since time and humans are most responsible of it.

Sadly however, most of these talents are those not used, or even if they are, humans only use them for themselves. Intelligence can be one talent but most of the time, we see this only being used to gain recognition or to find a way of stealing money of a country that could still be used to feed famished children who possibly are just another hour of empty stomach from death. Depressing but true. Many miseries that are happening on around us are because of people using their talents for personal gain. But looking at misfortunes at a different light, they happen also because of people doing nothing about it, people that just contain their talents to themselves and never share them with others. Doing harm is bad but doing nothing is also bad.

Talents are given to us, not for us but for the other. Maybe we aren’t starting a spark when we do nothing wrong with it but we’re also not putting out the fire. In order to change what’s around us, we must use these talents for the good and the other, not to gain and be recognized. The fact that we exist means that someone has done good to us and we must also share this good by using the talents we receive for others. As beings, we ourselves are gifts for the others as they are to us. We should open ourselves to the exterior and grow ourselves and go back to being human. Yes, it’s hard to do this in a world where it’s all about securing our economic and financial needs first. But the nature of giving has always been in us since the moment we had our first breath and it will still be as long as we exist in this world.

Trauma

by Rexelle Piad

I was lucky enough to grow up in a high school that emphasized and encouraged helping other people through service. This is probably the reason why I always loved participating in social action events. So naturally, when I got to college, I made sure that I joined an organization in the sector-based cluster. But even after all those years of outreaches, it was only last year and in that organization that I concretely experienced the trauma that is The Face.

I am the worst when it comes to faces and names. I easily forget who a person is, what they look like or where I’ve met them. More often than not I resort to categorizing people in order to remember them. By course. By org. By interests. By the friends they hang out with.

During one of my org’s events, I had arrived late and the program was already halfway through. Kids and Ateneans alike were all over the place. Ashley was one of those kids. I had played with her just once or twice, months prior to that day. But the moment she saw me, she ran up to me, said my name and hugged me tightly. She had treated me not just as one of the Ates and Kuyas that fought for her attention, she had treated me like a friend. One that she hadn’t seen in so long.  It was the most humbling of experiences. In that moment, I couldn’t generalize her anymore. I couldn’t just describe her as one of the kids with cancer. She was her own person. She was the eldest in a family of three. She was a girl who loved to sing. She was someone who smiled whenever I pretended she was an “artista.” She was just Ashley, different from all the rest. And I felt horrible for not thinking of her as that way before.

The word trauma sounds pretty harsh. It connotes much negativity, but I think Levinas got it right. Seeing The Face is traumatic. We experience it as a shock that brings us out into the world. It has the ability to change our entire perspective on things. It can even change how act in the world. The Face is invisible. We hide it behind characteristics and categories— simply because it is easier. We tend to totalize the other because it’s easier to understand them based on the meaning that we ourselves set. But the Face is not a characteristic or a an idea— it is an experience that we have to be continually conscious about.

The phenomenon of The Face is a traumatic but necessary experience, and I am grateful that it exists in the world.

Totality in the Demand of Reciprocity

by Bits Penaranda

Last Thursday we discussed in class how it was important to simply do good, to be of service to others and to go out to them even if we do not know them. Although this is ethical, things are easier said than done.

The reason why most of us do not simply do the good as much as we want to, is because there is a demand of reciprocity. Whether it is a stranger, a close friend, or a sibling, we still expect something out of the service that we do for them. For example, if we do a friend a favor, we expect that they will do the same when we need them. There is a demand for our service to be reciprocated.

The reason why is not as superficial as it seems to be. The reason is because when we act in service to the other, we give our effort and time. This service becomes an investment in the other. By doing this, we give a part of ourselves in the other, and when we do that, this is where I believe totality steps into place.

Because the other holds a part of us that we have given to them, we indirectly claim them to be ours. Until we get the recognition of our service, they are kept captive by our expectations. We believe that they owe us something that we deserve, and that is the recognition, the part of us (the service) that we have given to them in the first place that we want to be returned. By simply acknowledging our good deed, we already feel that that is enough of a service towards us, thus making us feel satisfied because we feel “complete” once more.
But that should not be the case. The fact that we did agree or decide to do the good in the first place, means we are willing to be of service to the other. There is consent. We have surrendered ourselves, and as we have learned in class today, by doing the good we are also saying “me here for you”. For doing the good with expectations of getting something back in return isn’t purely good. By being available for the other, there should be no conditions, no judgments, and no boundaries. For the other is the infinite, an infinite we cannot grasp, we cannot totalize. Therefore, reciprocity should not be demanded because we do not have the right to do so, and if we do end up feeling miserable after doing good, then the only one we can blame is ourselves.

Saving Private Ryan

by Andrew Gallardo

Although the very thought of war terrifies me, stories of war remains to be my favourite theme in terms of movies and literature. This is so because the violent character of war reduces the being into a “human”, that is, to its very basic instincts that remains to be my favourite subject. Surprisingly though, the basic instinct of a “human” is not only survival, but also care and compassion for the Others- both in their “Brother in arms” and also to their enemies.

There are a lot of movies and literature portraying such. But perhaps, it is more embodied in the movie “Saving Private Ryan” (1998) which remains to be one of my favourite movies of all time. The movie covers a lot of philosophical issues, one of which is related to the “totalization” made by war to the people. During times of war, a soldier is treated as mere assets of the state, reduced to their very limited skills and knowledge. Hence, thousands of fallen soldiers can still translate into victory for the country if the skills and knowledge of those soldiers had been fully utilized. Soldiers, furthermore, are viewed merely as numbers. They are separated in troops of definite numbers. A death of a single soldier might mean nothing for it is “just a single one”.

It is due to these unethical ideas that the movie “Saving Private Ryan” was made. Private Ryan is the remaining brother of the 3 brothers who died in battle in different war zones. To ease the pain that the mother of the 4 brothers would feel upon receipt of the telegram informing her of the death of her 3 sons, the general commanded 8 soldiers, including one of his boldest and strategic lieutenants, to search for Private Ryan even on areas that is still invaded by the Nazi Germans. During their operations, they end up spending their evenings talking to each other about their personal lives. One private talked about how he longs to see his mother again after his long separation from her due to his military duties. He ended up crying after regretting all those times that he pretended to be sleeping just so he can avoid the nagging that he gets from his mom. They also talk about their loving memories of their brother in arms who passed away. This is contrary to the war-craze train of thought that soldiers are mere machines made to serve the purpose of their country.

But perhaps what intrigues me is the willingness of the state to sacrifice 8 soldiers, including one skilled lieutenant, medic and translator, just to save a private’s life. This is another idea that stands contrary to the numerical value put into a soldier. Furthermore, at first, the 8 soldiers put into this quest complain of the equity principle behind this. Knowing that they might venture into territories even conquered by the enemies, it is almost like a suicidal mission. Yet, at the end of the movie, they end up deciding to protect the life of “Private Ryan” for it is “the only good thing that they may do in the middle of the war”. On this last part, I could not help but remember the concept of “The Law of the Other” wherein the I goes to another not for his benefit or gain, but purely out of compassion or responsibility for the Other.

More than a Face

by Nneka Vicencio

“Have we met before? Your face is rather familiar, but I can’t remember your name. Are you sure we haven’t met?” These are the common phrases we hear from people we have or may meet. With our recent discussions about how Levinas perceives the face, I’ve come to realize that the face really has a great impact towards a person. It made me think that why is it easy to remember the face of the person we have met in the past rather than his/her name? Perhaps the reason as to why the face is a crucial aspect is because it’s the information center in which we witness the individuality or character of the other.

We experience the other by the face and through that experience we get to be taken outside and see things in a different way. To Levinas meeting another person is a “traumatic” experience. A kind of experience, which in a way make us pause, and think of things differently as to what we thought we saw them. This experience makes us realize that there is something more than to what we perceive.  Maybe this is why to Levinas the face is significant because to him.

“The face is meaning all by itself...it leads you beyond.”

Despite the face letting us experience a whole different meaning not just the sensible, there are still other people that fail. They see the other but they don’t see the other in a new frame of perspective. Even if the face present itself directly, sometimes that meaning remain invisible to some people. In order for us to see realize that we need to experience on the meaning, experience the other.

And when we do we start to realize the meaning of the other as other, seeing the other as a face and having this sense of care as to not to harm his/her even if we have just met the person. Even if we don’t know that person, through encountering the face of the other we start to have this kind of relationship on the level that without knowing the him/her we feel responsible of the other without expecting anything in return.  Thus, to Levinas this is the relationship wherein

“I am subject to the Other without knowing how it will come out.”

With this level of thinking we now find meaning of being human and being concerned with the other. We start to become responsible for the other. I guess this is also what it means that to be a subject is to be responsible. I realized that the simple concept of the face does not only makes us aware of the other but also be ethical to the other.

A Face Without Stain

by Andrew Gallardo

The face of a human person is something truly magical. The mere appearance of it sends to us meanings of endless possibilities. And from such meanings we derive various emotions. Indeed, it is something that we fall in love to, in the same way that we feel jealousy or hatred. But according to the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, the Face is not merely the physical face of the person. It is the totality of the being of the person which sends to us the commands “Do not kill me” or “Do not do harm to me”. Directly stating, the Face, in itself, pushes us to be responsible.

Perhaps at this point of time this sentiment sounds so dramatic or out of reality. Indeed, our encounter with others can be pleasant. Though there are tough times too when we have to encounter, be it accidental or not, someone whom we hold a grudge to. Moreover, there are times wherein we form negative impressions the first time we meet someone. We might have the initial impression that the person that we just met is arrogant simply because the way he walks is proud, or the tone of his voice sounds condescending. And honestly, it is hard to feel compassionate to those people that we find unpleasant.

Though if we look at the person as such, then we do not look at him “Upright”. This is so because the “Face” is a decent nakedness, that is, it is a clean slate of emptiness that seems to beg for compassion. Though in its destitution, it seems to put on a facade- a kind of a mask to hide its poverty. This facade is the one proliferating in our society these days. We tend to act in a way that would boost our confidence or in a way that would please others even though it contradicts our natural way of acting. I admit that there are situations too wherein I am forced to put on a facade. When I am hanging out with my close guy friends, for example, I act in a proud manner simply because it is the culture in our “barkada”. On the contrary, when I am eating dinner with relatives on a reunion, I act in a way that would please them, that is, with decency and utmost formality. I am fine with being a little proud and a little formal, but taking it into an extreme makes me feel uncomfortable sometimes, but given the circumstances, that is how I am supposed to act.

Although perhaps this decent nakedness that seems to appeal straightforward for mercy and compassion can be seen on the face of a newborn. They are even called “Angels of God” because of their innocent look. Simply looking at them gives us the message of “Please do not do me harm”. Their face, in itself, invites compassion. It is apparent too that they look the same to the point that switching babies can be a case without the parents knowing it, as seen in many movies like the 90’s film “Switch at Birth”. Although biological factor plays a huge role why the faces of people seems to be more unique as one enters adolescence, the presence of a “facade” is another factor to look into. As one becomes independent, one seems to adapt to one’s need and environment, thereby pushing one to form a “facade”.

So what is my point in this whole thing? What I’m just trying to say is that we should not be discouraged to feel compassionate or responsible to those people whose “guts” we do not like because, in the end, they are still humans to whom we owe responsibility to. It is a tough job, but nonetheless, it is still a call of our being.

The Desire for the Infinite Finite

by Nica Go

Opportunities. Possibilities. Dreams. Aspirations. Success. Occupation etc. “Infinites”. We as finite beings, experience infiniteness every single day of our lives. When we think about it, the past has brought us the infinite, which we made finite because we’ve decided on things and we’ve chosen the path, which brought us here today. Our choices out of the infinite constantly make us finite; because then we are put in a set reality we have for ourselves, the reality that only the finite can achieve by making choices, by choosing to see something clearly and investing our time in it. The present is where we constantly choose these infinite things and the future is the tomorrow that promises us another set of infinite choices, beings and possibilities.

And though these other beings, as themselves, are finite, they will always be infinite outside our selves. We will never be able to fully grasp this concept, this idea, and this wholeness of another because we are not the other. We are not another finite infinite outside ourselves and therefore, we can only catch a glimpse of the entirety of something, someone.

So how extraordinary would it be for someone to find you an infinite that they would want to make a part of their reality because they’re interested in knowing how finite you are. How extraordinary would it be for someone to find how human you are? That out of all of the things and ideas and concepts that make you who you are, that make you distinct and that makes you so unreachable to other people, is exactly what’s drawing others in, in order to discover you. It is the curiosity within us that makes us long and desire to know the full-ness of someone, the full-ness of someone real and someone you will never be able to grasp.

Once you experience something, you realize that you haven’t experienced it enough. Once you know something, you realize that you don’t know it enough. I believe this is where the desire for the infinite of the other comes in. When we build relationships, when we know people and when we think that that’s all there is to someone, there’s still so much to know. So much future, that we and they, do not know, ahead of them… like how we have ours ahead of us. These countless tomorrows of endless unknowing is what keeps us infinite and the desire to know the other is the reality that grounds us to our being finite. To know that with our limitless possibilities for our selves comes our limited actuality to other things, to other beings and to other choices. This is why we desire for the infinite finite.

We know that there’s still so much to know about the other. But then there’s still so much to know about ourselves too. Which is why when we long to know the other, it is not just a want or a need, it’s a desire because why would we invest our time and effort to try to reach someone’s infinite through their finite when we’re still trying to discover our selves?


It is because the other’s infinite-ness attracts our finite. Just as how another finite being is attracted to our infinite self. This is how we also discover more of our finite self through different infinites. This is why we desire.