Reacting To The Broken World

by Arik Sison

25 July 2013
Discussed Text: Marcel, The Mystery of Being

The Broken World is the text that I am able to relate to the most, so far. I found myself agreeing with many of the points which were mentioned in the article. Specific events came to mind while these points were being mentioned.

Point 1 (technocracy):

Our world today is a technocracy. In a technocracy, technical experts, like scientists and engineers, are looked up to and they greatly affect making decisions. These people are seen as more important than people in the arts and in the humanities. A person’s level of scientific expertise would be the basis of his rank in society.

I think that this was a very valid point. Personally, I chose my course because of its technical nature and because I also believe that becoming technocrat would be my way of being somebody important in society. Our society always looks up scientists and engineers. Aside from this, they are very important due to the fact that our lives in this technological age wouldn’t be the same without them. The negative effect of this fact is that people start to look down on the arts. Nobody encourages their children to become writers, painters, or musicians. Everyone wants to have an engineer or a doctor in the family. In turn, this causes conflict between the people who dream about the arts and the demands of society. It is a known fact that the science people are perceived as more financially stable because they normally earn a lot more money than the arts people. Also, greed becomes a great factor in career choice. Who doesn’t want to be rich?
This fact isn’t so bad for me because I am a student of science, but how should the students of the arts feel about their worth being downplayed?

Point 2 (lost sense of community):

People are not used to people anymore. Gone are the days when people had to get their hands dirty. In the present, getting out of anything has been reduced to a text. Confrontation has been reduced to something like this as well. Real relationships turned superficial.

I noticed that people do not keep their promises as much as they used to. When people plan to meet at a certain time, someone would usually cancel through text a few minutes before the meeting is supposed to takes place. This annoys me because the person could have at least called, which I think is a lot more personal than texting, instead of just sending a message, leaving me powerless to react to whatever valid or pathetic excuse he has for the change of plans.

I also noticed that people are living more online than in real life. Discussions are now possible without the discussers being present in one place. The interaction of these people is lessened because they only communicate through chat boxes. There is now harder to get to know people personally. The problem with this that the things some people say and do online greatly contrast what they see do in real life. Who are these people, really?

In the end, technology’s advancement may greatly limit human interaction and may further hinder any sense of community.

Point 3 (the world refuses to imagine):

Familiarity breeds contempt. People have this mindset wherein they tend to take for granted the people who are closest to them. In their minds, these people have always been there and they always will be there. They become less of a priority due to their constant presence. They stop caring about their relationships with the people closest to them. In the end, a lot of relationships are destroyed. I know a lot of families which are broken because the members no longer nurture their relationships. Besides the family, a lot of the people who we meet every day are taken for granted. It is only when they are absent that we realize their worth. People only appreciate the packers in the groceries when they aren’t there to pack their items for them. What if we were those people? How would we feel and how would we see ourselves and our job?

The problem is that people are not used to putting themselves in the shoes of others. When we do, we may find some realities that we don’t like and life-changing realizations during these contemplations are never easy to handle. After all, it is easier to be ignorant than to care. It is easy not to care about others.

Finale

While thinking about possible solutions to the broken world, I remembered what Dr. Garcia mentioned in class to summarize this topic. He said that we should ask ourselves what we can take of this broken world and what are we called to do about it. We ought to know when to consume and when to create. There is always a way to fix the broken.

The Light

by Trisha Henson

23 July 2013
Discussed Text: Gabriel Marcel, The Mystery of Being

"And at last I see the light

And it's like the fog has lifted

And at least I see the light

And it's like the sky is new"

-I See the Light, Tangled

I'm pretty a lot of us have watched the Disney movie "Tangled". If not, it's about Rapunzel who lived in her tower in the forest ever since Gothel kidnapped her and grew up thinking that Gothel was her mother. One night every year, she watched, from her tower window, thousands of floating lights in the sky. Because of the floating lights, she longed to explore the outside world and discover where the floating lights were coming from. One day, she got the chance to do so when she met Eugene. She grabbed that chance even though the lands beyond her tower were all new to her.

I find it admiring that Rapunzel was brave enough to step out of her comfort zone, her tower. She was open to anything and everything that lies ahead of her. As Dr. Garcia said in the previous lecture, "Be open to the light." We should not be afraid of what is ahead of us and think of it as an adventure. There will always be "more" because there are far greater things than what is known to us.

Though in this adventure, there may be times when we go astray or take a wrong a turn, we should still carry on. Lets us not beat ourselves up for our mistakes. We should think of it as a gift. Think of it as a gift that allows us to know how to make things right and better. There will always be certain points in this adventure where we did not know, but later on we know, like what Dr. Garcia said. Life is a work in progress. There will be ups and downs but we should still go on and never close our doors to the “light”.

Defying the Default Setting

by Ana Karina DLC. Sesbreño

23 July 2013
Discussed Articles: David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” and Gabriel Marcel’s “Introduction”

“I thought I was going to die,” I said the first time I rode a train.

“She’s so annoying,” I say every time someone do things I do not like.

“I don’t deserve this,” I say when bad things happen.

But the worst one is when I ask, “Why me?” 

As you can see, I am a spoiled brat to the core. Well, I used to be.

A few months ago, my dad started becoming really sick (I do not want to specify it, since it’s too personal). Of course, I was initially concerned with his conditions, but as few weeks pass by, I realized that I was more concerned with mine. One night, I just kept on asking God why he would do this to me. 

I was so affected, but I kept (and still keeping) it from my family since I do not want to add to their worries. The whole time, I was so scared that my dad would leave me behind. But, what I failed to realize was that it was not only me who was affected by his sickness, my whole family was too. I was just too selfish and I distanced myself from them thinking that I did not deserve it, but it was a stupid idea. And I was stupid.

I guess, DFW’s article really hit me when he mentioned that I have to become aware of the essential things in life, and that I am part of a greater whole. All is being in Being. I had to start maturing, because there is more to life than, well, me. 

So, I started the ultimate plan of getting my life back together. My checklist included becoming best friends with my sister, going home a lot, and just basically becoming less selfish. Because I realized that in the end, they are the people who matter, who I should give attention too.

But plans never really work out as they do. I wanted the end result of becoming happy, but the process was tedious. Like a semester in the Ateneo, there were hell weeks in this plan. But something kept me going all throughout, and I guess that is where Marcel’s concept of metaphysical unease comes in. There was just this undeniable desire that kept on making me endure all the pain of becoming unselfish (because it is truly easier to just give up). It was like; I knew that something greater was in store for me.

And there was.

After months of hard work, I feel that I am more satisfied with my life right now. It was like a long road, as Marcel again said―the end result was important, but the journey towards it is equally as much. Through the times of backing out in fights with my siblings, making time to meet up with my high school best friends, and spending more time with my family, I experienced some sort of transcendence in a sense that I was able to do things I normally would not have done in my previous default setting. I was able to grow. 

I was able to become more than what I am; I was, I think, able to become a better person. 

I guess the key to living out my life satisfactorily is what philosophy is. It is becoming aware of what makes me happy as DFW said and it is being able to experience transcendence in the quest of a philosophical life that Marcel reiterated. 

Going Places

by Francine Seno
Discussed Text: Wallace, "This Is Water"

My favorite text so far has been David Foster Wallace’s commencement address, where I learned that to fully experience is to venture outside of one’s comfort zone and into an “unknown”, to willingly step out of one’s bubble, to shake oneself out of one’s bland, routine-centered lives and into somewhere one has never gone before. To escape one’s natural default setting requires a conscious effort to shift or to go beyond one’s perspective, to think twice and even question one’s certainties.

This insight is very significant to me as it has so much to do with my one genuine passion in life: traveling.

In no way do I consider myself “well-traveled” – I’ve only traveled a total of 6 times in my life abroad. Locally speaking, I’ve only been to 3 places outside of Manila. Although my experience with traveling may seem limited, I would say that those trips have changed me as a person in ways I didn't know they would and I feel very blessed to have been given a glimpse of the world so early in my life.

When I travel, I get to leave my beliefs and my certainties at home. I am able to see and examine everything I thought I knew in a different light and angle. Going someplace different from your home country enables you to shake up your complacencies though seeing strikingly different situations than those you experience at home. You are awakened in various ways when you find yourself dealing with something that’s far from your daily realities.

Abroad, we are not seen the way we are at home: we are wonderfully free of labels, of social class, of standing, of whatever reputation we may hold back there. Here in this foreign place, nobody knows your name. And precisely because we are freed of these inessential labels, we have the chance and the freedom to come into contact with the more essential parts of ourselves. A lot of people claim to feel more alive when they are far from home.

Of course, it’s not all about what we get from the places we visit, but also what we bring, and leave behind. As tourists, we also carry values and beliefs and news to the places we go. We also have the opportunity to enrich and to impart valuable things to the new cultures we encounter.

In a nutshell, traveling changes us by exposing to us new sights, issues, dilemmas and realities or those that we might otherwise ignore. Traveling also exposes us to parts of ourselves we’ve never discovered before - when we travel places, we also travel to new moods, emotions, states of mind or some “hidden places” inside of us.  Traveling is a quest not just for the unknown, but the unknowing: we may travel not only in search of answers, but of better questions as well.

The Difference Between Science and Life

by Kate Bonamy

The difference between science and philosophy lies mainly on the fact that more often than not, science deals with finite things while philosophy deals with the infinite.

In mathematics, they have accepted the fact that there is no rational way of writing the square root of three. There is no way of writing it as a fraction with coprime numerators and denominators. That is why they chose to call it irrational. However, in philosophy, the fact that some things cannot be explained or given a particular and logical explanation must be pondered upon. That is why there is no end to thoughts.

Also, in counting irrational numbers, there will always be an irrational number between two irrational numbers. Mathematicians readily accepted the fact that it is uncountably infinite (unlike rationals which has a systematic way of listing). In life, only when the surface is scratched will one realize that there is more. The next layer shows that there is still more, and more, and more, and indefinitely more. That is why thinking does not end. That is why it cannot be universalized.

It is not that science and mathematics has given up on the infinite, but they chose to give it a name- irratinals for this case.

The reason why scientists can replicate an experiment is because an oxygen atom will always be of atomic number 16 (except for isotopes). However, if  the 16 ranged values from 1 to 118, there would be no way of arranging these elements in the periodic table. In life, each relationship varies with different types of people who have different perpectives in life. Each one is existing in a unique manner, despite the unity of being a being. Since it is personal, and there are infinitely many cases here, it cannot be universalized.


The main point here is that writing down a formula for philosophy or life is as futile as trying to systematically list down all irrational numbers.

Journey

by Jevin Sarmiento

16 July 2013
Discussed Text: Gabriel Marcel, "Introduction," The Mystery of Being

“Philosophy is concerned with the process; it involves the journey”- It was this lesson from the latest lecture in my Philosophy class that stuck to me as I left the room, mainly because it applies so much to my life and my situation right now- a third year college student engrossed into the numerous possibilities of the future. This feature of Philosophy being focused on the process could be translated into how one lives his or her life.

Here’s the funny thing about college: one day we’re attending the Orsem, then BOOM. Next thing you know, you’re suiting up for your graduation and you’re left wondering how time could fly by so quickly. One of the many possible answers to why four years suddenly feel so short is because we tend to think only of our goals and not of the path we take to achieve them. Nowadays, we think in a result-related manner. I’m pretty sure some of us are itching to leave this school, ready to tackle the world and make an impact on the world. Some of us, on the other hand, don’t want to leave- uncertain of the future and what it may bring. But the question is, is it really necessary for us to preoccupy ourselves with the what’s going to happen and forget what’s happening right now?

Though I do agree that it is necessary for one to live with a goal in mind, I believe that it is important to enjoy what is happening now for the simple fact that when it comes to college life, or life in general, it is all about the journey, not the destination.

Just think about it. Every second that passes by is the only second that will ever happen forever. After this minute passes (it’s 12:02 AM, July 18 right now), there would never be a July 18, 2013,12:02AM again. Having this realization made me realize how you can’t take time back, and though it would be such a blessing (and convenience) to be able to have time back, it will never happen, and maybe that is a good thing. Knowing that we can’t take time back will make us realize how precious every single moment really is- that we cannot waste each moment that passes. So go ahead, enjoy and cherish the time you have with family and friends. Live in the moment. Feel the world around you and take everything in because right now is a gift.


“That’s why it is called, ‘present’” – Master Oogway (Kung Fu Panda)

A Real Analysis of Philosophy

by Wys So

“The Greek language, and it alone, is logos.”

It is one of the statements in Heidegger’s “What is Philosophy?” that has caught my attention. After trying to relate the Greek language (or the Logos) to my life, I’ve found out that I have approached more Greek letters than I imagined. To my surprise, more than half of my life I have been dealing with those Greek letters such as α, β, µ, Ω, £, etc.

Few days ago when I was reviewing for my Advanced Calculus test about real number line, I surprisingly gained some insights about the relatedness of Mathematics and Philosophy. Theoretically, imagine a real number line from negative infinity to positive infinity, this real number line for me is the whole reality itself. From the real number line I choose a subset “S”, this subset can be imagined as a small circle located inside a very, very big circle named “R” which stands for reality. So each and everyone of us has our own “S”, which is our unique life, our daily routine, or the world that we are immersed in subconsciously.
Recalling David Foster Wallace’s “This is Water” lead me to think of a concept in Advanced Calculus called the “boundary point”. David Foster Wallace called our attention to be “aware”, similarly, it’s like telling us to be on the “boundary” of our own “S”. Being on the boundary point and to be aware will help us in realizing that the world is not just about ‘my’s. We are actually living with other people, with many other more subsets on the real number line. In addition, it is also implied by David Foster Wallace that we should go to the “exterior” of our own subset, going “out” of ourselves.

Moreover, Advanced Calculus highly focused on the problems about “existence”. Most of the problems are all about proving. Some of the problems are: Prove that x is an interior point; prove that the limit does not exist; prove that S does not contain its limit point; prove that the union of open sets is open, etc. All of these problems are similar to philosophy in the sense that they are looking for a reason, for an existence, perhaps. In fact, philosophy is about reason, about existence.


And it’s probably why people say that great mathematicians are great philosophers.

Life Is Like A Puzzle

by Frenchi Baluyot

11 July 2013
Discussed Text: Heidegger, "What Is Philosophy?"

Every life for me is like a puzzle, containing a masterpiece, which is ultimately the self. In our constant struggles to piece our lives together, we form this unique masterpiece of ourselves. We paint a picture of our own struggles and experiences as we journey through the roads of self discovery and purpose.

I can say that I am still in that stage where I am struggling to find my place in this whole. I am getting there but I am not quite so there yet. This is ultimately my puzzle; it is far from complete and there are still missing pieces that are yet to be found. I cannot envision the whole picture as it is still unknown, and I am very much aware of this. Life precisely is also a puzzle in this very way, it is puzzling and it is unknown to me. I cannot see and limit life simply into a small frame of truth as I have to be aware that not all of my certainties are fundamentally true. This is one of the things that philosophy teaches me “To know that we do not know” and to live a life open to different possibilities and opportunities.

I guess this struggle, this striving, and awareness of things is exactly what Heidegger leads us to understand- That what it means to live is to strive and yearn for the sophon, the striving to know and discover our places and the whole scheme of things. Life here again is very much like a puzzle in a sense that we, all individually, have a place in this whole. We are the pieces that make this whole complete as we strive to be in unity with everything and all its existence. As he says “all being is in Being”, what fundamentally unites us all together is this act of mutual existence however this is also where our differences truly lie. Just like puzzle pieces, even though they are all connected to one another and necessary to form that whole, each piece is still fundamentally different and unique in this own way.

Ultimately, I find that this metaphor is able to encapsulate what life really is and as life itself is placed in the center of our own puzzles affixed with an arbitrary frame of experiences, possibilities, and opportunities, what is left now between the center and the edges is what remains to be lived and discovered. Ultimately, as we journey through life, we find these puzzle pieces that form our own masterpiece yet also at the same time we see ourselves as the pieces themselves, who form and are part of an even bigger masterpiece.

On Being

by Inah Robles

12 July 2013
Discussed text: Heidegger, "What is Philosophy?"

I have two insights about Heidegger's work - (1) the immensity of Being and (2) its forgetting.
Honestly, I've been having difficulty in understanding the reading because it uses being in many different senses and ways. One thing that makes it difficult to understand is the sheer immensity of Being. It must have been very challenging for Heidegger to write about the topic of Being, knowing that many aspects of Being cannot be encapsulated in human language or even comprehended by human rationality.

My struggle as a reader to understand Heidegger's point could also be a reflection of the struggle of the great Heidegger himself in facing Being. From his very insights, he is able to illustrate how perplexing the phenomenon is, being-in-the-world and being-toward-death.

This leads me to my next insight, about the forgetting of Being. While Heidegger's thoughts are astounding in themselves, it is also striking that I did not reflect about my being-in-the-world until I went through the reading. On one hand, there is a level of simplicity in the concept of the thrown-ness. I cannot deny that there were many things I did not choose - appearance, gender, genetic attributes, economic standing, family, nationality, freedom, and even existence itself. On the other hand, this simple concept has also eluded me. Our merit-based society has come to conceal the thrown-ness or the given-ness of the human person, and sought to explain a great deal of where I am and who I am based on what I have done, instead of what I have been given or how I have been thrown into the world. This is how the forgetting of Being has happened.
With these two things in mind, the immensity and forgetting of Being, I feel that I have developed a deeper and more sophisticated understanding of the human person and the human condition.

Tuhog

by Marika King

Last July 11, I attended Loyola Film Circle's Film Symposium. Invited were the casts and crews of the film, Tuhog, to talk about their upcoming movie. I just want to disclose that I am not promoting this film, simply sharing my experience.

These were some of the things that I got from the film's trailer, which is due for release on July 17. There are three main characters, Fiesta, Caloy, and Tonio, each one having a story of his/her own. Fiesta is someone who is alive but not really living. She seems hostile as if it's her against the world. She mentions, "ito ang impiyerno ko," referring to what she goes through everyday. Caloy, on the other hand, is a virgin who feels that he is being left behind by all of his peers around him. His friends are enjoying their young lives, losing their virginities, while he deals with his long distance relationship with his girlfriend. He feels lost and doesn't know anymore what to do and what not to do, amidst all the pressure. The last is Tonio, a retired worker who wakes up one day and decides to gamble all he has in order to pursue his passion and dream of being a "panadero." The focal point of this film is the lives of these three different characters are suddenly intertwined by a freak bus accident that leaves them all skewered through a single steel bar.

Basically, what I just want to share is that I believe this film captures what we have been talking about recently in our Philosophy class. First, as what Fiesta's life story makes us realize, we must not just be alive and simply exist, we must live. We must live our life now and live it to the fullest. It is in living that we experience and hopefully, we get to experience the best things in life.

Second, we must follow our passions. Sometimes, we feel that as we get older, the less chance that we will be able to do what we really want to do, not just what we need to do. But, it is always never too late. It is better to try and pursue our passions than not at all. In Tonio's case, he didn't mind what his family was telling him and what kind of risk he's getting into, all he knows is he wants to be a "panadero." Another dilemma in these kinds of situation is that at times, we may feel that our passions only hinder us from our ultimate aspirations in life, which may not be in line with our passions at all. But if our passion is what's going to give us our happiness, if pursuing that is what's going to bring us closer to our ideal self, then we must take it. It's all about focusing on what really matters for you.

Lastly, I think what the story of Caloy tell us is, if we feel lost or in doubt, if we feel that we are being left behind by everything around us, we must strive to find ourselves. We must search for what we truly believe in and stand our ground. Eventually, everything falls into their place.

Now as I said earlier, their lives were intertwined by a bus accident. This is where the twist comes in: two must die in order for one to live. At the end, death is inevitable. When we encounter death, in any way, we realize that we want to live more. Now as death looms, which may be sooner for some people, it all becomes a matter of how we lived our life and if we lived it to the fullest.

In the end, I suppose a question raised by the director still lingers in me: if we get a second chance in life, will we love, dream, or live more?

You may watch the trailer here:

i

by Christian Gallardo

Words are of grave importance in our everyday lives. They constitute the basic foundation of our communication. They are what set us apart from other beings, for through words we can communicate with accuracy, thus making us more rational than the others. Even Martin Heidegger impliedly assents to this when he stated that the way in discovering philosophy is tracing down the root of the word itself. But since there are myriad of words, and analyzing each would render me lost in all its complexity, I would rather examine the basic blocks that form a word- letters. And to be more specific, I would like to examine the letter “i”.

Why I?

I would like to uncover the mysteries of the letter due to the fact that from the very start, we were taught to capitalize it when it stands alone as a word. But why is it that the letter “a” is not capitalized? Nor the letter “y” in Spanish?

Perhaps, the most logical answer would be: Because “I” refers to us. But then again I ask, why not all the pronouns referring to us capitalized? Perhaps the logical answer is that: Because those pronouns refer to the others, but not to the speaker itself. From the above argument, can we presume that the speaker acknowledges the importance of itself rather than the importance of others? Or is it that, that the “i” represents something more than the speaker itself.

I would like to assume that the rules of writing and speaking are derived from an existing reality, rather than a purely imagined nothingness. Why? For in my philosophy class, I have learned that words are actually derived from reality. Through its onomatopoeic sound, it, in actuality, is trying to describe realities. If this would hold true, what then does the form of writing “i” connotes?

Another observation is that the “i” closely resembles the form of an arrow- as if it is pointing to something. And looking at it as if it is an arrow pointing upward, it is actually pointing to a dot if it is not capitalized. Now what does a dot signify? Does that only signify an end- like the dot that ends a sentence? Or an unnoticed, since small dots come usually unnoticed to us, be it accidental or not? Or a continuous act since ellipses signifies constancy? Or does the dot signify a perfect circle- a circle, due to its stalwart size, is capable of perfection in symmetry? If it is the latter, what then could it imply? Perhaps if it is pointing to a perfect circle, it is symbolically pointing to a perfect order- since actual perfection is, in one definition, a proportionality in alignment- in placing things up.

With regards to placing things up in an order, it is also amazing how “i” looks like the number “1”. And this is actually signifying a pathway between words and numbers. If it is, indeed, a pathway, what is the connection of words and numbers, aside from them both being abstract and their job in describing the concrete? And a more vital and deep question, what is the connection of “i” and the “1”?

From this I can remember our discussion in philosophy about “One is All”. And transforming this into another form, we can say that “1” is “All”. But since “1” is “i”, can we say that “i” is “All”. If so, is it the reason why the “i” is spelled as “I”.

There are many paths in interpreting the complexity of words and one can get easily lost in it. Indeed, a lifetime may not be enough to study and decipher it. But the goal here is not to interpret and derive a certain truth, but rather, to arrive into new possibilities that can provide as paths in interpreting things.

Have A Little Faith

by Czarina Reyes

7 July 2013
Discussed Text: Heidegger, "What Is Philosophy?"

There are so many things that I want to do with my life. I have so many plans and dreams that I want to achieve. I want to head another project before this school year ends. I want to accomplish all my responsibilities as part of the executive board of my organization. Of course, I also want to get better grades because all my long-term dreams will not come true if I slack off. Obviously, I have things going on in my life right now and I don’t want to mess them up and jeopardize my future. But the thing is, I don’t know if I’m good enough. I’m so uncertain of myself. I don’t know if I’ll ever be motivated to do everything the best that I can and be confident to face anything that comes my way. I’m so sure that I’m limited and sometimes it gets in the way for me to get better. I know I should make a conscious effort to improve myself because I’ll never go far if I keep thinking I’ll never be good enough.

Maybe, there is a deeper reason why I feel this way. Maybe something in my past made me doubt myself. Maybe it’s because I never got to finish things that I started like all the sports I enrolled in. I never felt I exceled in anything because I never experienced being number one. There are so many reasons to doubt myself but I know deep down, these things shouldn’t define me. I guess, what hinders me most to keep trying and believing in myself is that I’m too afraid to fail, to disappoint the people around me, and most importantly, to disappoint myself.

Then last Tuesday, something happened that gave me hope. That maybe, there’s something in me that is worth the risk. My head in my org told me something that totally came to me unexpected. He said that they were seeing me as a future candidate for one of the top positions and I really wasn’t expecting that. Yes, it is too early to hold on to that hope because the year has just started and there are a lot of things that can still happen. Maybe they won’t see me as someone fit for the job in the succeeding months. But what he said was enough to motivate me, to push myself and continue to be better. The idea makes me want to aspire for more because I actually have a potential. Others recognize it, and it’s time for me to acknowledge it too. I have been given enough opportunities to prove to myself that I am good enough. I guess what I’m trying to say is that all my inhibitions shouldn’t limit me because there’s more to life than failure. It’s true that there’s no guarantee that I’ll succeed, but that shouldn’t stop me from trying.

The future is so unpredictable and there are so many possibilities that can happen. There are personal issues that can limit us to be the best that we can be. But all these uncertainties and restrictions disappear when we start believing. Believe that we have so much to offer and that we are capable of accomplishing wonders in our lives. It’s just a matter of focusing on what is essential, rather than what is not, because eventually, this faith in ourselves will lead us to greater things. The future may still be uncertain but at least, we feel that we are ready to face it because we can.

Musings and Visions

by Alix Apostolicas

9 July 2013
Discussed Text: Martin Heidegger, "What is Philosophy?"

It is sort of difficult for me to focus in general. One mention of another topic and my mind decides to jet off in that direction thinking in depth about one line when the lecture keeps moving forward. In a class like Ph101, one reading can have so many insights that Dr. Garcia always talks about many different topics in one class day, my mind is always going to a various number of places.

In math, there are many ways to solve a problem but there is only the 1 same solution. With philosophy and life, however, there are many paths but many destinations as well. A question that was raised was “Where do you see your life heading?” and this made me drift into a mini day-dream of what my life could have been and where it was heading.

I suddenly had the image of myself like Bree Van De Kamp, from the TV show Desperate Housewives. Could I possibly end up like the top homemaker in television? Always keeping the house prim and proper. Always throwing dinner parties. Always being the supporting wife. I had always thought of myself as the type of gal that would not be happy by simply staying home and taking care of theoretical children and I’ve actually thought I’d die unmarried but yet this was the first thought that popped into my head (perhaps because I had spent the morning before the class cooking breakfast and doing the dishes). I then had a thought that maybe if I had gone to school in Boston, like my original plan, I might have met a highly conservative Republican and we might have gotten married and the whole scenario could have been plausible.

Another image of myself in the future popped up into my brain. I saw myself in corporate attire dragging myself to my multinational corporation job (that I used my BS Management degree to get) each day. I imagined myself to be completely together on the outside and a complete wreck on the inside. I would be completely alone in a lavish apartment and completely unhappy. This was of course due to the influence of me watching an episode of Skins Series 7, where Effy works as a trader of stocks the night before.
Yet another vision of myself was as a happy 26/27 year old working in a TV studio, having a blast with a show I loved working on. I would be a producer of this amazing show that was even more amazing behind the scenes. I would have life long friends from this show that would run for 8-10 seasons. Then I would come home to a fiancé or a long time boyfriend. It’s ridiculous typing it out because I seem like this little girl imagining her wedding but these thoughts really did pop into my head, even though I’m against that kind of wedding planning. This vision was sort of my dream vision and it can only come true if I took certain steps after my time in Ateneo. Actually, that could only happen if I managed to keep on the path that I chose earlier this junior year.

All these musings and “visions” of myself came to me all in a minute. I don’t know why that question impacted me like that but I really do hope I manage to find and stay on a path that would get me to the destination of my choice.

Just Being

by Bits Penaranda

There are often times when I find myself spacing out because my mind decides on its own to go on auto-pilot and wander off by itself. It gets lost between the dimensions of what to do vs. what do I want to be in life. What I want to do concerns itself with my daily activities and decisions, or what I would be doing for the next couple of months. On the other hand, what I want to be is on a bigger scale that actually determines what will become of me in the future. What becomes of me will be the stories I share with my kids and it will dictate whether or not I find myself feeling fulfilled and content or regretting most parts of my life.

Most of our minds become preoccupied with the future that we act carefully as early as now to make sure we play it safe and achieve that desired goal in the end. I'm not saying that it is wrong to think this way, but aside from stopping to reflect on what we should do for our future, why not stop to appreciate our mere existence? Just like the first lessons we had in class about the silly philosopher who fell in the well because he was so busy with exploring the beyond that he failed to see what was right in front of him. It's like how we deal with life. It would be nice to think that we have plenty more years to live, but there is no certifying that. We need to appreciate  the fact that we are here now. We are breathing, we are thinking, but most especially, we can experience. Also just like the lesson we learned this past week about being beings. We all exist together as beings and what we become of ourselves is what truly sets us apart and is what highlights our special differences.

We should celebrate this collective existence. Not just be selfishly grateful for our own existence, but as well as for the existence of other beings. It is beautiful that we are alive and each day should be a celebration for living.

I would also like to share this excerpt I found in my planner that inspired me to write this in the first place. It is entitled the "Just Because Philosophy".


We often forget that thinking is a tool used to make us better, and not to burden us with justification for every little thing. We are here for a reason, but we do not understand completely and we accept that. Sometimes, our inner spirit knows that being is just as important and as complete as all the other more active pursuits in the world. Right here and now, we should celebrate our perfection, even though it may not be apparent even to ourselves. We just know it to be true, in our hearts, we are here, and that is great - it is enough. 

A View On My Side of the Coin

By Ina Pizzaro

4 July 2013
Discussed Text: Garcia, "The Promotion of Responsibility and Hope"

I give great importance to the things that dictate who I am as a person. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. My parents know who I date. I only party when I have my parents’ permission. I have never crossed the line. For most these things don’t matter, as they believe these are the stuff that comprise a teenage life well-lived. YOLO, right? Well, I disagree.

"Dude, drinking is part of growing up!"

What is there to growing up really? Isn't it ironic how most people claim drinking as part of something that’s actually a process of molding us into becoming better, into actually “growing up"?

My high school teacher assured me that I was going to learn to drink the moment I’d be in college, especially that he knew I was going to study in Manila, away from my parents. I told him not to generalize, because I was different. But he doubted it, shrugged his shoulders and said, “That’s what everyone said." I just smiled. I didn't want to argue about something I still couldn't fully defend myself from, as it is still something that is going to happen. I was certain in my heart that he was wrong but I kept my mouth shut. I knew only time could tell.

Isn't YOLO supposed to remind us that this is a one-way life? That there are no U-turn slots? That the world doesn't care if you took the wrong turn? YOLO. YOLO! YOLO? It is, I think, something that’s very much misunderstood. As I have learned in class, and as a Christian, “Freedom is not doing whatever you please, but doing whatever you ought." With that being said, I guess I don't have to sound so omniscient by dwelling on this matter. I just really know it means different from what most people think it is.

I was raised by a Dad who doesn’t smoke, who doesn’t drink for “fun" and whose only real contentment is a good conversation with the family at home. My Dad is very God-fearing and family-oriented. Whenever I open up to him, his final advice would always be to “talk to God about it" because he said He always listens. I guess it is why I have learned to always communicate with God, and to always believe that everything happens for His reason. I was raised by a Mum who told me not to believe that drinking is part of growing up, because she turned out more than okay without ever having to gulp a spoonful of champagne in her whole life even when everyone else was enjoying their mojitos and screwdrivers and flaming ferraris. From her I learned that it is indeed my choice whether to just freely go with the flow or to choose to brave the current.

I don’t want to be a person I’d end up regretting, because this is indeed a one way life. My idea of living the life is having a family whom I can totally be myself and have real conversations with. It is surrounding myself with things which, and people who, truly matter to me. FUN doesn’t have to involve alcohol or nicotine intake. When people tell me I don't have something to laugh at when I grow old for I haven't really done something crazy in my teenage life, I laugh at them. I guess I have come to a point in my life that, even when I'm only eighteen, I have already sincerely realized the things I can always choose to live without. What is there to a last-friday-night-was AWESOME moment that makes it worth remembering anyway? What’s so cool about allowing other teenagers dictate how life should be lived?

I am no saint. I make mistakes, and, like you, I constantly sin. But I’m most willing to put my life on the line every time people try to judge me about my principles. NOT EVERYONE is the same, even our fingerprints can prove that. I’m not saying that what everyone else is doing is wrong, because who am I to say really?

My point is this: in this generation, even when most just laugh at people who choose to live like I do (some might even already be judging me now at the back of their heads), we can still always choose to stand firm by our principles and be strong enough to go against the status quo. Because really, in the end, what matters are the things I can bring with me to heaven, and who I have grown to become the moment I face my God. I was blessed with the freedom and the will to choose my own path and to make my own life. This way, I don’t just exist—I actually live. And this is who I choose to be. This is the life I want.

The Ateneo vs. La Salle

by Pax Aranas

4 July 2013
Discussed Text: Garcia, "The Promotion of Responsibility and Hope"

With just a few more days until the ultimate rivalry in collegiate basketball, it is not surprising that there would be uproar of news and tweets from both perspectives from the day they start selling tickets to a few days after the match day itself, and I would not veer away from this as well. What makes this on court rivalry so interesting is that it deals with people coming from different backgrounds per se.

Comparing the teaching styles of both schools might prove the point regarding the different backgrounds. Looking at the "Green and white" side of things we see a school structured in a way that it encompasses all their subjects within the 3 year, trimester schedule of it all. In the "Blue and white" side of the coin we then see the Ateneo education structured in such a way that it is made to be finished within 4 years, in which some may feel like a trimester due to required summer classes, but more often than not a semestral curriculum.
What then is the difference? Some people would argue that a La Sallian education brings about what is more necessary for the course. It puts emphasis on teaching the majors early on and while doing so incorporating the ideas and structures of the real world at an earlier stage. While on the fields of Ateneo, we are told that we should learn more in a “holistic” way. We take up multiple classes in the different social sciences classes that for some may be too much. Putting it into the context of Philosophy, we are like the open fan, we cover up a lot of things that deal with the social sciences and other sciences as well, we "spread our wings" into different aspects and perspectives. I am not saying that a LaSallian education would not do so, but it will give a brief overview of these subjects given the number of units given per subject. Both schools have open Fans; the width of the fan though might have some differences.

Let me clear things out, I am not in any way saying that the curriculum of one is better than the other, or that one school is better than the other. Both schools are of good stature in terms of ranking, consistently making the top 3 rank of best schools in the country alongside UP is not a small task. Both schools are good at what they do. Both excel in the fields they take on. Both schools have graduates of grand standings. The question though is, do these graduates take on the concept of being after college? Do La Salle Graduates end up becoming true La Sallians in the future, or do Ateneo Grads end up being Ateneans in the future? The question of being must be asked because it is in this way that we see whether or not a school has impacted a person enough. An Ateneo graduate may move on with his/her life forgetting the values of the school, forgetting what it is to be an Atenean. A LaSalle graduate might also just move on after college bringing about a new perspective and loosing the LaSallian in him/her. It all boils down to this, as we see ourselves in the bleachers and stands of whatever coliseum or gym it might be, wearing the blue or the green, do we see ourselves as the Ateneans or the LaSallians, or do we just wear a colour and stand and cheer for a school we once were in? It’s a question of being, and a question of faith in our traditions of both Ateneo and LaSalle.

On The Level of Everyday Life

by Fuze Andrey

2 July 2013
Discussed Text: Garcia, "The Promotion of Responsibility and Hope"

Primum vivere deinde philosophari. We must first live and experience life before we can philosophize. It requires us to be knowledgeable of the things around us before we can actually explore and question them further. Just like the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover,” we should not judge that person/thing by what our eyes can perceive for we don’t know them/it fully. Also, when we argue about a certain topic, we don’t just say things that are irrelevant to the topic because we should be able to know something about it in order for us to defend our side.

Moreover, the connection between philosophical reflection and our everyday experience is somewhat the same. It’s impossible for us to reflect on something without experiencing it first. For example, we can’t learn from our mistakes without committing the mistake first. It’s just as simple as that. I think this is the reason why philosophers tend to live and experience life everyday as if it’s their last because it will give them more chance to reflect if they have more experiences.

Going to the topic about a person’s true happiness, in order for us to achieve that, we should narrow the gap between ourselves and the person we truly desire to be. But first, we should know who we really are. I don’t actually know how to know one’s self because according to my theo131 professor, knowing one’s self is the hardest thing to do. So an alternative way for acquiring our true happiness is to do our best to be the person we truly desire to be. We can do this by changing our outlook in life. We should learn how to care for others even if they don’t feel the same way. In addition, we should learn by heart to think about others as well and not just our own for we are sent in this world to serve and not to be served. Following the example of Jesus Christ, we should completely dedicate our life in helping and influencing others to do good to one another. By doing this, we are able to achieve our goal to be the person we truly desire to be by being men and women for others.

The goal that philosophy can offer to the present society, to will that all persons form one humanity and to will that each person realizes his/her unique humanity is very interesting and rather hard to do. Firstly, the idea that all persons should form one humanity is very difficult to do because we speak different languages, we have different customs and traditions, we have a different lifestyle and we all have our own way of living life. So in my opinion, this first goal of philosophy is almost impossible to achieve. The second goal of philosophy on the other hand, is more realistic and more feasible than the first one. Many of us now already realized his/her unique humanity. It is just like what I have said earlier, knowing one’s self. By knowing one’s self, you have already realized that you are unique and unlike any other.

To wrap things up, we should always make the most of our day because everything that we experienced in that day can help us to become the person we truly desire to be. By being that person that we desired to be, we can already attain true happiness.

Identifying With the User-Friendly

by Andrew Panopio

2 July 2013
Discussed Text: Garcia, "The Promotion of Responsibility and Hope"

One of the characteristics of a philosophical person is his or her ability to assess what they want in life. To illustrate, they say that a philosopher is stuck staring at the stars too much only to fall into a well. People may ostracize these thinkers for their absurdity in a rational modern context, but it’s refreshing to learn that the philosopher is exactly where he or she wants to be. Philosophical people, if they had gone through this assessment critically, could find themselves in the most socially different and unacceptable places or standpoints and be pleased with that understanding.

It is to live more intensely and to break up certain immediacies, as Dr. Garcia had put it, that Philosophy is experienced. These immediacies come in the form of the material things that most of us deem as important. In reality though, they are purely desires of power and maybe even desires fed by our own selfishness.
Ricoeur identifies that people around us are constantly prospective.

That speaks for itself because I think we can all identify with that. We try to control what we want in life by assessing mostly everything if they are of value to us. In a more unethical level, we assess our benefits within other people and we sometimes manipulate them. There’s a colloquial term that we Filipinos call such manipulative people; User-friendly.

For example, given a group of friends, another person happens to start hanging out with them more. Given enough time, they soon find out that this person is unusually wealthy. When this newbie friend leaves, they start pointing that out and they get excited whenever they get to go to the newbie friend’s house. In doing so, they see the person beyond who he is but what his worth is to them. This is just one of the many scenarios that happen in our society and it hinders us to develop as more critical people.

The philosophical wanderer has a lesson to teach us. Philosophy has taught us not to just be aware of our outside surroundings, which we can separate from, but it has also taught us about being aware of ourselves. Assessing ourselves is important to make sure that we keep to our morals and we are the proper person who we want to be and not the kind of person which selfishness and our hunger for power dictates us to become. We can find this ideal self when we are aware of our placement in a world that needs ethics and selfless individuals. We have to be aware that there are things happening graver than our smaller problems in life. Once we respond to that, I believe that philosophy would serve a meaningful purpose in our lives.

Concerning Pickpockets and Thieves

by June Bulaon

This happened on my way home after Philo class.

I was on the southbound LRT 1 train home. I live a bit far from Ateneo (six stations from D. Jose, add nine for the trip from Katipunan to Recto), so I felt relieved that the train wasn’t full and I was able to sit. After I sat, two suspicious guys “from” FEU and UST got in.

I thought that the two guys were particularly suspicious because their IDs didn’t matchtheir uniforms. One guy was wearing the UST Engineering uniform but wore the ID for the College of Accountancy. This was really sketchy since UST has strict rules regarding uniform. Also, the other guy was wearing the FEU uniform but his ID claims that he’s taking BS Information Technology, which only FEU-East Asia College offers and had a totally different uniform.

I’ve had several encounters with pickpockets so I’m really alert when I’m commuting but this pair wasn’t targeting me, they were targeting the girl beside me who, after listening to their conversations a little later, owned an iPhone 5. Fortunately, the girl may have been aware of their plans and she was able to get down without losing her phone, I think/hope.

Even though I felt so sure that they were pickpockets (they even chatted about the day’s catch!), I didn’t report them to anyone because I really wasn’t and I had no proof. I went down Vito Cruz feeling frustrated that I wasn’t able to anything and that these people actually exist.

I’m pretty sure that no one actually wants or prefers to be a thief. No normal child would tell people that when they grow they want to be a pickpocket, or a hold-upper, or worse, an ex-convict plunderer-then-Mayor. No, I honestly doubt that. I think that all this stems from the need to survive, to make ends meet and the desperation that poverty brings, and in worse cases, just plain greed.

But all this happened at 1 in the afternoon. I understand how difficult it is to get a job these days, especially for the less fortunate who weren’t able to get a decent education, but anything’s better than stealing, right? To make matters worse, these people even bragged about “their day’s catch”, openly talking because they knew that no one would report them. They were proud of what they do.

It’s scary that something like this happens in broad daylight; that something as sick as this is a reality and is almost acceptable in most parts of society. It inspires a culture where taking what isn’t yours, what someone else had to work hard for, is not out of the norm. I understand that these are only material possessions but these “material things” are also fruits of the hard work of some people, things that they too had to strive for. And these don’t only happen in the streets, thievery is everywhere: even at work, in school, and sadly, in the government.

I think that this is a reality that should concern everyone. As much as we need help to control these people’s crimes, they themselves need help. These people are, in their own ways, victims. Again, I go back to my first point that nobody ever wanted to be a thief. I think that it is society’s nurture (or failure to nurture) that made them be this way and given any opportunity, they would choose to be otherwise.
Dr. Garcia says that the purpose of reflection is to be able to act better, and that one of the goals of philosophy, or “philosophical people” per se, as revealed by Paul Ricœur, is to help attain a “utopia for humanity”. How do we help these people find their beatitudo even in our small ways? And if something likethis ever happens again, what should I/we do?

The Experience of Humanity

by Hazel Alino

2 July 2013
Discussed Text: Leovino Garcia, "The Promotion of Responsibility and Hope"

I’m sure every living person in this world has already heard of at least one story about the battle between the good and evil. Well if you haven’t heard of any, there’s this famous story about a wicked witch who tried to get rid of her beautiful step daughter but failed to do so. The fair and pure princess was saved from death by a kiss from her prince charming. And as usual, as all stories go, they live happily ever after and the good triumphs over the evil.

We were told that good will always prevail, that the wicked witch of a step mom was evil and jealous and selfish and nothing more. But not once did we ever try to consider stepping in the shoes of the evil witch.
In this world it is very easy for us to judge people based only on their actions without really digging deeper into the reality of their lives. People have different ways of viewing things. We have different ways of “seeing with our minds” which are called insights. But insight is not just seeing rather insight is an experience. Insight is way more than being an observer but having an insight means being an active participant in life. But what if our experiences in life were not that good and we turn out to be the bad guy, what does that say about us? If our experiences are good and we end up as the hero, are we better than the rest? In other words, what is the role of insight in our humanity?

The nature of insight tells us that we need to learn to see things which are essential. But it also tells us that we have to go somewhere from that point. Philosophy explains that to have an insight means to know something, then analyze it, dissect, realize then go back to reality. From what I learned in class, I can say that our insight guides our actions. Insight tells us what needs to be done and that there’s more to be done.

Our insight guides us. And I guess that is its role in our humanity. It helps us to make a choice on what to do with what life has given us whether it is a bad or good experience. And I guess when the evil step mom decided to get rid of her step daughter, she just chose to stay blind to all the other possibilities. But that does not mean she’s not human. Experience makes us human. An insight leads us to an experience. And we just have to remember that our wrong choices and mistakes are part of that experience.

Blasé

by Jio Deslate

The word "blasé," as was explained to us, has taken on the meaning of being sophisticated. Having already experienced a lot of things, these posh people are no longer impressed or fascinated by what astounds the simple man.  We might picture them as those snooty, offhand people who make a show of their boredom with their exaggerated yawns - a seemingly desperate grasp for oxygen. An image that is apt to represent what these people really are. Lifeless. Struggling with each breath as they try to take in as much air as they possibly can. These men and women have apparently experienced everything life has to offer that there is nothing left but death for them. They are the walking dead of the real world, the monstrous zombies we must run away from lest we become one of them.

 Our daily routine has left us too busy to stop and look around. And sadly, even if we do find time we are no longer awed by the same wonders that made us so excited as kids. I guess it is natural for things to lose their sense of novelty as time goes by. It is admittedly hard to look at the world through an eager, little kid's eyes.  Boredom has become such an issue for this generation that myriad technological distractions are mass produced solely to cater to this feeling - or lack of feeling - of ours. Video games, where we can vanish into a virtual world for the real world no longer has anything interesting to offer.

 We are slowly becoming blasé ourselves and the question is how exactly do we address this issue.
One idea is to start anew. By that I mean trying to see the same things in a different light. The notion of beginning once again is refreshing. That we don’t have to feel so stuck every time. That we can opt for a new game with a fresh chance at a zombie killing spree that makes us feel so alive.  A renewed way of going through life without feeling so dead. Philosophers, as Doc G said, are perpetual beginners after all. An example we should strive to emulate.

Admittedly, though, we will probably get bored once again. To look at something we have been so accustomed to seeing as if it is something new is quite difficult. To begin again seems like such a tedious affair. And so with this I think it's best we explore another interpretation of a perpetual beginning.

Most of us in class would probably fall under the 16-21 age bracket. The typical college students with their whole lives ahead of them. Realizing how young we are it seems so ridiculous to think that we even have to renew our fascination for the world when we are very much still in the beginning. What we have seen and experienced is only a fraction of what life has to give. Of what the world has to give. And considering that this particular planet is 4 billion years old, even a hundred of our human years wouldn’t suffice to see all the marvels that have sprung up - that are still springing up - in the world. We are very much far from experiencing everything there is. The beginning is far from ending.

The sophistication blasé has been associated with is highly questionable. The irony seen in their ignorance of the immensity of life and the world is proof enough of their crude thinking. ¬¬It is quite arrogant to think that we can know and experience everything there is. For the more we know the stupider we feel for discovering the things we previously weren’t even aware of. The more we experience, the more we see there’s a lot more to experience. A humbling enlightenment that reminds us that we are just human and not mindless, monstrous, blasé zombies. Not yet at least – hopefully.

Looking At A Pond

by Andrew Gallardo

Routine is the king that should be followed by a modern man.

Unfortunate to hear, but we’ve got to admit, it is true for most of us. In these modern days, everyone’s day is scheduled. And gradually, and maybe even unknowingly, everyone’s life is. We are obsessively glued to the same actions everyday due to the sense of security that we derived from it. We feel secured that we are doing everything in order. And by doing everything in order, we are secured that we are doing the right thing.

But there would always be a time wherein this order falls apart. Inevitably, there would be an immediate errand to be done, a sudden project that is to be passed tomorrow or a request of a friend which we feel like declining, if not only of shame. And all of which are unplanned- given a day or even an hour before the deadline, thus forcing us to break away from our system. And these sudden twists in our schedule cause us also to fall apart in chaos. But also, these twists leads us into reflecting, probably to restore the sanity, be it little or not, within us.

But what does it really mean to reflect in these modern days?

To reflect, in the modern definition, could be likened into looking at a fresh water pond. It is a therapeutic remedy brought about by the cool atmosphere of serenity and peace. It makes us relaxed, like sailing away of this modern away for a moment before going back to its tense and uncertain atmosphere. But is this really reflecting?

In a way, yes. For when we look at the pond, we look at ourselves and maybe the clouds at the sky. But what I have realized is that, maybe this is not a total reflection. Because a total reflection, as I have implicitly or expressly learned in my philosophy class, involves going further than one’s self. It involves looking at others as well, as the environment that surrounds us. True, we look at ourselves through the pond, and maybe the stars and clouds in the sky or even the birds that fly aloft in the air. But that is not the total picture.

Have we ever tried noticing the movement of the water itself when we look at the pond?

Nope, most of us do not. And honestly, I admit that I do not. Who bothers noticing the water anyway when we can clearly see a reflection of our face?

But this is the perception that we have to avoid. Again, as I have learned in my philosophy class, we must try to be detached to ourselves. We must try to look into other things, especially those little things that are of most value, but are least noticed. And when we do this, we gain serenity and peace. Like looking at a clear pond in itself.