A Foretaste of the Absolute

by Lester C. Yee (Ateneo de Manila University)

This paper was written as a synthesis to the course Philosophy of the Human Person I & II under Dr. Manuel Dy, Jr. This paper expresses the belief that God exists, and human actions try to approximate this experience of God (who philosophy names as the Absolute). This paper received an A under Dr. Dy.

The root of the absurdity of existence as claimed by Jean-Paul Sartre is the supposed absence of an Absolute beyond fellowman. This Absolute is longed for as it can guarantee human fulfillment, thus giving meaning to life. This Absolute is not only a product of frustrated human desires, but this Absolute does not exist empirically, as a chair or a table does. As “exist” is human existence, and human existence is relatedness, the dialectic bond between I and the other in relation to the I, the question asked of me is “How real the Absolute is to me?” I believe that as embodied spirits, human beings are free to express an approximation of the Absolute in each and every finite action.

As an embodied spirit, my body opens me up to a world. Because of my body, I am a being-in-the-world-with-others, characterized by facticity-transcendence. As a human being, I begin my existence as an ego having freedom. This is my facticity. But I am free to transcend my egoism and thus, grow to being a person. This movement towards being a person is directed by the fundamental option (vertical freedom) of love (as opposed to egoism) and every choice we freely make constitutes our stepping stones towards this goal of being a person, and as a result, we have a foretaste of the Absolute.

As an embodied spirit, I can let others experience joy and goodness through my actions and words which embody the appeal of myself. Also, as an embodied spirit and as sociality, I can experience joy and goodness through others’ actions which embody the appeal of themselves. However, these are not permanent. They demand to be so but time takes these away from me because I am temporality. All that I experience is this foretaste of the Absolute and all that is left are the memories which serve as the irreflechi which nourish my reflections.

The insights of me as an embodied subjectivity, temporality and sociality can be seen in the notion of work, as an embodiment of love and as one approximation of the Absolute. As homo faber, I share in the creative power of the Absolute. In fact, I am able to wrest a surplus from nature every time I work. This work of mine becomes a part of culture as my activity aims at myself to express myself, to embody my spirituality and my love, and to communicate myself. Moreover, the result is a sign which not only speaks of my existence but also points to the Absolute. This foretaste of mine of the Absolute is expressed through the product which shares both myself and my experience of this Absolute to the entire community.

Another finite action that better approximates the Absolute is love. Although my love for finite thou’s is never satisfactory because I can disappoint or be disappointed, I can hurt or be hurt, I can misunderstand another or be misunderstood. But the power of being able to forgive those who have hurt me and to begin all over again, to be ready to commit to marriage and family life despite of all its possible shortcomings, to bond together with people (I might not even know) through civil society and fight for justice shows the power of love and thus approaches the unconditionality of the love of the Absolute which can ultimately fulfill all human longing. Moreover, this manifests my belief in the Absolute who will fulfill all these commitments.

As I move towards being a person, I realize that all my actions are only asymptomatic to the Absolute. Furthermore, I realize that I will only be fully human in death. My death is certain and in this indefinite certainty, I realize two things. First, I am liberated to move towards the person I want to be. I am called to live each day as if it were the last day of my life. Secondly, death is my test of love, my final option. My response to it reveals my limitation to the flesh or my leap to the beyond. My response reveals the depth of my faith in the Absolute whose love I have experienced in foretastes while alive. As Kierkegaard says, faith is a paradox, a “leap into the dark”. In this case, death is my final test of whether I will take the leap, of whether I trust that in this total darkness, there really is the Absolute who I love and who loves me, or if I will allow this total darkness to engulf me in my egoism. Thus, death is my final option.

As a being on the way to that fulfillment, hope keeps me human. Faith allows me to experience the present commitment in love as a foretaste of the Absolute, embodied in human actions, rehearsals for the final option. Moreover, faith is seeing this present commitment in love as bearing a fulfillment in the Absolute. Being lumen naturale (which every human person as subjectivity, as existent is), my actions can only reveal a small bit of the Absolute and I can only grasp from the actions of others, a small bit of the Absolute.

For human others are “ciphers” in which the mystery of the Absolute is written, but it is in the finite actions and words of human beings that the Absolute is continually revealed in the history of human person. And to choose to become human is to participate in the never-ending revelation of the Absolute’s love that embraces all humanity unconditionally.

Surviving Creatively in this Dynamic Earth

by Weber Amores (Far Eastern University)

This is my winning speech in UP which made me represent the Philippines in London, for the internationals of the English Speaking Union. I got to deliver it in five minutes as required and was able to defend it in two minutes, because in the ESU mechanics, after delivering a speech, you must defend it in two minutes. Defend in a sense why your piece has to be the winning idea.

I’m twenty years old and in two years time I will become an Architect. One who dreams to be a National Artist or the next Pritzker Prize Awardee, the highest international award an Architect could ever get in his lifetime.

But my ambitions face various challenges in today’s dynamic Earth. The task of urban planning and architecture has transcended aesthetics, utility, and tenacity. A good architect today is a dedicated environmentalist as well.

The world’s dynamism is not only manifested in the globalization of capital, culture, politics, and humans. Climate changes have recorded unprecedented damages to man. The tsunamis in South Asia, hurricane Katrina, strong earthquakes in Iran and Japan, widening hole of ozone layer, and newfound strains of viruses like bird flu and SARS are but just few examples of Mother Nature’s wrath.

As an architect, I’d like to contribute to healing the wounds of Mother Earth. It is my responsibility to make sure that whatever skyscraper, house, or structure that grows on Earth will manifest environmental preservation, conservation, and respect.

I shall reuse recyclable and environment-friendly materials in development and construction I shall advocate the use of solar panels as part of house roofs to maximize the use of the sun’s energy. I shall use operational and conservatory systems or designs that will aid passive cooling especially in suburban and rural areas to lessen humidity. If Baltimore has glassphaltz or roads made of a mixture of pounded glass bottles, I will promote ceiling panels made of mixed aluminum foil and other recyclable materials. We can emulate Japan’s use of titanium oxide to coat the paint of buildings, which have saved millions of dollars because instead of repainting, the titanium oxide cleans naturally through ultraviolet rays thus making the paint glow anew. Urban planning needs to encourage pedestrianism where demand for vehicles and gas is substituted by walking or cycling. Urban planning must require planting of trees and greeneries to provide not just a relaxing ambiance but a contribution to saving what is left on Earth and what’s already there. We call that Green Architecture.

Ladies and gentlemen, I know that leaving the comfort zones of our luxurious lifestyle is not easy. The rich can say, “Why should I be economical when I have the capacity to spend millions and billions?” The point is not the amount of money to spend, but what to spend for especially that the Earth’s state is now alarming. Like Howard Roark in Ayn Rand’s the fountainhead, I am sure I will have a hard time encouraging my clients to believe in my environmental cum architectural philosophy but I am willing to take the risk because what is at stake is the very foundation of why we have a place to build our houses and families-Mother Earth. We only have one option left: We need to be dynamic in the way we think and feel about Earth. Because a dynamic Earth known for its capacity to self-heal and provide resources can only be attained through a dynamic mindset.

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Click the link below to see ESU Philippines’ website:

To Speak English, Maybe in London by Alfred Yuson (Philippine STAR)

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Thanks Weber for your contribution. Continue to inspire people, and continue to fulfill your dream in healing the wounds of mother earth!!! Great post.

Philippine Political Society

by Lester C. Yee (Ateneo de Manila)

This paper entitled “Philippine Political Society” was written for the course Ph102 (Philosophy of the Human Person 2) under Dr. Manuel B. Dy, Jr., under the topic of Social Philosophy. This paper was written as an application to the Philippine context of the lecture given by Fr. Pieere de Charantenay SJ entitled “A Search for Public Ethics” and of Paul Ricoeur’s view on politics and the state. This paper received an “A” mark. Read on.

Introduction: The Philippines as a Confused Modern Society

“There are three versions of the truth: Jun Lozada’s version, Malacañang’s version and the real truth.”

-Usec. Lorelei Fajardo, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson

“…Then there must be a dozen lies.”

-reply by a panelist to the first statement in Talkback with Tina Palma

Dr. Honey Carandang, noted psychologist, speaks about truth-telling as a way of healing the nation. She notes that the Filipino nation is traumatized and retraumatized because lying has become a way of living for many. Society has become an effective tool for misleading the truth.

Imagine how much time and funds would have been saved if Malacañang cancelled the deal the night Mrs. Arroyo found it to be flawed, or when Malacañang admitted its role in the botched deal. These funds (e.g. committee hearing electricity) could have been diverted to other more urgent needs and the time spent on the hearings could have been used to pass the Cheaper Medicines Bill. In effect, all this confusion brought about by the dozen lies of Malacañang (e.g. conflicting statements of Secs. Bunye, Mendoza, Ermita and GMA) has directly and indirectly affected most the poorest sectors of society.

Symptoms of the sickness of the Filipino nation brought about by the viral infection of lying include cynicism and indifference even among the youth, which usually is the hotbed of activism. Thus, the social cancer of lying needs to be healed to prevent the outbreak of confusion that only tends to hurt everyone.

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Mere Reflections of What’s Within

“For the confusions around are mere reflections of what’s within, what’s within me.”

-One More Gift, Catholic Worship Song

Since we are embodied spirits, all our actions occur in space-time and thus become public in a way. The confusion existing in a person’s value system is thus projected to the public sphere by means of decisions or choices. Fr. De Charentenay’s example is when corruption and refusal to pay taxes, private vices, are accepted as normal and standard operating procedure. In fact, the admission of Jun Lozada of 20% being the normal range of kickbacks that a moderately greedy Benjamin Abalos should accept is very disturbing. This shows how corruption is deeply ingrained in our system.

A political order for free people cannot be built on mental confusion, lies and corruption. As Fr. De Charentenay writes, “the first requirement in the construction of democracy is to call things by their name.” Moreover, this implies that the call for moral revolution must start within each and everyone. However, this goodness brought about by the individual moral revolution must transcend the private person. This is because individual values have a way of making one blind to issues of general interest. This moral revolution must enable the person to see farther, dream bigger not only for oneself but for everyone.

“…For to accept that the other remains wounded and losing his/her humanity is also to renounce one’s own humanity…”

-Fr. Pierre de Charentenay, S.J.

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People Power

“People power is much more than a political tool, it is an ideology… People power is the collective effort of individuals and communities to take control of their lives… now it is time to make people power work for the Filipino economically and morally, by using it to create a dynamic, progressive, caring and compassionate society, the kind our people, especially the youth, would be proud to be part of…”

-Corazon Cojuangco Aquino

“Yung mundo pinagdiriwang ang Edsa 1. Yung mundo pinayagan ang Edsa 2. Yung mundo hindi patatawaran ang Edsa 3.”

-Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Democracy, as Fr. De Charentenay writes, is the expression of general will of a people. It is the bringing to life of the Filipino dream for a better life (in all aspects). For the common Filipino, it is to have three meals a day, land to build a decent place to live in, adequate healthcare and other private needs. However, as a general expression, people power comes with the realization that a person needs to go beyond one’s private sphere, to leave one’s comfort zone, to join Filipino brothers and sisters to fight for a greater good from which the private benefits are expected to follow, that is to fight for good governance from which the welfare of the individual Filipino will hopefully follow. It is then the prioritization of the common good over the individual wants and desires that gives people power its distinct touch that can usher change. This is what happened in EDSA 1 (and to an extent EDSA 2), the expression of common disgust over the dictatorship (and corruption) and the courage to stand for the common good.

But this unity manifested especially by the First EDSA presupposes the clarification of all the confusion. This involves calling corruption evil and not personal initiative or standard operating procedure. Moreover, this involves a united front having both wisdom and the courage to openly and vocally dispel the lies spread by the Marcos government. However, these conditions are not totally present in today’s context. Large cracks are evident in the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines as different prelates with differing calls only serve to further confuse the Philippine Church. Different politicians looked upon as leaders and representatives of the Filipino populace voice their opinions not in the context of the common good but only in the context of their individual desires (e.g. staying in power, money from Malacañang, etc.).

Democracy needs an elite, a pool of competent and well trained people to manage the whole machinery of government, private sector and even the Church. These elite should be the models of behavior for all to follow.

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Leadership

“Leadership is about giving our all, selflessly that others may live.”

-Corazon Cojuangco Aquino

“Servant-leadership is at its heart caring enough for one other person of for a group of persons deeply enough that you help them become who they are, stand on their own and be capable of taking hold of their own future and destiny.”

-Simon Mossessgeld, Congress Director, Ayala Young Leaders Congress

The elite that our democracy currently needs are those leaders caring enough for the Filipino people that they devote their entire lives to help the Filipino people become who they are, the Filipino nation to stand on its own, and be capable of taking hold of its own future. Two people power movements have occurred to express public outrage but here we are again, facing an even worse problem, the lack of the orientation to serve while enjoying the power leadership brings.

Jesuit historian Jose Arcilla notes that the local culture of leadership hindered the development of the native clergy. In the tribal society, the datu assumes the role of leader so as to have workers till his lands, men to pay him tributes and tribesmen to fight his wars. People in turn serve the datu because they do not want to be enslaved by the rival tribes or to have their entire properties plundered by other men. Thus, both sides have selfish motivations in leading and in serving, which stunted the development of the local clergy as the type of leadership assumed by the priest is that of servant-leadership.

The development of the nation is also stunted because of this lack of servant-leadership in the hearts of most of our leaders. The leaders of this government use their leadership powers to enrich themselves and their families, and to tighten their grip on power. This may be attributed to the lack of public ethics. The strength of (Philippine) democracy then can be put into question as only the values of self and convenience are shared by the leaders. The religion of mediation and true Christianity have been banished and all those who advocate for its return have been silenced with the gun or with donations from Malacañang. The only courage this regime still has is immoral courage, that is, the strength of character to stay in power.

Thus, the nation calls for servant-leaders who are aware of the realities and conditions of the community where they live, who have a vision to where the community should go to and how it would get there, who serve as stewards of the communities entrusted to them, holding those communities in trust and care for the citizens and who build a political society.

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The Double Political Duty of the Filipino

“We Filipinos are a variegated people. We live in seven thousand islands. We profess no less than five religions. We pray in no fewer than seven native tongues. But all of us – Muslim or Christian, Tagalog or Visayan or Ilocano or Kapampangan, all of us are Filipinos not only because we are brothers in blood – many of us are not, but because we are all brothers in tears; not because we all share the same land – many of us are landless, but because we share the same dream. Whether we like it or not we are one nation with one future, a future that will be as bright or as dark as we remain united or divided.”

-Jose W. Diokno

The Philippines suffers from a multiplicity of groups, which have yet to be merged firmly into a nation. Thus, constitutional reforms are needed to enable the Filipinos to move from these fragmented and often clashing groups to a united nation, before we can move on together with the world towards a universal state. As the Philippines embraces globalization and the new world economy, many industries are dying as the local markets compete with each other in terms of getting a share of investments and selling their products. In turn these competing local markets are wiped out upon the entry of cheaper products from united countries. The absence of a strong national policy towards economic development for everyone facilitates this massacre of local industries and slaughter of the nation’s poor which become jobless as a result. And, yes, the macroeconomy booms with all the investments. The cheaper products, in turn, benefit only those who still have money to purchase.

Moreover, a political education among voters is needed to allow us to make wise choices in upcoming elections. However, this role of political education is left neglected by the political parties which are more personality-based than platform-based. Thus, the Filipinos are left with choices between Coke, Pepsi and RC Cola during elections because of this lack of platforms. Most political parties, instead of holding genuine “miting de avances” only hold concerts and sing alongs to entertain the voters and to get their votes. Political parties, in fact, come and go with the rise and fall of their leaders. There is no responsible institution left to mentor a new generation of politicians who are thrown into the arena of the state, unprepared for battle against the beasts that feed their inner monsters of greed. Thus, they become more absorbed into the system they may have wanted to change initially. The cycle goes on again, leaving the Filipinos at the mercy of the state and its politicians.

Given this situation, the common Filipino needs more avenues for him/her to participate in power or to influence the state. A response to this was the Party list Act of 1998 allowing marginalized groups to be represented in Congress upon garnering 2% or more of the total votes cast. . This law has been manipulated by the government many times but it still allows for certain groups to have their voices heard in Congress (e.g. fielding fake party lists to increase the number of voters and prevent real party list groups from being elected). But this law is not enough. Suggestions have been raised by Felix Muga, Ph.D. to have the party list law amended so as to more effectively hear the voice of the people cast in the ballot.

Another avenue of participation of the common Filipino is EDSA or Mendiola but the real work of restoring after the evil has gone remains slightly started. When the fever of EDSA dies down and the people resume their normal lives, the time for action springs up, that is, to become heroes in our everyday lives, possessing the moral courage to stand by our convictions, to be vigilant against the state and to be involved in voicing out any wrongdoing, to be response-able citizens of this nation.

With this, the tyranny of the Filipino state will be weathered away to become the soil where the seeds of the future Filipino political society starts to grow.

Are You Crazy Enough to Save the World?

by Sam Macagba

A Feature Article

 

This is an article that I wrote for a class. The goal of the said requirement is to reflect on any event in your life and relate it to DEVELOPMENT. During that time, my interview for AYLC is something that I find to be very memorable for me, so I wrote about it and here it is… Also, this article will be published in BACKPACK, the official school paper of the School of Education in the University of Asia and the Pacific. The unedited version of this article was published in this site: urworldvision.blogspot.com, a site that was created by the Integrated Marketing Communication students of UA&P to support the endeavors of Worldvision… I want to share my thoughts to this site so as to invite and encourage more teachers to be proud of their professions and to be agents of development

The Ayala Young Leaders Congress (AYLC), for me, is such a great blessing that I have received this Christmas. Ever since, I was really hoping for an opportunity where I would be able to share my vision of helping others through my development education perspective. But before getting my acceptance letter to the AYLC, different hardships and challenges came to my way. One of these challenges is the nerve cracking interview with the Ayala executives. I remembered that my interview for AYLC is a significant event in my life as I try to understand my vision as a person and as a future teacher.

In my interview, they told me that teachers are really needed abroad and a lot of opportunities are waiting if ever I planned to work there. They asked me whether or not I have plans of working abroad as a teacher. I said “no, I don’t have any plans of working anywhere but here in the Philippines.” They were really shocked with my answer. They said that working abroad can really help me and my family, especially because, as I told them, I’m not really that wealthy. As they said this, I remembered my mom and her sermon every time I was telling her my plans for the future. My mom cannot understand that helping others is really my passion. My mom always ends our debate with, “Puwede ba? Tulungan mo muna kami bago ang iba.” My mom and the Ayala executives (although, I believe that all of what they said is just a test or an assessment of how dead serious am I about my vision) were not only the ones who think of the same thing. Some of my friends and my relatives have the same sentiments and are urging me to go abroad, to work and to earn money for my family.

Because of this, I reflected. Am I the only one thinking of staying here in the country and helping my fellow countrymen? Am I crazy enough to think of not going abroad even though greener pastures await me? This reflection brought me to a reality check – in the end, I realized that there will come a point in my life when my family will be asking me to lift them up. Scared to face that scenario but if that time comes, all I can say to my parents is that “I am happy helping others. I know that I seem like crazy to you about helping other but I hope that you would also be happy for me as a lot of people would be very happy in the help that I would be extending them.” In addition, I told my interviewers, “Malaki ang tiwala ko sa Pilipinas. May pag-asa ang bansa natin. Hangga’t mayroong mga taong nagmamahal sa bansang ito, may handang tumulong at magturo, mabubuhay pa ang bansang ito.” In the end, I believe that my family will understand me and my calling in life.

My life seems to be very melodramatic, as how I narrated my interview in Ayala. It is similar to some of the superheroes that we know. At first, people perceive them as crazy. But just like a status message of my friends in yahoo messenger would state: “People crazy enough to think that they can save the world are the ones who really do.”

 

“Tomorrow, I promise to save the country and even the world. But I would like to dare everyone to be as crazy as me, to be crazy for the right cause – to save the world.”

 

As of now, all I can assume is that I am crazy because of this vision. Though I’m not yet sure if I would be able to save and leave a mark in the Philippine society just like the 3 Filipinas who successfully climbed Mt. Everest, Charice Pempengco and the like, I believe that saving the world cannot happen in a blink of an eye. I think that it is good to be crazy for now. Tomorrow, I promise to save the country and even the world. But I would like to dare everyone to be as crazy as me, to be crazy for the right cause – to save the world.

Moreover, I would like to attribute my acceptance to the AYLC as to how I was formed as a teacher. Being in the School of Education, especially being a Development Education (DE) student is a decision that I will never regret. In being a DE student I realized how to step-up for the right things and most especially to step-up for others. “Teacher ka lang?” is not an acceptable phrase anymore since we are not just teachers in this modern time. I think that my acceptance to the AYLC, the many different educators scattered all over the different settings, whether it be in the corporate setting, the academe, NGOs and elsewhere, are just the signs that WE ARE NOT JUST TEACHERS. The world is our classroom. As future educators, we should not just be concerned about the ABCs rather we should also be concerned about making a difference in our so-called classroom and about being heroes, without necessarily having capesJ