PHILOSOPHY, like literature and music, is the fruit of the flowering of civilization and culture. As significant as monuments but definitely more alive than artifacts and antiquities, philosophy signals the evolution of the reflective spirit.

It is a universal phenomenon. It is as ancient as the Vedas and the Upanishads in India, Kong-zi and Lao-zi in China, as well as the musings of the Pre-Socratics in the West. The question has often been asked whether there is a Filipino philosophy. If by “philosophy,” we mean a global, enveloping, comprehensive perspective on life, yes, of course there is such a lived perspective. It is existential.

It is lived. It is implicit in the praxis of the Filipino but really, it has not been brought to the level of systematic reflection and criticism. To be sure there are philosophical studies of Filipino thought and culture. And as surely, there are Filipinos who have distinguished themselves as philosophy professors and philosophical authors. But I do not discern any “Filipino philosophy” like you would be able to say that Plato’s Dialogues and Aristotle’s volumes are Greek philosophy, and that Vedanta, Sankhya and Mimamsa are Indian philosophy and that the Lun Yu and the Tao Te Ching are Chinese philosophy.

I have never liked studying philosophy as a survey of thought. What good is that? I have personally studied philosophy to sit at the feet of thoughtful people down the centuries who have given their genius and their inquiring spirits to the great questions: What is real? What meaning can there be to life? What and who am I? How do I live? What is a good life? What can I hope for?

I have always maintained the belief that many times, the reason that philosophy is poorly appreciated and poorly studied by students is that the questions of philosophy are not their questions. To be fruitful, the questions that philosophy raises should be their own questions — and philosophy is itself the doorway that opens up to questions that they would never have asked, save for the insights gained from philosophy.

We know, and we are convinced that we know, but what is it that we know and how we know — these are questions that are truly philosophical, and while at first, the gamut of answers provided to these questions in the history of philosophy may be disturbing to the student, what is in fact opened to him is an exciting variety of perspectives, a rich buffet of the finest products of the human mind.

In respect to faith, the philosopher enjoys an edge over the theologian. For the theologian, the starting point is the authority of Scriptures and the authority of the Church. The philosopher has no such given starting points. The philosopher then is in an eminent position to engage persons of different faiths and faith-traditions in dialogue on the essential questions of humankind without being ensconced in “given authority.” In the present era of Synodality that Pope Francis has inaugurated for the Catholic Church, this should be of supreme importance.

A sound social theory should tell us why it is that in many respects, the Church is a shell institution — maintaining the appearance and the trappings of what it has always been, but ceasing to be truly significant in the lives of its members and of its society. In the Philippines, we have also boldly announced that Basic Ecclesial Communities are our way of being Church, but BECs make so many presuppositions about the way people interact and the dynamics of society. These are issues of social theory and communicative action — highly philosophical problems.

Even in respect to the gestures of inclusiveness — accommodating the preferences and inclinations of members of the LBTQA+ sector — and including them in conversation call for a firm grip on the philosophy of the human person, and the issues of sexuality and gender. In this respect the philosophical contribution of Karol Wojtyla is noteworthy.

Finally, I address myself to a frequently raised concern. Walang pera sa philosophy. Having taught law in the colleges of law of Tuguegarao City for so many years and having been dean of the Graduate School of Law of San Beda University for the past 20 years, I have arrived at the realization that philosophy is one truly fitting and apt preparation for the college of law. In respect to employment, given the habits of thought that philosophy forms in the student, the critical attitude, the excitement over insight, the capaciousness of understanding, the philosophy graduate is extremely trainable. The philosophy graduate easily learns and applies himself with thoughtfulness to whatever it is that is assigned to him as a task.

These and many more are the reasons that we study philosophy.