Editor’s Note: Towards a Filipino Virtue Ethics
- DOI :
- https://doi.org/10.55997/1001pslix178en
- Author/s :
- Nicanor Pier Giorgio R. Austriaco, OP - Guest Editor
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This paper explores the relationship of pag-unawa, the Filipino notion of “understanding” with Aquinas’ discussion of the virtue of mercy. For the Angelic Doctor, knowledge is considered to take precedence over love except in cases when the lover considers the beloved under the gaze of mercy or when the other is higher than the person knowing. It is by examining Aquinas’ nuanced development of the relationship of love and
knowledge that we can arrive at a better understanding of pag-unawa. For Aquinas, mercy can only be a virtue if it is a movement of the intellective appetite regulated by right reason. Intriguingly, he perceives mercy as a kind of “defect” in human beings in so far as they look upon another’s distress as their own. In other words, there is a union with the object loved similar to how the soul becomes one with the object known.
In my view, pag-unawa can be understood in terms of the knowledge-preceding-love dynamic when applied to things that we can know ordinarily, i.e., knowledge derived through abstraction mediated by sense experience. Moreover, I propose that the dynamic of love-preceding-knowledge (una ang awa) can be applied to the virtue of pag-unawa when it becomes an imitation of God’s merciful action. In this sense, right understanding of someone or something presupposes a merciful gaze. This allows for a Thomistic appreciation of pagunawa
that respects the Filipino psyche while remaining faithful to Aquinas’ principles.
Keywords : Pag-unawa, understanding, love, knowledge, mercy, awa, virtue, Filipino
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Pakikisáma is a Filipino term that describes the value of social harmony and the ability to get along with others. Usually, we consider pakikisáma as a form of Filipino value, but can we also treat it as a virtue? This paper presents the dynamic interplay between the Filipino virtue of pakikisáma and Aquinas’ concept of charity within the context of friendship, i.e., amicitia. The paper aims to forge a compelling dialogue that uncovers the profound connection between these two virtues. By scrutinizing the nature of pakikisáma within the framework of Aquinas’ virtue ethics, this exploration aims to discern whether this deeply ingrained Filipino value aligns with the criteria of virtue, thus enriching our understanding of pakikisáma. This paper seeks to unravel the rich connection between these seemingly disparate yet interconnected virtues.
Keywords : Thomas Aquinas, Amicitia, Charity, Virtue, Filipino Virtues, Pakikisama
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In this essay, we use the framework of Thomistic virtue ethics to recast kagandahangloób, which is the disposition to regard the other as a kapwa or shared-self, as a Filipino virtue. Kagandahang-loób is analyzed as a morally good disposition and a good operative habitus by identifying its subject as loób, its object as kapwa, and its mean as established by pakikiramdaman. Next, this essay unpacks the Thomistic virtues of benevolentia, beneficentia, and misericordia to reveal their similarities and differences with kagandahang-loób. It does so not to improve the Filipino notion of kagandahang-loób but to yield new insights that offer
intellectual and reflective resources for the building up of the Filipino community.
Keywords : kagandahang-loób, loób, kapwa, benevolentia, beneficentia, misericordia, virtue-ethics
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Utang na Loób is a Filipino term that portrays a Filipino character or quality that maintains relationships with people who have been showing and doing good deeds and intentions to them. It describes the boundaries and nature of social bonds among Filipinos. It reminds and demands every Filipino to be keenly aware of indebtedness and obligations to people who have given them a favor and be grateful and repay them when they are in need. However, utang na loób is open to abuse. It can be used as a weapon of manipulation. In connection with that, this paper aims to study utang na loób in conversation with St. Thomas’ Aquinas’ notion of gratia/gratitudine (ST. II-II, q. 106). It demonstrates how Aquinas' notion of gratitude can elucidate ways to avoid the pitfalls of utang na loób and distinguish circumstances where utang na loób becomes either a virtue or vice.
Keywords : Utang na loób, Gratitude, Aquinas, Filipino, virtue, Hiya, Kagandahang-loob
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Pagpapakabayani is a Filipino virtue that can be translated into English as “to be heroic.” This study explores pagpapakabayani in dialogue with the Thomistic account of virtuous anger. It begins with a phenomenological analysis of pagpapakabayani, drawing upon the foundational pillars of loób and kapwa to illustrate the relational nature of Filipino virtue ethics. It then explores the virtue of pagpapakabayani and its relation to the Filipino
passion of gālit, which is the passion of anger directed towards a person who is perceived to be the cause of an injustice. Gālit can trigger pagpapakabayani, propelling a Filipino to that heroism that can correct an injustice. In a parallel fashion, virtuous anger can impel individuals to pursue the well-being of their beloved.
Keywords : Thomism, anger, Filipino, galit, bayani, virtue, pagpapakabayani
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While there are compelling reasons to shift from a Filipino value system to a Filipino virtue ethics shaped by the Thomistic tradition, certain areas need to be revisited and clarified. For instance, how do we clarify the ambivalent relationship between loób and kapwa? At this time, there seems to be a subjective understanding of loób and a perverted conception of kapwa that make an objective ethics difficult. In my view, this ambivalence is linked to how Filipino ethicists believe that reason is subjugated by the will, and even by the passions. Hence, this paper proposes that the virtue of paninindigan must play an integral part of any successful Filipino virtue ethics. By analyzing this uniquely Filipino concept, we discover that this virtue can fundamentally anchor the Filipino virtues in katotohanan, i.e, truth. After all, katotohanan is not devoid of a relationship-oriented character while at the same time remaining “objective” in the sense that it wills the true good—and not just a subjective or relative good—of both the loób and kapwa. Paninindigan bolsters the inherent goodness of a holistic and relational loób and kapwa since it serves as a katig (outrigger) of the Filipino virtues, safeguarding them from bad use. Simply put, paninindigan fortifies Filipino virtues to be virtues in the true sense of the word.
Keywords : paninindigan, katotohanan, loób, kapwa, pagkakaisa, katig, Filipino virtue ethics
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In 1988, the then Department of Education, Culture, and Sports implemented the Values Education Program which was considered as one of the ways to fight corrupt practices pervading the private and public sector and to improve the morals among the Filipino citizens. One of the components of the said program is to intensify the value of maka-Diyos among the students which seemed to be complicated since no definition was given to encapsulate the concept. By looking into Lourdes Quisumbing’s A Study of the Philippine Values Education Programme (1986-1993), this article aims to provide the value of maka-Diyos some definition for grounding. A survey of the concepts bahala na and gulong ng palad is also presented as an analysis of the two common expressions which are commonly associated with the virtue of maka-Diyos. The paper likewise examines the writings of Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologiae regarding the virtue of faith which could help deepen the understanding of this Filipino virtue. It is my hope to identify ways to better speak about this virtue to younger Filipinos to support the values education program of the government and to counter public and private sector corruption.
Keywords : Filipino, values, virtue, faith, maka-Diyos, values education, bahala na, gulong ng palad
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The devotion to the Santo Niño or Holy Child enjoys great popularity all over the Philippines, especially in the Visayas and Mindanao. However, it is not particularly noticeable in the northern provinces of the country. Curiously, the documents presented here show that there were strong Santo Niño devotions in the northernmost towns of the Ilocos and Cagayan provinces, specifically Bangui (Ilocos Norte) and Abulug (Cagayan), at least in the first half of the eighteenth century. There are very little traces of these devotions
at present in the mentioned towns.
Keywords : Abulug, Augustinians in the Philippines, Bangui, Cagayan, Dominicans in the Philippines, Santo Niño
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| Address |
PHILIPPINIANA SACRA Ecclesiastical Publication Office University of Santo Tomas España St., Manila 1015 |
|---|---|
| Website | https://philsacra.ust.edu.ph |
| Contact |
(632) 8740-9710 (telefax)
(632) 3406-1611 loc. 8251 |
| philippiniana.sacra@ust.edu.ph | |
| ISSN | Print : 0115-9577
Electronic : 2651-7418 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.55997/ps |
