Finals

• Filipino Philosophy


  Can be divided into three approaches with 16 different meanings
• Three approaches to Filipino Philosophy

  • The traditional/philosophical approach
  • The cultural approach
  • The nationality/constitutional approach
• Traditional/philosophical approach


  Based on the Greek model, wherein individual Filipino philosophers' ideas are discussed
• Nationality/constitutional approach


  Deals with the writings of Filipinos in general, whether it be on a Western or Eastern topic
• Cultural approach


  Addresses the people's philosophical perspectives and views on socio-linguistic, cultural and folk concepts
• Categories of Philippine indigenous philosophy and worldviews under the cultural approach

  • Filipino grassroots or folk philosophies
  • Folk philosophy appropriation
  • Interpretation of Filipino identity and worldview
  • Local cultural values and ethics research
  • Implications and presuppositions of Filipino worldviews
• Timbreza (2014) discusses the issue of whether Filipino philosophy exists or not, and concludes that since philosophy starts and ends with people's experience, there is Filipino philosophy, considering that the Filipino experience exists
• Timbreza uses the cultural approach as classified by Gripaldo, as he analyzes unique life experiences to harness these worldviews
• If these worldviews are based on literature, art, ethics, practices and attitudes, Filipinos can be said to have their own Weltanschauung
• Timbreza uses indigenous and native legends, poems, epics, songs, riddles (bugtong), proverbs (salawikain), rituals and dances as basis for the collective Filipino philosophy of life
• Worldviews


  Mental lenses that are entrenched ways of perceiving the world
• Seven principles of indigenous worldviews

  • Knowledge is holistic, cyclic, and dependent upon relationships and connections to living and non-living beings and entities
  • There are many truths, and these truths are dependent upon individual experiences
  • Everything is alive
  • All things are equal
  • The land is sacred
  • The relationship between people and the spiritual world is important
  • Human beings are least important in the world
• Five fragments of the Filipino philosophy of life

  • The law of reversion
  • Balance of nature
  • Cyclic concept of nature
  • Centripetal morality
  • Value of non-violence
  • Concept of life and death
• Filipino thought is not a philosophy of being (as the Greek thinkers espoused) but rather the intellectualization of "indigenous perceptions of reality"
• Filipino Spirituality


  Spirituality is related to the search for the sacred in a person, object, or ritual that is above the self
• Filipinos are known to be religious and spiritual people
• Long before the Spaniards came, Filipinos already believed in a God and they already had different religious rituals that demonstrated their spirituality
• Anito


  A pure soul, pure spirit, or god in Filipino belief
• The relationship of Filipinos with "anitos" can be considered as something deep and can be viewed as a form of pakikipagkapwa
• Examples of indigenous religious practices and beliefs in the Philippines

  • Rituals and prayers across the Philippines
  • Devotions at Mt. Banahaw
  • Devotion to the Sto. Entierro in Calabanga and Kapampangan regions
  • Aeta beliefs in Apo Namalyari, Tigbalog, Lueve, Amas, and Binangewan
• Relationship of Aetas with Anitos

  • Aetas believe spirits abound in the environment and must be appeased, with the "manganito" as the link between Aetas and the spirits
  • Mt. Pinatubo is considered the center of their universe and the home of their supreme being Apo Namalyari
  • Sickness is a social experience, with the community seeking a cure through rituals involving the "manganito"
• Aetas have a strong faith in God, often attributing their experiences to the "will of God"
• Examples of Aeta religious practices


  • Rituals and dances before pig hunting and honey collecting
  • Prayers and dancing as religious ceremonies