beside mama mary
thanks for the guidance during my apostolate there! ORA PRO NOBIS!
posted by Franklin at
9:57 AM
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0 comments
Friday, June 22, 2007
sa ice cream haus sa basista
masarap ba yung ice cream? hehehe
posted by Franklin at
9:56 AM
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0 comments
sa kubo kasama ang mga Parish Youth Apostolate ng Basista
Miss you all guys! pasayal ako dyan pag may bakasyon kami! Thanks for the friendship. Hope you wont forget. ur always in my heart n prayers!
posted by Franklin at
9:55 AM
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0 comments
mga kabataan ng basista
Nice working with you all guys! Keep the PYA SPIRIT! Mansirbi kayo nin maong ed saray kalangueran!
posted by Franklin at
9:54 AM
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0 comments
LIVING NOT MERELY KNOWING PHILOSOPHY
LIVING NOT MERELY KNOWING PHILOSOPHY
(A Paper on Chinese Philosophy)
As a fourth year graduating philosophy student, I have studied different philosophies of various philosophers for years. Now, I can say that, perhaps, I am more adept in writing philosophical reflections or papers compared to the students outside who are taking up nursing, engineering, education, etc. I can now speak more things about philosophy than before such as St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument, St. Thomas’ Quinque Viae, Kant’s Categorical Imperatives, Nietzsche’s pronouncement that “God is dead,” Edmund Husserl’s Phenomenological Method, Alfred Whitehead’s Process Philosophy and many more philosophies of renowned philosophers. Many if they will ask me if what knowledge means, I can give them a variety of answers from a range of philosophers; I can say that knowledge for Plato means “justified true belief” while for Kant, “knowledge is synthetic a priori.” For almost four years, I have gone many readings, passed a lot of recitations, quizzes and exams in my rigid philosophy subjects. My mind is somewhat filled with so many theories and dogmas of many philosophers by now. Maybe when the comprehensive exams come, I can give some answers to the panelists’ questions. However, I ask, “Is my knowledge in philosophy makes me a good philosophy student at all?”
In my own point of view, merely knowing these different theories and dogmas of different philosophers from different philosophical era does not make someone a good philosophy student. As I see myself, at first I thought that being a good philosophy student is being able to explain different metaphysical principles, memorizing the different principles in ethics or writing an excellent philosophical term paper, so that when the grades will be released at the end of the semester, I will get a high mark in my card. Nevertheless, I realized that philosophy is far beyond knowing the theories and dogmas of many philosophers. It is not just answering a very hard question such as whether God exists or not. Philosophy is not only about knowing these different ideas but, more importantly, it is about integrating these ideas in my life.
Philosophy is a way of life. If it is a way of life, philosophy, therefore, is a powerful tool for us to understand better our own living condition and to improve the way we live. There is really a little value of knowing philosophical theories if these theories do not somehow make a difference in our daily lives. For instance, what good is there in knowing the ethical principles if the one who is knowledgeable in them is still living an immoral life? What is the value of knowing St. Thomas’ Proof on the existence of God if the one who is learned with his philosophy lives as if there is no God? What is the use of knowing the definition of truth if the one who knows its meaning always lives in untruthfulness? Philosophy is not about theories or dogmas, but it is about how these philosophical thoughts are applied to our daily living so that we can live a better life. We ask ourselves, does this philosophy make a difference in my life? If its not, then forget about knowing it! It is worth to be in oblivion.
Understanding the spirit of Chinese philosophical thought, I think is what Chinese Philosophy wants us to make use of philosophy---a philosophy that is not centered on dogmas or theories but a philosophy that is focused on its applicability in our own lives. We must see philosophy not as a static entity that only resides in the mind but as a dynamic entity that brings difference in one’s life. Chinese Philosophy teaches us that philosophy is a powerful pragmatic tool that must transform us into the best human persons we could possibly be and not just inform us with many dogmas and theories that do not make any essential difference in the way we live our lives.
Wisdom is not only for the mind but also for the whole being of one’s human person! Live philosophy; do not just know it!
As a fourth year graduating philosophy student, I have studied different philosophies of various philosophers for years. Now, I can say that, perhaps, I am more adept in writing philosophical reflections or papers compared to the students outside who are taking up nursing, engineering, education, etc. I can now speak more things about philosophy than before such as St. Anselm’s Ontological Argument, St. Thomas’ Quinque Viae, Kant’s Categorical Imperatives, Nietzsche’s pronouncement that “God is dead,” Edmund Husserl’s Phenomenological Method, Alfred Whitehead’s Process Philosophy and many more philosophies of renowned philosophers. Many if they will ask me if what knowledge means, I can give them a variety of answers from a range of philosophers; I can say that knowledge for Plato means “justified true belief” while for Kant, “knowledge is synthetic a priori.” For almost four years, I have gone many readings, passed a lot of recitations, quizzes and exams in my rigid philosophy subjects. My mind is somewhat filled with so many theories and dogmas of many philosophers by now. Maybe when the comprehensive exams come, I can give some answers to the panelists’ questions. However, I ask, “Is my knowledge in philosophy makes me a good philosophy student at all?”
In my own point of view, merely knowing these different theories and dogmas of different philosophers from different philosophical era does not make someone a good philosophy student. As I see myself, at first I thought that being a good philosophy student is being able to explain different metaphysical principles, memorizing the different principles in ethics or writing an excellent philosophical term paper, so that when the grades will be released at the end of the semester, I will get a high mark in my card. Nevertheless, I realized that philosophy is far beyond knowing the theories and dogmas of many philosophers. It is not just answering a very hard question such as whether God exists or not. Philosophy is not only about knowing these different ideas but, more importantly, it is about integrating these ideas in my life.
Philosophy is a way of life. If it is a way of life, philosophy, therefore, is a powerful tool for us to understand better our own living condition and to improve the way we live. There is really a little value of knowing philosophical theories if these theories do not somehow make a difference in our daily lives. For instance, what good is there in knowing the ethical principles if the one who is knowledgeable in them is still living an immoral life? What is the value of knowing St. Thomas’ Proof on the existence of God if the one who is learned with his philosophy lives as if there is no God? What is the use of knowing the definition of truth if the one who knows its meaning always lives in untruthfulness? Philosophy is not about theories or dogmas, but it is about how these philosophical thoughts are applied to our daily living so that we can live a better life. We ask ourselves, does this philosophy make a difference in my life? If its not, then forget about knowing it! It is worth to be in oblivion.
Understanding the spirit of Chinese philosophical thought, I think is what Chinese Philosophy wants us to make use of philosophy---a philosophy that is not centered on dogmas or theories but a philosophy that is focused on its applicability in our own lives. We must see philosophy not as a static entity that only resides in the mind but as a dynamic entity that brings difference in one’s life. Chinese Philosophy teaches us that philosophy is a powerful pragmatic tool that must transform us into the best human persons we could possibly be and not just inform us with many dogmas and theories that do not make any essential difference in the way we live our lives.
Wisdom is not only for the mind but also for the whole being of one’s human person! Live philosophy; do not just know it!
posted by Franklin at
9:23 AM
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0 comments
DOES GOD HIDE HIMSELF?
DOES GOD HIDE HIMSELF?
(A Reflection on the Philosphy of Religion)
It is a fact that there are things that are so rich that will remain veiled to us all. We call them, “mysteries.” I do believe that the thrill of life is in its mysteries. What really gives chill to life is that we are not certain of something but we still take the risk to believe. As Antoine de Saint-Exupery had written in his book The Little Prince, “The desert is beautiful because somewhere there is a well that is hidden.”
The mystery of God is one of the greatest mysteries if not the greatest mystery in this world. People are perennially searching into the true nature of God, but they always come up incomplete and dissatisfied in the end. In fact, some people turn out be non-believers of God for they cannot verify His existence and just decide to ignore Him in the end.
Because the reality of God is so rich that it surpasses our understanding, we surrender to this great mystery by the act of believing which we call, “faith.” Faith is our ultimate response to the mystery of God. Faith is a gift that we are free to accept or to reject; so it is a fact that some of us believe and some of us do not believe in God’s existence. Because God is not self-evident, for us who believe, there is always a room for doubt in what we believe especially when it seems that God totally hides Himself from us. These are the times when God seems to be so distant or abandoned us in our journey because of our pains, trials, desperations and problems in life. However, these moments of doubt or what we call “unbelief” must serve as our driving force to search for Him more.
To conclude, I ask, “Does God really hide himself from us?” In my own reflection, YES, God seems to hide himself from us. Why? Perhaps, it is for the very reason that we must seek for Him. Because if God were very evident to us, we would only take Him for granted, for to know Him is just as easy as taking a candy from a baby; He would just be then a subject of oblivion. It is really a great challenge for us to search for God and eventually to know Him. To know God is difficult and our lifetime may not be enough to know Him. However, if we truly yearn for Him, we would do our best to search for Him even when the time comes that the worst typhoon would storm our life. To hold on to what we believe, that is, God exists, truly takes a great amount of perseverance, dedication, commitment and sacrifice. We must remember that great things are not so easy to achieve but their rewards are fulfilling in the end, so is in searching for God.
posted by Franklin at
9:21 AM
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0 comments
