I came across a philosophical article that posed the question, Can a Filipino become a philosopher? Let us first answer the question, what is a philosopher? He is a person who tackles the fundamental questions about the nature of existence (metaphysics), knowledge (epistemology), morality (ethics), values (axiology), world (cosmology); he also tackles the questions on the nature of politics, culture, society, etc. He is a philosophical thinker, one in love (philos) of wisdom (Sophia).
In the Philippine context, philosophy is said to have formally begun in the 16th century. University of Sto. Tomas opened it as part of the curriculum in 1611. Philosophy evolved through the centuries. But due to limited space, let us jump to the 20th century.
Philosophizing could be understood as the act of tackling questions on philosophical themes or topics. Here a person is not merely earning a philosophy degree but is engaging him/herself in reflecting and answering philosophical questions. For example, a Filipino philosopher might tackle the questions: What is the nature of Philippine society, Philippine politics? How could one give a rational account of the Filipino mental framework? And many more questions.
In this country, philosophizing is said to be relatively recent. It is said to have formally begun in the time of Emerita Quito, philosophy professor at De La Salle University. She is now regarded as a leading female philosopher.
There were debates among Filipino philosophers about whether Filipino philosophy exists. As to what constitutes Filipino philosophy, there are two views. Alfredo Co, professor at University of Santo Tomas, views it as referring to the body of works of Filipino philosophers. Emerita Quito and others view it as referring to the world-view of the Filipino people as a race, embedded in its culture. However, it would depend on how we understand Filipino philosophy.
If philosophy is the quest for the Filipino indigenous world-view, it would seem to be limited, because it appears that our cultural heritage could only provide a limited view of reality. Our history could help us in this regard. But, in short, it is of course a valid quest. It is a Filipino philosophy. It appears that Karl Gaspar’s work, Mindanawon/Lumad Philosophy, belongs here.
If philosophy is referring also to the works of Filipino philosophers, then Filipino philosophy could and would explore the different universal themes concerning reality, those same themes tackled by western philosophers for centuries. In this way, a Filipino philosopher could possibly come up with a treatise, discussing his original thought on a certain universal theme, ideas other than those of western philosophers. These original thoughts are, of course, to be called Filipino philosophy, since they originated in the Philippines and by a Filipino. A Filipino philosopher could possibly rise up to international prominence for producing original ideas on the same theme/s tackled by western philosophers, who might even borrow from his ideas.
The two views on Filipino philosophy are valid quests. Co and Quito are both right in their respective stances. Originality of thought is very possible if we allow ourselves to explore not only our own world-view as a people but also the different universal philosophical themes, which are open to all human beings in this planet, without being like parasites to western philosophers.
A Filipino then can become a philosopher. No law of nature prohibits one from becoming so. But it would depend on one’s courage to dare to tackle universal philosophical themes independently and to stop the tendency to merely apply philosophical doctrine of a western philosopher to elucidate a certain fragmental aspect of reality, either our particular reality as Filipino or a reality of universal appeal in general.
The more themes we allow ourselves to tackle independently, the greater the possibility of a Filipino becoming a real philosopher at par with western philosophers. But we need to overcome what appears to be an intellectual insecurity and adopt the daring spirit of a Galileo Galilei who dared to think other than the Aristotelian view of the solar system prevalent in his time.