Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Public Lives

Public Lives is a collection of the columns of Randy David, eminent opinion writer and sociologist. Compared to Reflections, this work is less ideological and political, and more philosophical and reflexive. The style is more taut and powerful, perhaps due to the need to deliver a persuasive message within the space constraints of a column. There is greater comfort with ambiguity and alternative modes of perception and explanation. Also, there is more focus on understanding the self as a way to interpret the external world.

I see Randy as the most important analyst of Philippine politics and society today and the country's foremost public intellectual. I sometimes envy the unhurried, reflective life of the academic he leads, but I am afraid I have already made a choice to take a different path. He remains hopeful that my generation can bring Philippine society into modernity, and I hope I can help take the lead in making that a reality.

Christmas Mystery

I have read, heard, and seen many accounts of the journey of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem as a Catholic schoolboy. It had always been magical and exciting despite countless repetition. Then, as I grew up, Christmas started to lose its magic, and became nothing but another stressful occasion to spend on gifts, eat unhealthy food, and suffer traffic jams.

As the father of two little baby boys, however, I am rediscovering the feeling of hope, generosity, and anticipation that comes with the Christmas season for they will soon hear the Christmas story for the first time. Like Joachim in the Jostein Gaardner's Christmas Mystery, they too will begin counting the number of days before Christmas finally arrives. And like Elizabeth, I hope they gain an appreciation of the many meanings of this occasion.

True, for the Christian, it is, above all, about the birth of the savior. But it is also about hope for a better tomorrow, forgiveness of sins and starting anew, generosity of spirit through sharing and gift-giving, and appreciating the value of family and friendship. I hope everyone had a happy Christmas, and I wish for a great new year.

Summer and My Childhood

Unlike Europeans, my family never spent long vacations out of town or abroad during the summer. With so much sun throughout the year, perhaps there was no need to savor every sunny day. The only vacation I remember was when we went to Baguio when I was around five years old. After that, all my summers were spent at home. I remember playing hide and seek, catching dragonflies, and riding the swing at the playground right in front of our house. I recall climbing alatiris trees, taking long bicycle rides far from our subdivision, and serving as a sacristan during Holy Week.

I never had the summers by the lake in David Macfarlane's Summer Gone, but I hope to make week-long summer vacations a tradition in my own family. We don't have too many lakes, but we have some of the best beaches in the world. I would like my two boys to grow up with fond memories of perfect summer days evoked in the book and none of the dysfunctions of Caz's family. I want them to remember being pushed by the waves, building sand castles, being burned by the sun, eating grilled seafood, and wanting summer days never to end.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Liberal Party

Mar Roxas, current Liberal Party president, was in the headlines two weeks ago for swearing at President Arroyo during a rally to protest plans to change the constitution. About the same time, I was reading an edited collection of articles by members of the Liberal Party, Liberal Views on Constitutional Reform by Antonio Nachura and Jonathan Malaya, advocating strongly for a shift to a federal, parliamentary form of government. Florencio Abad actually makes a strong case for a parliamentary form of government based on evidence provided by political science research.

I can understand the change of heart since charter change now will obviously benefit the current administration, and stifle LP's chances of recapturing the presidency after forty years. I am even considering joining the party as it appears to be the only mainstream party whose members exhibit integrity and competence while having a decent chance of winning. I am beginning to doubt, however, whether Roxas can actually win as most surveys indicate that the early leaders are Legarda, De Castro, and Villar.

Ultimately, I think, a genuine, programmatic political party with a winning coalition of supporters has to arise in order for the polity to transcend the continuing hold of the landowning oligarchy. It remains to be seen whether Roxas can transform the LP into that party or it will take someone from my generation to overcome cynicism over politics and organize such a party.

Don Juan and Yaqui Way of Knowledge

I read this book by Carlos Castaneda simply because it was on our shelf. I hesitated to read it as my science high school training means I remain skeptical of non-rational modes of explanation. Also, it was all too easy to dismiss it as a 60's junkie's way of philosophizing and rationalizing his aimless, and hedonistic quest for the next high.

Surprisingly, however, it was actually a fascinating read. Carlos' drug induced hallucinations are utterly fascinating, and, on occasion, terrifying. Perhaps, they are a powerful illustration of the alternative modes of understanding of the Yaqui culture, one that is extremely difficult for a rationalist to comprehend. Or, they are nothing but the contortions of the mind brought about by chemicals in the "allies."

An even more interesting dimension to this text is the claim that Castaneda's work was not a credible anthropology thesis, but, rather, a work of creative writing. Regardless, its invitation to suspend disbelief and challenge conventional apprehension of reality makes it a worthy read.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

TS Eliot Selected Prose and Understanding Poetry

Time Magazine called Eliot the greatest English language poet of the 20th century. I have read Alfred Prufrock, but not The Waste Land - his masterpiece. In this collection of prose, however, the greatest value I derive is the confirmation that a poem has many more meanings than can be interpreted rationally. A poem is a poem precisely because the whole is more than the sum of the denotations of words strung together to fit a conventional form. Form is employed to establish order and reproduce on paper a series of moods, emotions, and evocations. Inevitably, when the rational mind is used to understand the representation of emotional expression, it finds itself uncertain and tentative. There is a sense that not all has been understood when reading poetry. There is an even greater sense of inadequacy when the attempt is made to communicate what was supposed to be understood. Reading Eliot as the literary critic, however, gives comfort that the reader can understand a poem at a deep, emotional level, yet find it difficult to articulate what has been understood.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Ethics

Ethics, by Louis Pojman, is a textbook on ethics that I read simply because I found a photocopy at home, which was borrowed by my wife from her friend's sister. It probably had a profound effect on her intellectual development since it kindled her interest in philosophy, which she eventually studied as her undergraduate degree.

I tend to agree with Pojman's moral objectivist stance. I see moral relativism, especially subjectivism, as a nihilist, not to mention selfish, intellectual dead end. I may even be an intuitionist to some degree as I think that some acts are, on their face value and even without recourse to reason, so morally repugnant that no decent person would even attempt to argue on the grounds of cultural relativism, e.g. torturing children.

Virtue based ethics, as expounded in the works of Plato and Aristotle, also appeals to me. Morality springs forth from a morally excellent character. The emphasis on personal moral development in the context of a moral community is richer and more natural than an individualist and minimalist morality that focuses on sanctions and prohibitions. It is in relation to this thought that I think of how religion fits quite naturally with morality and why secular morality sometimes feels empty and groundless.