Morality in the 21st Century

The latest guest on Philosophy Bites is American moral philosopher Susan Neiman. In this short podcast she discusses morality in the 21st century.

Neiman suggests that fundamentalism may well be a reaction to this period's unbridled consumerism, that in effect those yearning for a return to the fundamentals reject that the end-all and be-all of life is to amass as many consumer goods as possible. How then can one search for a meaningful life other than what advanced global capitalism permits? Neiman suggests a re-examination of the Enlightment period and the values it has to offer. The other choices would be to settle for a nostalgia in pre-modernity or the cyncisim of the postmodern where nothing is of value, which implies nothing is worth doing. Neiman says the the most crucial element of the Enlightment project is the idea of progress, that is, it allows one to be self-critical, to build from those critiques and move forward.

The Spirit of the Law and the Ghouls of Arroyo

There are two ways of looking at a country’s legal system. One is that it embodies a set of rules that regulate actions of those bound by the law – legal personalities who inhabit the country in question. It is ‘unlawful’ or ‘illegal’ to steal from your neighbor. The capacity to say that it is wrong to commit such an act shapes the behavior of those who commit themselves, as citizens, to the legal community (i.e. country). To add teeth to the law, there are also all sorts of punishments levied upon those who transgress what is lawful or legal. You pay a fine, you do community service, your liberty is taken away. Seen this way, laws are a set of rules designed to regulate or harmonize a community. They assure order and a measure of peace so that citizens might go about their daily lives with as little hassle as possible.

But what makes stealing unlawful? Or killing? Or rape? These are not ‘unlawful’ just because. The rules by which we abide are moral judgments. It is morally wrong to steal, kill and rape. Why? Because those who have drafted these laws and the community which protects and/or abide by them have put value on one being able to keep one’s possessions and one not being killed or raped by any random person. These values, in turn, are also underlined by a chain of other values – the sanctity of private property, the sanctity of life, the sanctity of dignity. And so on.

Bishops in Our Bedroom

Bishops in our Bedroom: Roman Catholic Church and the Reproductive Health Bill in the Philippines

Reading Che

This is one of the books I'm reading at the moment. Unlike most biographies, Jorge Catañeda's Compañero: The Life and Death of Che Guevara is an engaging account of a near-mythical figure in revolutionary times.

Che clearly wishes to help others (usually patients) and concurrently sketches a broader vision of 'the order of things.' He is appalled by the poverty and desperation stemming from inequality and helplessness of the poor, but has reached a level of sophistication where he establishes a causal link between the deplorable destiny of 'the proletariat around the world' and an 'absurd sense of caste' - that is, the economic, social and political status quo.

Yet the remedy he proposes is still quite limited. It is a typically middle-class lamentation, within the most simplistic common-sense approach. Governments must stop spending on their own exaltation (like Peron), and pay more attention to the poor. Little is said of why governments act as they do, or what can be done beyond the ritual incantation that they should stop acting as they habitually do. Che's appeal is moral, not really political, arising from an individual, ethical stance against the way things are. With time, his political acumen would become more focused and complex, as befits a leader. But it would never entirely lose that original innocence, springing from the young medical student's encounter with pain and suffering, and strangely but also lastingly, from a certain distance, a deliberately assumed marginal position.

Thanks to B for pilfering this from his school's lost and found. Hehe.

Health Secretary Pummeled by Men in Funny Hats Over Condoms

"To remain rooted in 15th century practices when we are dealing with the wonders of the 21st century gives God a bad name and suggests He can’t adapt to the power and wonders of the intellect He granted man." - Joe America, regular FV commenter.

CBCP legal counsel Atty. Jo Imbong goes head to head with Sec. Cabral.



Then Ricky Carandang asks Atty. Imbong, clearly there is a problem with the spread of HIV/AIDS, what does the church propose as a solution?

Imbong: ......... (coded: don't have sex)




Oh, and happiness, now the CBCP wants to ban condom ads. One wonders why they are not so rabid in fighting corruption.

Drowning in Manny

Horror of horrors, Manny Villar seems to have taken possession of my body. He haunts me everywhere I go and whatever I do. Since I no longer watch television nor listen to the radio, he stalks me on Youtube and Facebook. On the same day I saw a caravan of Villar's supporters handing out flyers in the UP Diliman campus, a friend texted he heard the Villar ad on the MRT. Manny is anywhere and everywhere, omnipresent - like God.

Manny Villar, utang na loob, lubayan mo ako.

As I watched men in orange caps accost UP students, I wondered how much he's been spending to win his prize. All this election spending is not a bit like our consumer-led economic growth, all hot air with no ultimate substance. Posters and flyers are printed, ads are produced and aired, thousands are hired to serve the Villar election machine. Tremendous economic energy expended...for nothing. But no, the presidency is well worth Villar's investment. If GMA is any indication, the chief executive's SAL has a tendency to skyrocket upon assuming office. The presidency has proven lucrative. What businessman can resist?

The Politics of Owning and Remembering EDSA

A monopoly on history is a monopoly of power. A monopoly of telling the narrative can only match the writer's ideological standpoint. What really happened in EDSA? Who were the protagonists? The bad guys? Those who chose to sit on the sidelines? What was the context in which the event happened? Was it planned or spontaneous? What were the events that led to it?

If remembering is a way to reconstruct events in history, then different sections of society will see the past through multiple views. The view from the left is not the same from the right. The view from the top cannot be the same as that from the bottom. What is not contested is that the People Power revolution was good. This is probably why so many camps seek to co-opt EDSA to suit their own purposes today. Co-opting EDSA endows one with magic/legitimising properties. Co-opting EDSA allows one to be morally right. And so it seems, rarely do we 'remember' in an entirely objective manner. On such a momentous event as the People Power revolution, the politics of remembering is rife.

Perhaps the tendency to multiple views on EDSA 1986 is a measure of how fractured and segmented we remain. In a sense, what was true twenty-four years ago remains true today. Those who would insist that no such fractures exist are ideologically blind if not idiots.

Suffering

The conventional wisdom goes, going through hardship makes us good people. Philosopher Julian Baggini doesn't seem to think so. So how did this nugget of wisdom become conventional? Baggini has a proposition:

Why then do so many persist with the idea that suffering is good for us? The religious need to, of course. If suffering is not, on balance, a good thing, then there can be no benevolent creator in charge of this show. But even without a theological motivation, the thought of so much suffering without redemption can be almost intolerable. Believing it has a point can be the only way to make life bearable.

Agora: a film review

(Spoiler free!!!)

"You do not question what you believe. You cannot. I must."

One pithy line neatly illustrates the tensions in Alejandro Amenabar's latest - Agora.

The "robe and sandal" epic portrays the ancient city of Alexandria in the twilight years of the Roman empire. The fraying political hold of the Romans leave a vacuum for religious factions to take over. Christians, Jews and Pagans all struggle to maintain influence over the city's governors and governed. And in the middle of the maelstrom, Hypatia, Neoplatonist philosopher/mathematician and part-time political advisor.



Based on real characters and events from the fifth century, the themes tackled in Agora are still very much contemporary. Amenabar's directorial eye casts reflections on humankind's search for meaning and order in the universe. The film also depicts the problematic posed by the intersection of the religious and political realms. And at the heart of it all, the struggle to reconcile faith with reason.

Oh, and let me say, atheists, agnostics, feminists, scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, RH advocates and people with non-universalizing tendencies will probably love this film. :-)

Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel for Senator

I have absolutely zero qualms endorsing Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel for Senator. I know her to be an uber hard-working member of Congress. She seems to be in so many places all at once, working on policy issues of import to the Filipino people. Too, it doesn't hurt that she's really easy on the eyes. She's even better looking in person believe you me. Hehehe.

Here is "GMA" stating her reasons for not endorsing Rep. Risa for senate.



And here is the story behind Risa's signature scarf.

Noynoy and Great Expectations

Sen. Noynoy Aquino was twenty minutes late. The Blogwatch livestream interview had been scheduled at 6:00pm last Saturday and there were around 20 bloggers in attendance. I arrived a little after 5 o'clock at the designated venue, earlier if the traffic lights nearby had been working properly. This is democracy in action. Traffic flows bitch on all of us in equal measure.

He didn't come with a swarm of guards, in he strode in sombre black - bright, naked. His face was clear though, belying the long day of endless talk and consultation. I have met many politicians in the last year and a half. Sins committed in wielding power weather faces quickly. Lying and cheating shadow eyes. Too, I have become quite adept at detecting bullshit. I do not impress easily. I was neither impressed nor lied to.

He sat in comfort in front of us, the bloggers on either side, cameras in corners. It was an intimate tête-à-tête. I was less than 1o feet away. One quivers in the presence of power, invisible strings pull the spine to straight, the feet to point in the correct direction. One is instantly on alert - as when a predator eyes her prey. I felt no such tension in the presence of the son of Ninoy and Cory Aquino. I took pictures freely, tried to key in notes, whispered side comments with other bloggers. I slouched.

Show me the Money!

Public finance is probably not such a hot topic for opinion-makers and news writers. We do not often hear about the state of the country's national purse - what we make, what we save (if any), what we spend on, how much goes to what. Numbers probably seem a snooze compared to the political scandal of the moment.

But think about it - public finance deals with the most intimate aspect of our political identity - the money we are obliged (coerced) to give to our country. If you tally all that is automatically deducted from your income, what could you have bought instead? Would you have been able to send another sibling to school? Better medical treatment for your folks? A house? Seen this way, 'public' finance suddenly becomes very personal. What have we given up to the state, what have we sacrificed in our personal lives to be able to pay taxes?

Being Human

To deny the body its due is to deny an essential aspect of the human condition. While we are beings of reason and of will, these are tempered by the materiality of hunger and pain. Who we are and what we believe are products of the conditions in which we live. Our values – the things we value, are shaped by our material circumstances. To illustrate, a Canadian might not think twice about leaving leftovers in a restaurant. A Filipino would. Food does not comprise a substantial percentage of a person’s income in Canada. It does in the Philippines. And so, Filipinos value food more than Canadians – and behave in ways that reflect this value.

Interrogating the voters’ motivations for voting a certain way, Cocoy is disturbed by the reasons given by the poorest - “Feed us. That’s the only thing that matters. We don’t’ care whether you steal. We don’t care about your fight. Just feed us.”

He writes, “What I think this survey tells us is that right here, right now, more and more Filipinos are focusing on the material, the bodily needs, rather than the big picture.” Indeed, this may be true. But this reasoning has a logic all its own. Those who suffer hunger will make rational decisions - food and comfort now will weigh more than a nebulous future. When one makes do with P200 a day for example, what is the point of living beyond the mere moment?

Also, valuing a president who “cares for the poor” more than one who is “not corrupt/clean” reflects two things – the condition of powerlessness and quasi-feudal values.

The powerless will not think to question the actions of the powerful. The inhabitants of Tondo will not think it their place to question whether Manny Villar has behaved according to the dictates of the law. What is the point when they cannot do anything about it anyhow? All they will care about is that Villar, the quasi feudal lord, will provide as he sees fit. This system of patronage does not only exist between politicos and the many poor. It is endemic in our entire political system.

It is good to dream the impossible dream. But surely, we all must temper idealism with a little bit of humanity.

Manny Villar's C5 at Taga Explained in Seven Minutes

Here is a brief explanation of what the C5 extension brouhaha is all about.


For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

Winnie Monsod explains:

"On the basis of the map, it is clear... there are two alignments - MCTEP and the C5 extension project. It is also clear that one of them was unnecessary. Why? It has to be the burnt orange project because the other project had already been approved earlier. It is also clear that the C5 extension project is gonna be more costly because it is longer and it is built wholly on government funds. Third, because what the government spent on the road right of way for the old project will now go to waste. Why will it go to waste? Well really, can you imagine the joint venture partner building this project when there is this road parallel to it, almost beside it, sometimes overlapping it. Who will want to pay toll when there is a free road right next to it. And finally it is very clear that the greater length of the C5 extension project enables it to pass through all the Villar properties...

There remains the issue of the overprice of the Villar properties...there were 22 properties that had to be bought to get a right of way for the C5 extentions project. The average price paid for the non-Villar properties was P2,422 per square meter. The average price paid for Villar properties was P11,519 per square meter for mostly raw land."

Shadowlight

This house. It used to fill with noise. Now it is mostly quiet. Human denizens have been replaced with mewing, barking creatures. This house of my youth, my childhood. Ghostly quiet, a mute witness to nigh three decades of history. Underneath the gray of neglect, I see the white walls. They used to echo laughter, idle talk, forceful anger. I care not to have repairs made. The peeling paint, the dripping ceiling, the rot in the wood are all in mute understanding, this house will soon lay to rest. And with it shall be buried lives fully lived. I have not regrets. Soon I shall leave, far longer than before. I am fine with the possibility of never coming back for good. With me I take memories of good and bad. My parents’ house, the shrine to their dreams fulfilled. They were never mine. The mango tree blooms for the nth time, its fruits even now falling useless on the roof, on the ground. I remember when it was planted first. I was five. It is beautiful in shadowlight.