What They Should Have Taught Us in School is TO THINK FOROURSELVES NOT MERELY WHAT TO THINK

The Significance of Social Sciences, the State of Education, theUniversity and the making of the Intellectuals

There is no shadow of doubt that the social science subjectsundeniably played a vital and pivotal part in harnessing the fullpotentials of our young. It is precisely through these coursesthat they broaden their horizons and widen the sphere of theirmental grasps.

It is also incontestable that the most suitable place for ouryoung minds to be developed and cultivated is undeniably at theuniversity.

A university is an intellectual community. It is the highestsacred ground in a society wherein the primordial purpose is toseek the truth, the just, and the beautiful. It is an avenuewherein all the actors are equal in pursuit of excellence,harmony and wisdom.

The university is exactly the very place where the learnedsociety hammered and produced its intellectuals. Indeed, one doesnot produce intellectuals in isolation.

In the words of Professor Clive Kessler:

Truly outstanding minds are cultivated within, and emerge from, a conduciveenvironment.

They take shape and grow most, and best, in countries where the intellectualcapacities and potential of all its citizens are supported, encouraged andcultivated.

In places where, among those offered the chance to pursue a scholarly path,“the life of the mind” in its broad, most humanly inclusive senses isrespected and promoted.

In other words, the production of a few geniuses and of a largernumber of internationally-ranking “near-geniuses” depends uponthe creation of a sound, progressive and internationallycompetitive primary and secondary education system.

What is an intellectual?

According to Wikipedia, an intellectual is: a person who usesthought and reason, intelligence and critical or analyticalreasoning, in either a professional or a personal capacity and is

1. a person involved in, and with, abstract, erudite ideas and theories;

2. a person whose profession (e.g. philosophy, literary criticism,sociology, law, political analysis, theoretical science, etc.) solely involvesthe production and dissemination of ideas;

3. a person of notable cultural and artistic expertise whose knowledgegrants him or her intellectual authority in public discourse.

Based these definition, an intellectual is a person or anindividual who is involved or is engaged in creating eruditeideas (whether abstract or not) and making some theories.

The primordial duty of the intellectual is to disseminate ideas.He or she is of notable culture and held some artistic expertisewhich standing gives him/her a sense of intellectual authority inpublic discourse.

Who are the Intellectuals?

There is no iota of doubt that the intellectuals are thephilosophers, the teachers, the writers, the poets, the artistsand the like.

The French existentialist philosopher and Marxist revolutionary,Jean Paul Sartre pronounced that the intellectuals are the moralconscience of their age. He passionately believed as he himselflived his life the way he wrote and taught that: the task of theintellectuals is not limited by merely observing the political

and social situation of the moment, but undeniably to be involvedand engaged actively in all of society’s issues and concerns.Finally, he also maintained that part and parcel of the duty ofan intellectual is to serve as a voice of the marginalized, theoppressed, the idiots, the exploited, the lowest members of thesociety and indeed to speak out—freely—in accordance with theirconsciences.

Professor Noam Chomsky, like Sartre also subscribes to the beliefthat a true intellectual must not be silenced nor cowed. Theymust always stand for the truth and condemn all the injusticesand inequalities in the world.

Hence, on this ground, an intellectual is not only a member ofhis/her community, but a citizen of the world. This is inconformity with Professor Foucault’s concept of the universalintellectual!

Are they necessary for one society?

Yes, indeed! The intellectuals are truly necessary and indeedimportant in one society or political community. Their ultimatefunction is to serve as the critic of their society’s malaise.

It is not an exaggeration to state that the intellectuals areprecisely the eyes and soul of the community.

Our duty is to let the university as free as possible todischarge its social function of creating intellectuals who arecritical thinkers that will lead to their being civic-minded andresponsible citizens.

Again, to quote Professor Kessler:

It is very hard, if not impossible, to produce that kind of high-qualitynational intellectual armoury in a country whose public universities, betweenthem, cannot show just one internationally credible, or reputable, school ordepartment of modern world philosophy and logic, not one plausible academic“unit” devoted to the study and teaching modern global intellectual and

cultural history, not one adequate (or even inadequate!) department of modernpolitical studies, theory and philosophy.

Why are these things important? Why do they matter?

I will argue in the affirmative. Yes, all these things areundoubtedly important. It is only through a free universitywherein we could produce the technicians, the technocrats, thenext leaders of our country, the social critics, the nextteachers, lecturers, professors and the intellectuals which serveas a vital element in the continuous development of our bodypolitic.

However, we must not only invest materially on intellectualcapital; we must also bolster the ethical and moral cultivationof our young. Intellectual power must be tampered and harmonizedby ethical foundation and moral sense.

Hence, we must engage in a two-pronged program; which is thedevelopment of the mind and the cultivation of the inner spirits.These two elements must concur in order for us to mould andcreate students and citizens which have substance and good moralcharacter.

Virtue and Wisdom are the True Aim of Education

There is a grain of truth to our present malady namely, that oureducational system has failed us!

The answer must be "yes" and this modern day education system hasin fact, failed the whole world.

The world has built many colleges and universities, yet we haveno peace because what we consider education is but an incompleteone.

We failed to realize that education is not a scheduled event, buta continuing process; that the quest to develop ourselves and torefine our character does not cease even if we left the four

corners of the university and enter the competitivenessatmosphere of the workforce. The duty to excel and to polish ourcapacities and capabilities must not wane nor slow down. It mustproceed!

What kind of education is needed?

My humble contention is a Liberal Education. It is my ardentbelief that this is the type of education that makes civilsociety possible and human relations reasonable.

Please allow me to quote Professor A. C Grayling’s elaboration onthe point:

“By ‘liberal education’ is meant education that includes literature, historyand appreciation of the arts, and gives them equal weight with scientific andpractical subjects. Education in these pursuits opens the possibility for usto live more reflectively and knowledgeably, especially about the range ofhuman experience and sentiment, as it exist now and here, and in the past andelsewhere. That, in turn, makes us better understand the interests, needs anddesires of others, so that we can treat them with respect and sympathy isreturned, rendering it mutual, the result is that the gaps which can promptfriction between people, and even war in the end, come to be bridged or atleast tolerated.”

I concur that education must be a blend of the external andinternal in order to create true humanness in a student. Externaleducation alone cannot confer human values and benefit the world.

The external factor is what our educational institution hammeredus to be, while the internal substance is how our socialbackground, our culture, our upbringing, our family raised,reared and educated us. The two elements must concur to produce agood individual! Why? If one element is missing or one requisiteis lacking, there is no point of talking of any foundation atall! There is no plate in the template, it is a house of cards,because there is no foundation whatsoever to speak of!

It is my contention that, even if a person is a graduate ofHarvard, yet he or she did not received a humanistic upbringingor the family is a dysfunctional one; then sad but true, it isidiotic on our part to expect the said individual to be a goodsoul.

We don’t come to school to be good, rather we are there toharmonize and to cultivate the goodness that is already therewithin us prior even to our very first day in the school. Priorto the school, our first ever school or training ground is ourhomes!

If we did not learnt/learned anything good in our ‘first school’,it is my firm position that the ‘second school’, the ‘thirdschool’, etc. would all be useless.

The duty to make a student or a pupil good is not an exclusiverole of the teacher; because in truth and in fact, that crucialand critical role is also incumbent and specially lodged to our‘first teachers’ and they are no other than our mothers, fathers,our parents.

Hence, if our ‘first teachers’ are good for nothing or lazy orignorant or apathetic; even the brightest and the most passionateteacher will have a hard time molding a student which has nofoundation of learning at all. The teacher may win and save somelost souls, but it would be definitely an uphill battle, aconstant struggle.

The Greek philosopher Aristotle categorically stated in his bookThe Nicomachean Ethics that “ethics begins at the feet of yourmother”. We learn ethics right from the beginning, from ourfamily.

He gave us a strong warning that it was useless to teach ethicsand morality to individuals who did not have a good upbringing.

No artificial means, like subjecting them to read voluminousmoral tracts and discussing different ethical theories andlecturing to them on all the good values, would make them goodpersons.

They may appreciate it intellectually, but without a strong moralfoundation inherited and imbibed at home; those books, lecturesand moral/ethical notes would be worthless. It will be anexercise in futility.

Without a good upbringing, no school, no government, no NGO, noinstitution can save them and teach them how to become goodindividuals, and they will never live a good life.

These are the hard facts. Sad but true!

Therefore, it is an absolute element that in order for a personto become good, a moral, ethical and noble family life mustalways be present – at the beginning!

Hence, to squarely answer the question: What is the end of trueeducation?

The true aim of education is virtue and wisdom!

On the Question of the Student-Teacher Relationship, the TeachingProfession and the Importance of Critical Thinking

Once again we return to the perennial question of the kind ofeducational system that we have.

Indeed, it is not an exaggeration to state that our presentacademic set-up, instead of encouraging critical thinking,acquiring soft skills and other relevant intellectual weapons,sad but true, is precisely the very one that kills creativity,stifles innovation and impinges on independent dynamism.

Indeed, our prevailing examination-oriented, score-based, points-mindset educational system undeniably distorts motivation and

learning by our zealot overemphasis on the importance of scoresas outcomes and measures of students' abilities.

Such distorted academic myopia is one of the root causes why ourstudents lack personal confidence and intellectual creativity.Sadly, they are not even qualified enough to fulfill future tasksthat requires beyond memorizing. I am specifically referring tothose employments that demands conversation, writing andoral/verbal communication. I doubt, if receiving instructions,writing memoranda, engaging in a discourse, presenting one’s ideain a meeting, etc. can be memorize. I doubt if there is a bookthat will teach our kids to learn those methods, skills andcraft?!

It is my ardent and firm contention that those skills can only beharness and cultivated by the very act of practicing them ineveryday actuality inside the class room and even beyond the fourcorners of the university. This is the irrefutable fact and theyare indisputable!

There seems to be a grave confusion with regard to what we whatfor our students as against the interest of the general system.

Extrinsically, we are encouraging them to memorize and aspire toget big marks, even perfect scores; yet intrinsically we are alsodemanding they must possess critical thinking, creativity andpersuasive discourse.

This is a blatant contradiction and self-defeating to the utmost.

How could we expect our lads to possess critical thinking when weare not encouraging them to speak their minds? How could weexpect our pupils to become creative if we consigned them to theborders of the lecture-notes and syllabus of the subjects? Andmost importantly, how could we expect our students to express andtalk in a brilliant persuasive discourse if they lack the

personality, the basic foundation and the necessary training(both the written and the oral form)?

I believe that it is unjust for the system and for the teachersto expect too much for the students, given the confusion andcontradiction of the system. It follows that it is also unfairfor the student to be expected to deliver when they are not eventrain and nurture in the first place.

How could one expect the horse to run fast, if the trainer of thehorse did not fully practice and exercise the maximum speed ofthe said horse? If we did not allow the horse to run freely inthe plains to explore the vastness of the wild; but rathersubjected the same to the four corners of enclosure, do we expectthe said horse to perform well the day we release it for the raceof life? Lastly, if we did not give the “finest grasses” and the“best vitamins” to the said beast; do we have the right to expectthe said beast to launch and unleash its full prowess andpotentials?

I do not think so!

Hence on this juncture, I would like to talk about the paramountduty of the trainers, the mentors, the lecturers, yes indeed, theteachers.

The primordial obligation of the teacher is to inspire and guidehis pupils to think unlimitedly, to wonder unceasingly, to dareto ask question beyond imagination, to question without fear norhesitation, to ask unafraid, to speak their minds courageously,to express themselves boldly and with fortitude, to be confidentabout themselves and so as their character, to open up both theirhearts, so as their souls!

The teacher must pass this characteristic of wonder, aquestioning mind and sense of awe to his pupils.

It is my fervent belief that the ultimate duty of the teacher isto teach his lads not what to think, but how to think.

That is the heart and soul of this humble work! We must think forourselves!

Not all students understand the rigorous process and the slow andlaborious construction or the patient cultivation of thedifferent thoughts and ideas that will lead them to a much higherplane of diverse views and more superior discourses. If thepupils could grasps the inner workings of this complicated, yettruly liberating and beautiful process by virtue of theirmeticulous efforts and painstaking endeavor to render justice tothe whole enterprise and craft, to lay down the material basis ofthe whole process and consequently draw the comprehensiveparadigm of the whole matrix of the interconnection and theinterdependence of the different ideas and varied thoughts, asdiscuss in the class in a given session and correspondingly seeto it the ultimate similarity and the profound interrelationshipof these various and multifaceted elements; the whole class shallbe happy, the teacher has won in his academic passion and this isindeed a victory for both the teacher and the rest of thestudents.

The Importance of Philosophy and the Social Purpose of thePhilosophers

They are always being accused by the establishment as the under-miners of the system! They are mockingly referred to as eitherthe fool on the hill or the solitary hermit in the forest, themadmen, the cave-men, the lone voices in the wilderness, thereclusive fellow in the urban jungle, the poet without a pen, thewriters without papers, the thinkers without followers, thewarriors without the sword, the soldier without the cavalry,rebel without a cause, hopeless romantic freaks, the darling ofthe starving masses! Are the accusations justified? In a sense,

yes; however in another much larger sense, the labels are notonly misplaced but totally devoid of merit.

The existence of the philosopher is a necessary element in anygiven society. The very existence of them would undeniably revealthe extent of the depth and breadth of the said community. Showme a society that has no philosophers, thinkers, poets, artists,etc. and I will tell you that that society is either adysfunctional entity disengaged in only worthy mental activity orworst a dead community that can be likened to a large-scalecemetery.

But what precisely is a philosopher?

According to Simon Critchley, the freedom of the philosopherconsists in either moving freely from topic to topic or simplyspending years returning to the same topic out of perplexity,fascination and curiosity.

It is my contention that philosophers are the critic andconscience of the community and the world in general.

They are the critic in the sense that they tend to show to thepeople and to their society the weaknesses of its collectivecharacters and moral ills.

As correctly noted by Simon Critchley, “the philosopher shows norespect for rank and inherited privilege and is unaware ofanyone’s high or low birth”.

Hence, it follows that they are anti-royalty, anti-monarchy,anti-sexism, anti-racism, against all kinds of privileges, andagainst all forms or shades of the inhumanity of man by man.Philosophers are humanists. They do not care about the color of aman, his economic status, their religious creed, ethnicbackground, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, height,weight and/or physical features. They consider all of these

labels as mere historical accidents and accidental qualities.They view man for what he is, as a whole; not simply by hisexternal form; but primordially by his inner substance. They areguided and bound by Reason! They evaluate and judge man solely onthe content of his character, the nobility of his spirits, thewarmness and independence of his mind, and the goodness of hisheart; not by invoking some preposterous and ridiculouscategories.

They are the light and the conscience of the community. Theyserve as the guiding post to show to the people the right way tolive, not simply to exist.

They serve as the light of the community by telling society “thatthe emperor has no clothes”, that “the most important thing inlife is not material possessions, but rather the cultivation ofthe soul”, that what does “a man to gain if he would have thewhole world yet he will lose his soul?” and that the ultimatemeaning of human life and existence is love! It is in thisirrefutable sense that philosophers are the conscience of theworld.

Their inherent duty is not merely to admonish people how to live,but undeniably to teach and guide the people how to live good,happy and virtuous lives.

The Dichotomy of Theory and Practice and the Ultimate Duty of theTeacher

Theory without practice is dead, in the same vein that a goodmark, without the confidence and the courage to justify anargument in an open discussion in a class room is not onlydetestable but also disgusting.

The dialectical relationship between the teacher and the studentmust always be present, from the beginning of the class up to itscompletion.

A true teacher is the one who could gear his student to think forthemselves independently of the teaching and the rearing and thetraining of the teacher himself. He/she must teach them to crafttheir own paradigm, to discover and consequently construct theirown truths, to nurture and create their own structures andfoundations, to posit and to simultaneously to answer their ownqueries and questions.

Having explicated my thoughts let me dwell now on the otherperennial problem of the whole matter and that is the issue ofthe view and focus of the system.

Though, I already discussed this issue in passing, let me statethat the ultimate problem of the whole academic system is ourextreme emphasis and overzealous addiction to the extrinsicaspect of education as against the intrinsic element of it.

The extrinsic aspect refers to the memorization and rote learningof our children so that they will get big scores and good marksin the examination. At the outset, there seems to be no problemhere; however look at it again and analyze the whole spectrum.Getting good scores and full marks in the test is not bad initself; it becomes bad and even evil the moment an educationalsystem devoted its entire focus and energy to it at the expenseof the intrinsic part of the whole general education!

In the critical words of Chris Hedges:

“We’ve bought into the idea that education is about training and “success”,defined monetarily rather than learning to think critically and to challenge.We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, notcareers. A culture that does not grasp the vital interplay between moralityand power, which mistakes management techniques for wisdom, which fails tounderstand that the measure of a civilization is its compassion, not its speedor ability to consume, condemns itself to death.”

As one brilliant student before the start of the examinationasked in a mocking question to the ‘teacher’:

“Should we put down what we think is right, or what we think youthink is right?”

It is the firm and passionate contention of this writer that thatis not the true aim of a true, libertarian and enlightenededucation.

The Destruction of Creativity

Indeed, it is a common knowledge that the core and primordialbusiness for most schools today is to make students score andpass examinations. The emphasis in on drilling and more drilling,coaching and more coaching, and even forcing and cajolingstudents to do well in examinations.

Sad but true, but it seems to me that the educational system thatwe have today has already deviated. Long time ago from the truepurpose and function of what a true education institution shouldbe!

The prevailing mind-set now is: never mind if they (the students)have truly learned anything in the process; so long as theyfulfilled all the requirement of the course and passed the finalexamination. This is a shame!

Hence, I vigorously dissent!

It is my vehement position and dissenting opinion that thisprocess is not education itself neither does it cultivate theminds of our students.

There is no iota of doubt that this is spoon-feeding; in fact, itis beyond dispute that this is the worst type of brain-washingthat would give rise to mental retardation and academicregression.

Such process of relying solely to the perfection of theexamination will undeniably would kill all forms of creativity,dynamism, distinctiveness and intellectual/mental diversity.

The product of this puerile system would be grim and ugly!

Why?

Instead of molding independent thinkers and passionate scholars;true and faithful to their craft; we on the other hand areproducing “robots”, bonsais”, and rare species of birds whocannot use their wings and afraid to fly, because we destroyed,shattered and broken institutionally their wings!

The primordial duty of the teacher is not merely to teach theirstudents to pass the examination with flying colors, but moreimportantly to inculcate the virtue of good moral character,perseverance, ethical leadership and intellectual values; whichare utterly necessary for the further development of theirpersonality and soul.

As Socrates himself selflessly taught, our duty and obligation asteachers and educators is not to teach our lads what to think,but how to think and to think independently beyond our teaching!They must transcend the borders of their minds, create their ownqueries and have the courage and audacity to answer their ownquestions!

Yet, sad but true, that is not it seems to be the way of teachingin today’s world. More and more, education is becoming acommodity, a thing that is for sale in the market. From aninherent right of every human being, it is now becoming a mereprivilege! As the joke goes:

No money, no honey! No tuition fees, no entry, no permit, noexamination, no ID, no entry! Sad but true! It is a heart-wrenching global phenomenon that “teaching” today emphasizes more

on getting the “necessary” degrees and high paying jobs at theexpense of true scholarship and moral well-being.

Again to quote Chris Hedges (“Why the United States Is DestroyingIts Education System”, April 11, 2011) wrote forcefully:

“Passing bubble tests celebrates and rewards a peculiar form of analyticalintelligence. This kind of intelligence is prized by money managers andcorporations. They don’t want employees to ask uncomfortable questions orexamine existing structures and assumptions. They want them to serve thesystem. These tests produce men and women who are just literate and numerateenough to perform basic functions and service jobs. The tests elevate thosewith the financial means to prepare for them. They reward those who obey therules, memorize the formulas and pay deference to authority. Rebels, artists,independent thinkers, eccentrics and iconoclasts --- those who march to thebeat of their drum --- are weeded out.”

It is my humble belief and so holds that the pure aim ofeducation is primarily seek the goodness of man’s soul and notsimply to develop his financial capability. As one greatphilosopher have said:

“Seek first the Kingdom of the Soul and all the treasures of theworld will be added unto you”!

Hence, I will passionately argue that ultimate objective of theeducational institution whether they are public or private is tohammer our lads to be the best that they can be by developingtheir character through critical thinking, harnessing their softskills and cultivating their inner moral worth. We must teachthem to think logically, exhort them to always do the right thingand at all times, admonish them to act with justice and conductthemselves in a humanitarian manner.

Of course, the function of the government, of society at largeand our whole body politic is to recognize the indescribablesacrifices, the undeniable role and the genuine nobility of theteaching profession. We owe our teachers our abiding respect and

our students deserves more from them not simply a passing markneither a high score.

Undeniably, once our teachers and so as the schoolsadministrators realize that their genuine and true efforts tomake a difference to the lives of our young are being recognized;there would be no holding back to their avalanche of enthusiasmand spring of passion, fountain of eagerness and insatiableenergy to improve their students and their schools. I stronglybelieve that when you take care of the teachers, the school willtake care of itself.

End of the day, the school is nothing but the mere collection ofits teachers and students. In conformity to a time-honoredprinciple: It is not the institution, but rather it is theindividuals comprising the said institutions that wouldincontestably determine their character, their substance andtheir ultimate value to the community and to the rest of theworld.

That is the ideal; however that is not what is happening! Thisled Doris Lessing to state mockingly and sarcastically that:

“Ideally, what should be said to every child, repeatedly, throughout his orher school life is something like this: 'You are in the process of beingindoctrinated. We have not yet evolved a system of education that is not asystem of indoctrination. We are sorry, but it is the best we can do. What youare being taught here is an amalgam of current prejudice and the choices ofthis particular culture. The slightest look at history will show howimpermanent these must be. You are being taught by people who have been ableto accommodate themselves to a regime of thought laid down by theirpredecessors. It is a self-perpetuating system. Those of you who are morerobust and individual than others will be encouraged to leave and find ways ofeducating yourself — educating your own judgments. Those that stay mustremember, always, and all the time, that they are being molded and patternedto fit into the narrow and particular needs of this particular society.”

This should not be the way!

It is the firm view of this author that the intrinsic part ofeducation refers to those acts of the students such as speakingfreely, engaging in a scholarly debate in class, presenting theirideas, appearing in the stage play, reciting a poem, singing asong, doing some extra-curricular activities, participating insports competition, and other intellectual, cultural, artisticand aesthetic pursuits.

The intrinsic part of the education is precisely the key, inorder for our lads to develop confidence and nurture creativity.These are necessary ingredients in order for them to develop softskills and other inter-personal skills.

The intrinsic aspect is the practice, the practical part, thepracticum or we can also call it as the praxis, if we will!

What we need is the rational and reasonable merging of these twoelements for the benefit of our children!

Henceforth, it is my humble suggestion to all the stakeholdersconcern to take a break and pause and think about what we trulywanted for our children.

Having said so, it is my firm belief and so hold that theGovernment, principally and the Education Ministry in particularmust rethink, reevaluate and refocus their focus and views andcorrectively review the whole process of the educational system!

The stakes are high! Why? Because what we are talking here is notonly the future of our children, but also the future of the wholecountry!

On the Question of the True Meaning and Real Value of CriticalThinking

This is a humble reply to some quarters of our society to theunjust and irrational claim that to be a critical thinker andsubsequently to be a vigilant crusader means to oppose and defy

the government. This is utterly a preposterous and supraridiculous proposition, that does not deserve even a scantconsideration! However, let me state for purposes of the recordthat: the charges are bereft of merit and indeed precisely unjustbecause the aim itself of critical thinking is to seek justiceand equity in all areas of our lives! Consequently, there is noshadow of doubt that the baseless accusation is irrational, byvirtue of the fact that the ultimate objective of a vigilantcrusader is no other than the noble practice of responsiblecitizenship and universalism!

The practice of Critical Thinking does not necessarily meantdefying the government without any reasonable and validjustification, but primarily to change how the people as a wholethinks in a given body politic. It is not simply overthrowing theexisting unjust form of government, but its primordial goal is tochange society in a rational, radical transformative manner.Critical Thinking aims to change the world! How? By changingourselves, our fellow men, our community, our society andeventually, the world in its totality!

Gandhi expressed this so lucidly: “We must be the change we arelooking for in the world…”

People as a whole would defy their governments not simply for thenaïve reason of defiance just for the sake of defying without anyjustified grounds! To do so would indubitably qualify as theheights of absurdity and would undeniably suffices as the lowestform of idiocy!

Let us analyze the reason behind the anger and the rant of thecitizens! Why if ever they would defy the establishment?

The Filipino people, then led by Supremo Andres Bonifacio and theKatipunan defied the Spanish colonizers!

Does that means they are uncritical and lacking reason inopposing the colonial masters of the past? I certainly believedwithout the slightest iota of doubt that the truth is thereverse! They fought the Spanish not simply because they want to,but precisely because they were moved by reason and passion tosee a free country, a liberated Inang-Bayan, Bayang Pilipinasruled and governed by its proud people!

In the stirring words of Professor Zosimo Lee, (The Creation ofPublic Reason)

“In Philippine history, the revolution of 1896, when Filipinosrose up against the Spaniards who had colonized the country since1578, stands out as an instance when the Filipinos conceived ofthemselves as belonging to a nation, and by having realized thatthey were a body politic separate from the Spanish colonizers,were able to defeat the Spaniards before the Americans took over,and then fought the Filipino-American war, some say the first“Vietnam”.

“What enabled the Filipinos to rise up and unite as a nation was the awarenessthat they could better respond to their needs as a people by overthrowing theSpaniards. But for that realization to have galvanized a people enough to wantto fight off the colonizers needed a long process of politicalization. But itwas fundamentally a process that involved becoming aware of the criteria tomake a judgment, and for the judgment to be made by a sufficient number ofpeople so that they would then act to fight off the oppressors.

“What was important and significant in Philippine history was that the nucleusof the social movement that initiated the Philippine revolution was anorganization of patriots that also saw itself as being moral and true toindigenous concepts of the Filipino worldview that saw goodness anduprightness as essential virtues, and that society was understood to be a‘caring and benevolent’ arrangement that saw the protection of the weak, forexample, as a crucial component. Hence the criteria that were evoked seemed tostrike at a deep chord, which would then motivate them to engage in the socialand political revolution. Similar political and social movements existed inother colonized countries that eventually shook off their colonizers.”

Today, because of the sacrifices and hardships offered by ourcountry’s heroes, their devotion and unwavering faith gave birthto a new nation: The Government of the Republic of thePhilippines!

Said Republic is the first ever in Asia!

Our heroes are indeed heroes, in the real sense of the word, yetthey are not merely critical men of history but also greatleaders of the new nation by virtue of their deeds and action!

For my last point, I admit that exercising self-knowledge anddeveloping critical thinking through constant reflection is notonly a noble task, but also a ‘dangerous’ occupation! Why,history has shown us repeatedly that, it is always those criticalmen and women through-out the ages who uses their thinking forthe benefit of mankind, who stood and fought for the generalinterest of Humanity to change the world!

Undeniably, they are the philosophers, the revolutionaries, theteachers, the writers, the poets, etc.

Who are they?

They are the “crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, trouble-makers, the round pegs in a square wholes, the ones who seethings differently. They are not fond of rules and they have norespect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree withthem, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do isignore them, because they changed things. They pushed the humanrace forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones ---we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to thinkthat they CAN CHANGE THE WORLD --- ARE THE ONES WHO DO”. (Quotedfrom YouTube, Think Different)

Indeed, these are all the important things and critical ideasthat we should teach, imbibe, inculcate and cultivate to ourchildren both in our homes and in schools!

Jose Mario Dolor De Vega

February, 2013

Philosophy Lecturer

College of Arts and Letters

Department of Humanities and Philosophy

Polytechnic University of the Philippines