Peter Paul E Elicor

Against the tendency to treat Deleuze’s Ontology immediately as anti-Theological, this essay attempts to argue that some of his works have latent affinities with Christian Theology. The difficulty of reconciling Deleuze’s ontology with any theology is due to his rejection of transcendence, which apparently aborts any attempt to account for revelation. His privileging of immanence over transcendence distinguishes his ontology from the traditional transcendental metaphysics patterned from the Platonic dualistic model. In this context, the paper will show the possible interconnections between Deleuze’s Ontology and Christian Theology by elaborating on the difference between his ontology and traditional metaphysics and by turning to his reading of Spinoza’s parallelism of mind and body.

This article explores the notion of pedagogical authority as exercised in the Community of Inquiry, the method for facilitating Philosophy for Children (P4C). It argues that the teachers' pedagogical authority in a Community of Inquiry is not predicated on their intellectual superiority or status. Rather it finds its legitimacy in their role as instigators of students' thinking skills, which are assumed to be already possessed by the learners. This thesis is discussed in relation to Rancière's concept of the dissociation of the will and the intellect, which is treated here as conceptual complement to the existing interpretation of pedagogical authority as understood and practiced by scholars in the field of P4C.

In this article, I intend to underscore the importance of critical thinking in rendering invaluable positive contributions and impact within professional organizations in the developing world. I argue that Critical Thinking treated as a normative principle and balanced with a pragmatic orientation provides a rational framework for resolving conflicts that oftentimes ensue from the incoherence between western-based organizational theories and the actual circumstances of a developing country. In order to optimize the benefits of Critical Thinking, I also argue that it should not be expected only among leaders and managers, but also and more importantly, among organizational members and associates. It is for this reason that I introduce Matthew Lipman's Community of Inquiry as a model for cultivating Critical Thinking within professional environments.

In this article, I argue that education should neither function simply as a social apparatus that " grooms " individuals for their future societal roles nor merely supply the need of the global labor market. Rather, borrowing from Levinàs' ethics, education must ultimately respond to the call of justice that springs from the proper recognition of the alterity of the other, and the responsibility that goes along with it. I further argue that a totalizing tendency of Formal Education occurs on two-level interactions: a.) the basic interaction between all the participants in the education system, and b.) the interaction of the students with the school curricula. It is in this context that I introduce Matthew Lipman's version of the Community of Inquiry, which, I propose, is one of the many effective pedagogical practices that respond to the call for an ethically driven Formal Education.

Do our current standard academic practices efficiently address the changing needs of modern education? Are our tacit assumptions on teaching aligned with the contemporary revaluation of education theories, understanding of students' competency, role of teachers and pedagogical methods? The well-meaning stalwarts of the " old system " might disagree to apply drastic changes in their usual teaching practices. Yet, one has to recognize that the reluctance to correct dearly-held teaching dispositions, either for convenience or out of sheer rigidity, is itself an indication of an erroneous assumption of the authority of educators. This paper argues that transmission-based pedagogical practices reinforce stultification among students. Following Lipman's pedagogical model, it further argues that an inquiry-based reflective paradigm, which is practiced within a community of inquiry, can supplant the " standard " but less effective academic practices that still find their way inside the Philippine classrooms.

Music in the Philippines can be characterized according to several trends which do not only differ in style or genre but most importantly on the conceptual paradigms of its creators. Over the last thirty years, Filipino music – being very susceptible to commodification-has struggled to balance its " prophetic " and entertainment value. Its autonomy and discerning character have been painstakingly silenced by the machinery of popular music. Nevertheless, a handful of local musicians have refused to be devoured by the apparatus of the " culture industry ". In concept and in style, content and form, they continue to adhere to the critical role of music in the society. This is where Philosophy and Music converge. This paper explores the possibility of juxtaposing Theodor W. Adorno 1 and Gary Granada 2. In seeking to establish the conceptual relation between the former's Philosophy of the New Music and the latter's musical endeavors, this article aims to throw light on the plight of Filipino 'progressive music' in the purview of Adorno's Aesthetic theory and to reaffirm the role of music as an essential tool for socio-political and cultural critique.

In this paper, I argue that Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha, does not simply mean protests, civil disobedience, hunger strikes and other modes of resistance that seek to overcome injustices, violence and oppression. On the contrary, as a concept and method, it is very far from being a movement which only goal is to overthrow a corrupt regime. Rather, it is a movement geared at achieving peace and unity and restoring social harmony. This article aims to elucidate this key concept, which is one of the central themes in Gandhi's teachings, and underscore its intrinsic Democratic principles. I further elaborate this line of thought by applying it in the Mindanao context where peace, sometimes remains elusive especially in the face of the reality of political dynasties.