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Emmarlone Salva Ravago Reflection Paper for The Owl Philosophical virtues

July 12, 2011 Faculty of Philosophy

(one is) nevertheless called on to react to what he reads so as to make it his own and by means of it to form his soul. We read only to think, we acquire wealth in order to use it, we eat to live (A.G. Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life, pp. 166-167). it is not enough to gather the harvest at the right time, to bind ones sheaf of grain and bake ones bread; one must fashion ones body with it, for that alone is the real use of the luxuriant wheat (p. 167). Philosophy is too abstract! goes one of the comments of our lay professors in the faculty on philosophy. Indeed, as too much familiarity breeds contempt, so too, perhaps worse, does unfamiliarity. Similarly, I too found philosophy as an overly abstract and groundless science when I first entered its portals. To tell the truth, even every now and then I still ask the question: What does philosophy have to do with my life and vocation? to myself as though it never really had anything to do with who I am now. Looking back, I remember all the things I have learned from studying such a noble science; I am reminded of the fact that philosophy, though apparently abstract and ideal, is grounded on the most practical experiences and realities in life; that it is rooted in the very soil of our existence. Sertillanges, OP said it well when he wrote in his book, The Intellectual Life, that every truth is practical; the most apparently abstract, the loftiest, is also the most practical. Every truth is life, direction, a way leading to the end of man. True enough, as I plunged deeper into the depths of philosophy, under the guidance of our mentors, I gradually understood what Sertillanges meant; I began to see through the smog of theory the practical value of philosophy. As an object becomes more invisible, the more visible its background will is the ground in where it stands. The rarer the air, the hotter it gets and the more it is of use it becomes fire, the origin of the sciences and civilizations. The more apparently abstract and theoretical philosophy is, the more practical and worldly it will be. Looking back to my years of philosophical training in the Ecclesiastical faculties, I cannot but be grateful both to such a noble science and to my mentors for molding me to who I am now, for setting the direction of my life and making all the more audible the call of my vocation. Undeniably, philosophy and, of course, my mentors have taught me a lot from diverse philosophical theories and ideas and basic life-skills to the values and virtues proper to man. They have taught me the rich philosophical theories and ideas of both saints and philosophers from Platos allegory of the cave of Plato and Aristotles hylemorphism to the ethics of Saint Thomas Aquinas and the Dasein of Heidegger. Furthermore, they too have taught me, literally, how to: Listen, particularly to the ideas of others and most especially to the Latin vowels of the Summae; Read, from the simplest journal articles to the magnum opus of saint/philosophers; Write, from taking down every word uttered by our professors to typing the longest term papers required in most courses; Reflect on the basic truths of life; and, lastly, Reason Out, from answering the easiest questions raised in class to defending an argument in the hardest of

debates and discussions. These are but some of the beautiful things I have learned and developed in my study of philosophy in the Ecclesiastical faculties the list, nevertheless, continues The most important things philosophy gave me are the manifold opportunities to exercise and develop virtues, both in the moral and secular sense. Philosophy has provided me those golden moments within which I can exercise good habitus. They have given me the occasions to be patient in masticating, swallowing and digesting chunks of Plato, Aristotle and Saint Thomas ideas, in looking for and reading books in the library, in writing my papers; opportunities to develop Fortitude especially in major examination weeks; chances to exercise Prudence in allocating and spending my time and efforts; occasions to be Just in citing and quoting from articles and books; and opportunities to exercise Temperance in dealing with my passions, in being careful not to be carried away by my violent passions, in stirring hope in the midst of despair because of towering paperworks, in filling my spirit with courage and zeal whenever fear stroke during written and oral exams, in controlling my frustrations whenever reading Marion and Nietzsches books. Philosophy even, to a certain extent, has helped me develop some of the theological virtues. Failing to study before an exam in Metaphysics has certainly taught me to have faith and hope in Gods mercy and indeed God has been so patient and merciful to me, too merciful perhaps that I have survived this long in the faculty. Philosophy has practically affected all the aspects of my life from the second I comb my hairs to the hours I sleep at night it has enveloped our very lives. True enough Sertillanges was right in saying Every truth is life, direction, a way leading to the end of man. The timeless Truth/s that we have learned in philosophy became part of our lives in fact, it now becomes our life; direction on the maps of our calling, leading us to our ends to become Good Theologians! Thus can we still call it a mere abstract science, nothing to do with reality and life? You decide. Time flies when youre having fun.

Philosophy as an untitled piano piece It is thus a commonplace mistake to call philosophy as a science of mere abstractions of objects here and there, incompetent and irrelevant. Yes, as students of philosophy, we admit that we are fools fools searching for that timeless truth, the truth that Plato and Aristotle of antiquity, Thomas Aquinas of medieval era, Kant of modernity and now us as seekers for truth. After all, we are not trained here to be hardcore philosophers, but rather to be good theologians in the future; we are here pouring slabs of ideas on the ground of our minds in order to build a solid foundation for our future life; we are here carving out our abilities and polishing rough-edged abilities for our future ministry. Indeed following the blueprint of the seminary to build the skills necessary for our future-life we are here to build life-skills. True to the mandate of the Catholic Church, the Ecclesiastical faculties have indeed provided me with such skills. My four years in the faculty of philosophy Virtues It has imbibed in me good habitus continually improving and expanding

Prudence, patience, fortitude in times of trials, humility To think for myself (books are signposts; the road is older, and no one can make the journey to truth for us Sertillanges, pp. 169-170; our mind has the task not of repeating but of comprehending that is, we must take with us, cum-prehendere, we must vitally assimilate, what we read, and we must finally think for ourselves. When we have heard the words, we must, after the author perhaps thanks to him but in the last resort independently of him, compel our own soul to re-express them. We must recreate for our own use the sum total of knowledge Sertillanges, p. 170). Sertillanges, OP By doctrine the mind of man is only stimulated to know (Boethius, De Consolatione Philosophiae, V. prose 5). Let us make it our endeavor that the intellectual matter provided by the book may really raise us to the thought expressed and even beyond it, for an idea evoked in an active mind should always rouse some further idea (Sertillanges, p. 169). Our mind has the task not of repeating but of comprehending when we have heard the words, we must, after the author and perhaps thanks to him but in the last resort independently of him, compel our own soul to re-express them (Sertillanges, p. 170).

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