One of the most widely acknowledged Filipino cultural values is utang na loob. Sometimes translat... more One of the most widely acknowledged Filipino cultural values is utang na loob. Sometimes translated as "debt of gratitude," it refers to an informal form of reciprocal social obligation that arises when a person is significantly assisted by another during a difficult time. As it touches on the Filipino sense of human dignity and social responsibility, utang na loob is one critical theme in most research investigating the characteristics of the Filipino psyche, culture, and social behavior. Explaining the nature and occurrence of utang na loob, however, has its challenges, foremost of which is how to appropriately account for its negative or morally problematic instantiations. This essay examines how some approaches that regard utang na loob as a moral virtue handle this challenge. After identifying several difficulties with these approaches, the essay argues for an alternative approach that maintains the status of utang na loob as a cultural value whose instantiating actions are subject to moral evaluation.
The environmental crisis is an extremely complex problem for its causes are many and diverse. An ... more The environmental crisis is an extremely complex problem for its causes are many and diverse. An effective solution to this crisis will require a concerted effort among various academic disciplines and socioeconomic institutions. This kind of undertaking, however, is immensely challenging given the lack of a unifying framework that is acceptable to everyone. One preliminary step is to have a clear conception of the kinds of causes that have brought about the crisis to determine the roles the various academic disciplines and socioeconomic institutions can play in the management and eventually the resolution of the crisis. This article provides one conception of how this preliminary step can be done but with a special focus on the role of philosophy. The main objective is to clarify the aspect in the management of the crisis in which philosophy can make a substantial contribution.
Medical populism, as a political style of handling the challenges of a public health crisis, has ... more Medical populism, as a political style of handling the challenges of a public health crisis, has primarily been analyzed in terms of its influence on the efficacy of governmental efforts to meet the challenges of the current pandemic (such as those related to testing, vaccination, and community restrictions). As these efforts have moral consequences (they, for instance, will affect people's wellbeing and may lead to suffering, loss of opportunities, and unfair distributions), an analysis of the ethics of medical populism is much needed. In this essay, we address the need to analyze the moral dimension of medical populism by relating it to issues in healthcare ethics. Specifically, we identify the moral significance of medical populism by demonstrating how it contributes to the failure of governments to discharge their moral duty to provide for the healthcare needs of their people, and, correlatively, to the violation of the people's moral right to healthcare. We argue that with medical populism, governments tend to mishandle the constraints that would morally justify their shortcomings in fulfilling such duty. We identify such constraints as mainly referring to the governments' given (economic and institutional) capacities and the relative degree of incumbency of their competing duties.
The essay deals with the issue of how a non-summativist account of collective epistemic traits ca... more The essay deals with the issue of how a non-summativist account of collective epistemic traits can be properly justified. We trace the roots of this issue in virtue epistemology and collective epistemology and then critically examine certain views advanced to justify non-summativism. We focus on those considered by Fricker, including Gilbert's concept of plural subjects, which she endorses. We find her analysis of these views problematic for either going beyond the parameters of the summativism-nonsummativism debate or contradicting common intuitions about epistemic trait ascriptions. As an alternative, we advance the idea that collective epistemic traits are system properties; or that epistemic traits act as system properties when attributed to collectives taken in their own right. Working as a system, the individual members of a collective perform their designated roles or tasks in coordination and cooperation with each other to achieve their joint intentions. Being attributes exclusive to systems, collective epistemic traits cannot, therefore, be attributed in the same respect to the individuals comprising these systems, thereby blocking any summative account of these traits. This model also easily sidesteps the problems besetting Fricker's preferred one.
Pangunahing nilalayon ng sanaysay na matukoy at maipaliwanag sa isang tematikong pamamaraan ang m... more Pangunahing nilalayon ng sanaysay na matukoy at maipaliwanag sa isang tematikong pamamaraan ang mga elementong bumubuo sa mensahe ng kuwento ng seryeng pantelebisyon sa Netflix na pinamagatang Squid Game. Ang mensaheng ito, na may kinalaman sa masasamang epekto ng matinding kompetisyong umiiral sa sistemang pang-ekonomiya ng kapitalismo sa buhay ng mga ordinaryong miyembro ng lipunan, ay sinusuri gamit ang balangkas ng etikang pangnegosyo. Ipinakikita na ang pangunahing nilalayong iparating na mensahe ng kuwento ay ang pangangailangang maitaguyod ang etika sa sistema ng kapitalismo upang maibsan kung hindi man tuluyang maiwasan ang mga negatibong epekto nito sa buhay ng mga tao. Sa partikular, pinatutunayan ang pagsuporta ng kuwento sa mga pagtutol sa mga argumentong nagsusulong ng kaisipang walang lugar, imposible, o hindi mahalaga ang etika sa mga gawaing pangnegosyo sa sistema ng kapitalismo. Habang ang kuwento ay nagbibigay ng isang babala sa maaaring sukdulan na mga negatibong kahihinatnan ng patuloy na paglaganap ng kawalan ng etika sa kapitalismo sa buhay ng mga tao, ito rin naman ay nagbibigay ng pag-asa sa likas na kabutihan ng tao na manaig sa kahulihan at sa gayo'y mapigilan ang kaganapan ng mga naturang posibleng kahihinatnan.
The essay primarily aims to identify and explain in a thematic way the important elements that constitute the message of the story of a television series on Netflix entitled Squid Game. This message, which has something to do with the negative effects of the intense competition occurring in the economic system of capitalism, is analyzed using business ethics as the framework. It is shown that the message that the story primarily intends to convey is the need to establish ethics in the system of capitalism to mitigate if not totally prevent its negative effects on the lives of people. In particular, it is argued that the story supports the objections to the arguments advancing the view that ethics has no place, is impossible to occur, or is unnecessary in business activities in the capitalist system. As the story gives a warning on the possible extreme negative consequences if the widespread lack of ethics in capitalism will persist, it, however, also provides hope in the inherent goodness of humanity to prevail in the end and thereby prevent the realization of such possible consequences.
One compelling argument challenging the tenability of physicalism, which sees reality as fundamen... more One compelling argument challenging the tenability of physicalism, which sees reality as fundamentally comprised of physical facts, is Jackson's knowledge argument. Through a powerful thought experiment involving the case of Mary, the super neuroscientist, the argument demonstrates how knowledge of phenomenal facts cannot be deduced from knowledge of physical facts. For allegedly leaving out phenomenal facts in its account of reality, physicalism is shown to be incomplete and hence mistaken. Physicalists respond to this argument in a variety of ways, challenging, in turn, some aspects of the knowledge argument. This paper focuses on the replies of the ability hypothesis and the phenomenal concept strategy, which respectively try to block the two crucial moves in the knowledge argument: the establishment of an epistemic gap and the inference from the occurrence of this gap to the existence of an ontological gap. The paper critically examines how proponents of these two replies to the knowledge argument respond to some objections to maintain the viability of physicalism.
One fundamental healthcare issue brought to the fore by the current COVID-19 pandemic concerns th... more One fundamental healthcare issue brought to the fore by the current COVID-19 pandemic concerns the scope and nature of the right to healthcare. Given our increasing need for the usually limited healthcare resources, to what extent can we demand provision of these resources as a matter of right? One philosophical way of handling this issue is to clarify the nature of this right. Using the challenges of COVID-19 in the Philippines as the context of analysis, we argue for the view that regards the right to healthcare as fundamentally moral in kind, which should thereby guide its legal and contractual appropriations. In particular, we respond to objections against this view stemming from issues concerning the universality and satisfiability of the right's correlative duty. We deal with such issues by invoking the relative degree of incumbency of moral rights and the capability-relativity of positive duties. We further contend that as these factors define the scope of the moral right to healthcare, they thus constrain what we can demand as a matter of right to meet our healthcare needs in this time of the pandemic.
Contemporary philosophy of mind is generally characterized by its project to naturalize the mind.... more Contemporary philosophy of mind is generally characterized by its project to naturalize the mind. Utilizing the findings of the different sciences involved in cognitive science, especially those of artificial intelligence and neuroscience, it continues to explore ways to explain the workings of the mind in purely scientific terms. But despite the rigor and sophistication of its methods, certain questions critical to its success have remained unanswered, such as how consciousness emerges from the brain's physical processes and how the phenomenal properties of our conscious experiences arise from the physical properties of our bodily experiences. This has led some scholars to seek alternative perspectives. One such perspective that is widely explored today is Buddhist thought. The centrality of the mind in Buddhist thought and its perceived compatibility with the findings of modern science make it an attractive alternative framework to carry out the naturalization project. In this paper, I aim to examine the plausibility of this strategy. In particular, I shall evaluate whether Buddhist thought provides the needed insights to overcome the challenges facing the said project.
Given the usually limited supply of resources needed to meet our healthcare needs during a pandem... more Given the usually limited supply of resources needed to meet our healthcare needs during a pandemic, coming up with a fair system of prioritization by which such resources are to be distributed is both extremely urgent and morally obligatory. In the area of political morality, the issue of what counts as a fair allocation of resources, which may generally come in the form of being benefits or burdens, is referred to as the issue of distributive justice. In this essay, I look into the issue of distributive justice in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. After examining the basic claims of the various theories of distributive justice and how they apply to healthcare resource allocations, I then advance a framework for evaluating the moral justifiability of prioritization schemes for a fair allocation of healthcare resources, especially the vaccines, during the pandemic. The framework basically incorporates moral considerations based on welfare, capabilities, and opportunities.
Philosophia: International Journal of Philosophy (2014) 15(1): 50-62
Due to his significant role in the development of computer technology and the discipline of artif... more Due to his significant role in the development of computer technology and the discipline of artificial intelligence, Alan Turing has supposedly subscribed to the theory of mind that has been greatly inspired by the power of the said technology which has ev entually become the dominant framework for current researches in artificial intelligence and cognitive science, namely, computationalism or the computational theory of mind. In this essay, I challenge this supposition. In particular, I will try to show tha t there is no evidence in Turing's two seminal works that supports such a supposition. His 1936 paper is all about the notion of computation or computability as it applies to mathematical functions and not to the nature or workings of intelligence. On the other hand, while his 1950 work is about intelligence, it is, however, particularly concerned with the problem of whether intelligence can be attributed to computing machines and not of whether computationality can be attributed to human intelligence or to intelligence in general.
One of the most widely acknowledged Filipino cultural values is utang na loob. Sometimes translat... more One of the most widely acknowledged Filipino cultural values is utang na loob. Sometimes translated as "debt of gratitude," it refers to an informal form of reciprocal social obligation that arises when a person is significantly assisted by another during a difficult time. As it touches on the Filipino sense of human dignity and social responsibility, utang na loob is one critical theme in most research investigating the characteristics of the Filipino psyche, culture, and social behavior. Explaining the nature and occurrence of utang na loob, however, has its challenges, foremost of which is how to appropriately account for its negative or morally problematic instantiations. This essay examines how some approaches that regard utang na loob as a moral virtue handle this challenge. After identifying several difficulties with these approaches, the essay argues for an alternative approach that maintains the status of utang na loob as a cultural value whose instantiating actions are subject to moral evaluation.
The environmental crisis is an extremely complex problem for its causes are many and diverse. An ... more The environmental crisis is an extremely complex problem for its causes are many and diverse. An effective solution to this crisis will require a concerted effort among various academic disciplines and socioeconomic institutions. This kind of undertaking, however, is immensely challenging given the lack of a unifying framework that is acceptable to everyone. One preliminary step is to have a clear conception of the kinds of causes that have brought about the crisis to determine the roles the various academic disciplines and socioeconomic institutions can play in the management and eventually the resolution of the crisis. This article provides one conception of how this preliminary step can be done but with a special focus on the role of philosophy. The main objective is to clarify the aspect in the management of the crisis in which philosophy can make a substantial contribution.
Medical populism, as a political style of handling the challenges of a public health crisis, has ... more Medical populism, as a political style of handling the challenges of a public health crisis, has primarily been analyzed in terms of its influence on the efficacy of governmental efforts to meet the challenges of the current pandemic (such as those related to testing, vaccination, and community restrictions). As these efforts have moral consequences (they, for instance, will affect people's wellbeing and may lead to suffering, loss of opportunities, and unfair distributions), an analysis of the ethics of medical populism is much needed. In this essay, we address the need to analyze the moral dimension of medical populism by relating it to issues in healthcare ethics. Specifically, we identify the moral significance of medical populism by demonstrating how it contributes to the failure of governments to discharge their moral duty to provide for the healthcare needs of their people, and, correlatively, to the violation of the people's moral right to healthcare. We argue that with medical populism, governments tend to mishandle the constraints that would morally justify their shortcomings in fulfilling such duty. We identify such constraints as mainly referring to the governments' given (economic and institutional) capacities and the relative degree of incumbency of their competing duties.
The essay deals with the issue of how a non-summativist account of collective epistemic traits ca... more The essay deals with the issue of how a non-summativist account of collective epistemic traits can be properly justified. We trace the roots of this issue in virtue epistemology and collective epistemology and then critically examine certain views advanced to justify non-summativism. We focus on those considered by Fricker, including Gilbert's concept of plural subjects, which she endorses. We find her analysis of these views problematic for either going beyond the parameters of the summativism-nonsummativism debate or contradicting common intuitions about epistemic trait ascriptions. As an alternative, we advance the idea that collective epistemic traits are system properties; or that epistemic traits act as system properties when attributed to collectives taken in their own right. Working as a system, the individual members of a collective perform their designated roles or tasks in coordination and cooperation with each other to achieve their joint intentions. Being attributes exclusive to systems, collective epistemic traits cannot, therefore, be attributed in the same respect to the individuals comprising these systems, thereby blocking any summative account of these traits. This model also easily sidesteps the problems besetting Fricker's preferred one.
Pangunahing nilalayon ng sanaysay na matukoy at maipaliwanag sa isang tematikong pamamaraan ang m... more Pangunahing nilalayon ng sanaysay na matukoy at maipaliwanag sa isang tematikong pamamaraan ang mga elementong bumubuo sa mensahe ng kuwento ng seryeng pantelebisyon sa Netflix na pinamagatang Squid Game. Ang mensaheng ito, na may kinalaman sa masasamang epekto ng matinding kompetisyong umiiral sa sistemang pang-ekonomiya ng kapitalismo sa buhay ng mga ordinaryong miyembro ng lipunan, ay sinusuri gamit ang balangkas ng etikang pangnegosyo. Ipinakikita na ang pangunahing nilalayong iparating na mensahe ng kuwento ay ang pangangailangang maitaguyod ang etika sa sistema ng kapitalismo upang maibsan kung hindi man tuluyang maiwasan ang mga negatibong epekto nito sa buhay ng mga tao. Sa partikular, pinatutunayan ang pagsuporta ng kuwento sa mga pagtutol sa mga argumentong nagsusulong ng kaisipang walang lugar, imposible, o hindi mahalaga ang etika sa mga gawaing pangnegosyo sa sistema ng kapitalismo. Habang ang kuwento ay nagbibigay ng isang babala sa maaaring sukdulan na mga negatibong kahihinatnan ng patuloy na paglaganap ng kawalan ng etika sa kapitalismo sa buhay ng mga tao, ito rin naman ay nagbibigay ng pag-asa sa likas na kabutihan ng tao na manaig sa kahulihan at sa gayo'y mapigilan ang kaganapan ng mga naturang posibleng kahihinatnan.
The essay primarily aims to identify and explain in a thematic way the important elements that constitute the message of the story of a television series on Netflix entitled Squid Game. This message, which has something to do with the negative effects of the intense competition occurring in the economic system of capitalism, is analyzed using business ethics as the framework. It is shown that the message that the story primarily intends to convey is the need to establish ethics in the system of capitalism to mitigate if not totally prevent its negative effects on the lives of people. In particular, it is argued that the story supports the objections to the arguments advancing the view that ethics has no place, is impossible to occur, or is unnecessary in business activities in the capitalist system. As the story gives a warning on the possible extreme negative consequences if the widespread lack of ethics in capitalism will persist, it, however, also provides hope in the inherent goodness of humanity to prevail in the end and thereby prevent the realization of such possible consequences.
One compelling argument challenging the tenability of physicalism, which sees reality as fundamen... more One compelling argument challenging the tenability of physicalism, which sees reality as fundamentally comprised of physical facts, is Jackson's knowledge argument. Through a powerful thought experiment involving the case of Mary, the super neuroscientist, the argument demonstrates how knowledge of phenomenal facts cannot be deduced from knowledge of physical facts. For allegedly leaving out phenomenal facts in its account of reality, physicalism is shown to be incomplete and hence mistaken. Physicalists respond to this argument in a variety of ways, challenging, in turn, some aspects of the knowledge argument. This paper focuses on the replies of the ability hypothesis and the phenomenal concept strategy, which respectively try to block the two crucial moves in the knowledge argument: the establishment of an epistemic gap and the inference from the occurrence of this gap to the existence of an ontological gap. The paper critically examines how proponents of these two replies to the knowledge argument respond to some objections to maintain the viability of physicalism.
One fundamental healthcare issue brought to the fore by the current COVID-19 pandemic concerns th... more One fundamental healthcare issue brought to the fore by the current COVID-19 pandemic concerns the scope and nature of the right to healthcare. Given our increasing need for the usually limited healthcare resources, to what extent can we demand provision of these resources as a matter of right? One philosophical way of handling this issue is to clarify the nature of this right. Using the challenges of COVID-19 in the Philippines as the context of analysis, we argue for the view that regards the right to healthcare as fundamentally moral in kind, which should thereby guide its legal and contractual appropriations. In particular, we respond to objections against this view stemming from issues concerning the universality and satisfiability of the right's correlative duty. We deal with such issues by invoking the relative degree of incumbency of moral rights and the capability-relativity of positive duties. We further contend that as these factors define the scope of the moral right to healthcare, they thus constrain what we can demand as a matter of right to meet our healthcare needs in this time of the pandemic.
Contemporary philosophy of mind is generally characterized by its project to naturalize the mind.... more Contemporary philosophy of mind is generally characterized by its project to naturalize the mind. Utilizing the findings of the different sciences involved in cognitive science, especially those of artificial intelligence and neuroscience, it continues to explore ways to explain the workings of the mind in purely scientific terms. But despite the rigor and sophistication of its methods, certain questions critical to its success have remained unanswered, such as how consciousness emerges from the brain's physical processes and how the phenomenal properties of our conscious experiences arise from the physical properties of our bodily experiences. This has led some scholars to seek alternative perspectives. One such perspective that is widely explored today is Buddhist thought. The centrality of the mind in Buddhist thought and its perceived compatibility with the findings of modern science make it an attractive alternative framework to carry out the naturalization project. In this paper, I aim to examine the plausibility of this strategy. In particular, I shall evaluate whether Buddhist thought provides the needed insights to overcome the challenges facing the said project.
Given the usually limited supply of resources needed to meet our healthcare needs during a pandem... more Given the usually limited supply of resources needed to meet our healthcare needs during a pandemic, coming up with a fair system of prioritization by which such resources are to be distributed is both extremely urgent and morally obligatory. In the area of political morality, the issue of what counts as a fair allocation of resources, which may generally come in the form of being benefits or burdens, is referred to as the issue of distributive justice. In this essay, I look into the issue of distributive justice in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. After examining the basic claims of the various theories of distributive justice and how they apply to healthcare resource allocations, I then advance a framework for evaluating the moral justifiability of prioritization schemes for a fair allocation of healthcare resources, especially the vaccines, during the pandemic. The framework basically incorporates moral considerations based on welfare, capabilities, and opportunities.
Philosophia: International Journal of Philosophy (2014) 15(1): 50-62
Due to his significant role in the development of computer technology and the discipline of artif... more Due to his significant role in the development of computer technology and the discipline of artificial intelligence, Alan Turing has supposedly subscribed to the theory of mind that has been greatly inspired by the power of the said technology which has ev entually become the dominant framework for current researches in artificial intelligence and cognitive science, namely, computationalism or the computational theory of mind. In this essay, I challenge this supposition. In particular, I will try to show tha t there is no evidence in Turing's two seminal works that supports such a supposition. His 1936 paper is all about the notion of computation or computability as it applies to mathematical functions and not to the nature or workings of intelligence. On the other hand, while his 1950 work is about intelligence, it is, however, particularly concerned with the problem of whether intelligence can be attributed to computing machines and not of whether computationality can be attributed to human intelligence or to intelligence in general.
Among the possible challenges of FP (Filipino Philosophy), I take those that concern the identity... more Among the possible challenges of FP (Filipino Philosophy), I take those that concern the identity, progress, and recognition of FP as fundamental. First, regarding FP's identity, the challenge is how to define FP in a way that is clear, coherent, non-trivial, and progressive. Second, regarding FP's progress, the challenge is how to raise the level of FP in terms of producing high quality researches and expanding its sphere of influence. And third, regarding FP's recognition, the challenge is how to widen the recognition of the value of FP in both local and international scenes or in the global philosophical community. If FP were a person reflecting on itself, these challenges would correspond to the following questions. First, "Who am I?" Second, "How would I flourish?" Third, "How can I make my existence be of value to other persons?" Issues concerning the first challenge may be regarded as foundational issues about FP; they concern the nature of FP. On the other hand, those concerning the second and third challenges as developmental issues of FP. It is important to distinguish these three challenges for at least two reasons. First, they might be confused. It might, for instance, be thought that since FP is not widely recognized, then there really is no such a thing as FP. Second, they help us identify areas to which we can make our significant contributions. For instance, one may insist that FP should directly deal with the concrete problems of Filipinos. This surely is one good way of dealing with issues concerning the progress of FP but it will be a mistake to think that this consists the whole of FP. This is like saying that ethics should deal with practical issues like abortion and euthanasia. This is surely one of the important tasks of ethics but surely ethics is concerned with others, like the ones dealt with in normative ethics and meta-ethics. In any case, each aspect of FP, as generally distinguished by the three challenges that we have identified, may call for a different approach.
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Papers by Napoleon Mabaquiao
The essay primarily aims to identify and explain in a thematic way the important elements that constitute the message of the story of a television series on Netflix entitled Squid Game. This message, which has something to do with the negative effects of the intense competition occurring in the economic system of capitalism, is analyzed using business ethics as the framework. It is shown that the message that the story primarily intends to convey is the need to establish ethics in the system of capitalism to mitigate if not totally prevent its negative effects on the lives of people. In particular, it is argued that the story supports the objections to the arguments advancing the view that ethics has no place, is impossible to occur, or is unnecessary in business activities in the capitalist system. As the story gives a warning on the possible extreme negative consequences if the widespread lack of ethics in capitalism will persist, it, however, also provides hope in the inherent goodness of humanity to prevail in the end and thereby prevent the realization of such possible consequences.
The essay primarily aims to identify and explain in a thematic way the important elements that constitute the message of the story of a television series on Netflix entitled Squid Game. This message, which has something to do with the negative effects of the intense competition occurring in the economic system of capitalism, is analyzed using business ethics as the framework. It is shown that the message that the story primarily intends to convey is the need to establish ethics in the system of capitalism to mitigate if not totally prevent its negative effects on the lives of people. In particular, it is argued that the story supports the objections to the arguments advancing the view that ethics has no place, is impossible to occur, or is unnecessary in business activities in the capitalist system. As the story gives a warning on the possible extreme negative consequences if the widespread lack of ethics in capitalism will persist, it, however, also provides hope in the inherent goodness of humanity to prevail in the end and thereby prevent the realization of such possible consequences.