News

Philo Artlets Alumni put up an Independent OA Journal

Philosophy alumnae put up an Independent Open Access journal.

hit on the url for CALL FOR PAPERS:

Thomasians Elected as PAP Officers

Jove Jim Aguas, Ph.D. is set on his fourth term as President of the Philosophical Association of the Philippines, Inc. as re-elected by the members during the National Conference held on 12 April 2007 at the Caleruega Retreat House, Nasugbu Batangas. Other Thomasians in the new Board include USTGS alumna Corazon Toralba, Ph.D. (Vice-President), Arts and Letters Faculty member and Ph.D. student Fleurdeliz Altez (Treasurer), Arts and Letters alumnus and USTGS M.A. candidate Dean Edward Mejos (Public Relations Officer) and USTGS Faculty El Mithra dela Cruz (Board Member). Since its establishment on 1973, this Filipino philosophical community had been graced by Thomasians as frontliners and core members of its thinktank. The new Board of Directors' term of office shall run up to 2009.

Philosophy Majors as Arts and Letters Valedictorian and Salutatorian

Philosophy graduates Tracy Ann Llanera (Rector's Awardee, Summa cum Laude and Class Valedictorian) and Amiel Ian Valdez (Magna cum Laude and Class Salutatorian) graced the stage on the Solemn Investiture Rites of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, as they delivered their Note of Thanks and Address of Petition , respectively. For being the consistent leaders of the graduating class, both Llanera and Valdez have been receiving the highest academic awards and co-curricular responsibilities most especially in their Senior Year. More than a consistent Gold Dean's Lister Awardee, Llanera had been active at the Thomasian Debaters' Council and the Concilium Philosophiae where she served as a Councilor for Academic Affairs. Valdez, aside from being an academic scholar, is the outgoing president of the AB Pax Romana which is the Faculty's sole religious arm. It has been twenty-nine years since Arts and Letters confered the highest academic honor to a philosophy major in the person of Ranhilio Aquino who is now a priest yet is still well-respected within the philosophic discipline and jurisprudence. In sum, the graduating class of 2007 renders the Faculty with seven academic awardees: a summa cum laude, a magna cum laude and five cum laudes namely, Kathleen Esteban, Abegail Favor, Marie Abelyn Kwe, Peter Emmanuel Mara and Arrah Svetlana Quevedo.

Thirteen new Thomasian Masters in Philosophy, two awarded Summa cum Laude

UPDATE CONTENT

List of Defended Theses in Philosophy at the UST Ecclesiastical Faculties

Licentiate and Master of Arts in Philosophy:

SEM. BANCASO, NUNILON ARNOLD JR. F. (Archdiocese of Nueva Caceres)

Thesis: From Acting Person to Loving Person: An Integration of Wojtyla's Concept of Acting Person and Love in John Paul II's Encyclical Letter, "Veritatis Splendor" (Defended, Magna cum Laude)

Supervisor: Jove Jim Aguas, Ph.D.

SEM. TAMAYAO, MICHAEL JHON M. (Archdiocese of Tuguegarao)

Thesis: The Development of Heidegger's Concept of Freedom (Defended, Magna cum Laude)

Supervisor: Florentino Hornedo, Ph.D.

Licentiate in Philosophy and Bachelor of Arts Classical Major in Philosophy

SEM. FERNANDEZ, SHELWIN G. (Diocese of Maasin)

Thesis: The Ruler in Meng Zi's Political Philosophy (Defended, Magna cum Laude)

Supervisor: Fr. Richard Ang, OP, M.A.

SEM. VILLANUEVA, CARLO A. (Archdiocese of Manila)

Thesis: Karol Wojtyla's Personalistic Arguments Against Contraception (Defended, Magna cum Laude)

Supervisor: Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, Ph.D., JD

SEM. VILLANUEVA, PAOLO A. (Ardiocese of Manila) Thesis: Gabriel Marcel and the Demands of Friendship

(Defended, Bene Probatus)

Supervisor: Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, Ph.D., JD

Undergraduate Researches on Habermas and Arendt Tied for Best Thesis in Philosophy

AB Philosophy Seniors Tracy Ann Llanera and Amiel Ian Valdez tied for the Best Thesis Award given on 9 March 2007. Llanera wrote a thesis with the title, "The Development of the 'Active Jewish Female' under the Action-Power Framework of Hannah Arendt," and Valdez with, "On Contemporary Philippine Civil Society: a Critique based on Jurgen Habermas' notions of Public Sphere and Communicative Action." Both under the supervision of Ms. Fleur Altez, these theses emerged as best in substance, research techniques and human relevance out of other nine theses in philosophy that are likewise marked excellent during the revalida. The screening of Best Thesis was done by four philosophy mentors from the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters

Two Foreign Thomists in a Graduate Crash Course on Thomas

Graduate Students attended two weeks of lecture on Saint Thomas Aquinas given by foreign Scholars, Fr. Herwi Rikhof (Utrecht, Netherlands) and Dr. John FX Knasas (Center for Thomistic Studies, University of St. Thomas, Houston). Running from 11 to 24 January 2007, the themes of the lectures can be divided into two, St. Thomas and Negative Theology (Rikhof) and The Varities of Neo-Thomism (Knasas). The course is posed as a requirement for Ph.D. Philosophy students though voluntarily enrolled likewise by a larger number of M.A. students. A highlight of their visit is a National Conference on Thomism held on 18-19 January 2007 which is also graced by Filipino Thomists namely, Rev. Fr. Jose Antonio Aureada, OP; Rev. Fausto Gomez, OP; and other thinkers like Florentino Timbreza, Ph.D.; Manuel Dy, Ph.D. and Rainier Ibana, Ph.D.

German Scholar from Brock Delivers a Paper on Daoism

German scholar Hans Georg Moeller, from Brock University (Ontario, Canada), in response to the invitation of Dr. Alfredo Co, graced the University of Santo Tomas by delivering a lecture on Daoism and War on November 2007. More than institutional, the academic linkage to Dr. Moeller (and to Brock) can be taken as personal as he was a mentor to Mr. Paolo Bolanos, a Thomasian, when he was taking his MA in Philosophy at Brock.

Concilium Philosophiae Launches Website

visit: http://conciliumphilosophiae.org

Philosophy Graduates renew the Philosophy File Forum

visit: http://philofile.11.forumer.com/index.php

the forum is also open to non-thomasian philosophy students and/or enthusiasts.