My Philo 10 in a Nutshell

By Rhena Mae Abundo

Like most of my classmates, I embarked on this Philosophy 10 ride with Sir Bernard Caslib based on recommendations from friends who were previously his students. They had nothing but praises for him and told me how much they have learned from his class so I followed their advice and enlisted for it. Truth be told, I had lots of expectations. First, it’s because of the profusely good things I have heard about this professor who will handle our class, and second, because I recently developed a love affair with Western thinkers since I took Social Science II with Ms. Hernandez. During the course of the subject, I always had a headache after class. But it was the good kind, I tell you. Every after Philo, my head swirls with questions I never imagined I’ll be interested in finding the answers to. Until now, I am still intrigued with Descartes, Hume and Mill. I mean, where they dug up all the questions they had and how they even managed to sustain the patience in making sense of all their questions that have seemingly unfathomable answers is beyond my comprehension. There are times when I am so amazed by these people—even the collective group from whose minds sprang forth the different schools of thought trying to define what the meaning of life is. Sometimes, the reasoning seemed absurd, at first, but once all foundations have been laid out in front of you, it just all makes sense, like a puzzle coming together. In terms of the academic gain, I will walk out of this class with head held high, confident that I am a wee bit more cultured, a wee bit more equipped in the off chance of engaging into random conversations about ethics or the philosophy of love and sex with a friend or a stranger.

During class, I am more of the spectator. I become tongue-tied—too overwhelmed of it all. In my head, I commend my quick-witted classmates who always have insights about the topic, and very much grateful for them too for saving the rest of the class from awkward silence. I am glad that I became part of this class, so clingy and sabaw together. We are such a diverse group and yet we blended well. We are also an amazingly talented bunch! Okay, it’s really just them. But once I participated in all those class shiz, I was surprised myself of what I can [swallow to] do. Fun times.

And then there’s Sir Caslib—the most fun of all, the most thoughtful as he always ask us how our weekend has been, one with the most celebrity sightings, the Benjo-Mari matchmaker, one to give wonderful readings (!), one who’s not afraid to ask us the questions and help us birth the right answers. Because of him, this Philo class had been what I expected and more.