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Filipino Fortitude: Towards a Contextual Yet Critical Social Virtue Ethics

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Filipino Fortitude: Towards a Contextual Yet Critical Social Virtue Ethics View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by eScholarship@BC Filipino Fortitude: Towards a Contextual yet Critical Social Virtue Ethics Author: Monica Jalandoni Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:104928 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2015 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Boston College The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Department of Theology FILIPINO FORTITUDE Towards a Contextual yet Critical Social Virtue Ethics a dissertation by MONICA JALANDONI submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2015 © copyright by MONICA JALANDONI 2015 Abstract Filipino Fortitude: Towards a Contextual yet Critical Social Virtue Ethics Monica Jalandoni James F. Keenan, S.J., Director The dissertation will contribute not only to an appreciation and critical evaluation of fortitude in the Philippine context, but has a wider significance for the practice of virtue ethics. The thesis is that (a) virtue must be analyzed contextually, in specific social contexts, as well as (b) in dependence upon the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition of the virtues, that (c) social virtue as well as individual virtue exists, and that (d) this social, contextual, Aristotelian-Thomistic approach to virtue provides a basis for a social-ethical critical evaluation and prescription for particular societies. If virtue ethics is to generate sound social normative claims, its argument needs to be based not merely upon the classical tradition, but also on a socially, historically and culturally aware analysis of the way virtues are fleshed out in context. This dissertation will argue that the Aristotelian-Thomistic tradition still has much to teach us about courage or fortitude, and in dialogue with contemporary social science still provides legitimate moral insights into fortitude today. Second, it will argue that virtue takes on a particular color or texture in specific social contexts, and will argue this in relation to the Filipino context: Philippine fortitude is Thomistic, with unique attributes of resilience and joy. Third, it will argue that it is necessary to engage in a social-ethical critique of social virtue, arguing that there are deficiencies in Philippine fortitude in that it lacks a crucial link with justice. This critical evaluation will lead to the elaboration of an ethical and social imperative for the Filipino people to develop good anger to fuel a less passive, more assertive fortitude that is ordered to justice. JALANDONI Page | v Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... vii Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Outline of the Chapters ............................................................................................................... 7 Chapter One: Classical Fortitude, Context and Critique ............................................ 7 Chapter Two: Filipino Fortitude ................................................................................. 8 Chapter Three: A Constructive Critique of Filipino Fortitude ................................... 9 Chapter 4: Anger, A Corrective to Filipino Fortitude............................................... 10 Chapter 1: Classical Fortitude, Context and Critique ................................................................... 11 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 11 Plato .......................................................................................................................................... 13 Aristotelian Andreia .................................................................................................................. 15 Aristotle’s Context .................................................................................................... 17 Aristotle’s Five Semblances of Courage and a Critique ........................................... 19 A Critique of Aristotle .............................................................................................. 24 Thomas Aquinas’ Fortitudo ...................................................................................................... 27 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 27 General and Specific Fortitude ................................................................................. 32 The Mean between Fear and Daring ......................................................................... 32 Importance of Fear .................................................................................................... 34 Infused Fortitude ....................................................................................................... 41 Power and Weakness in Martyrdom ......................................................................... 42 Beyond Aggredi: Quasi Integral Parts of Fortitude .................................................. 45 Beyond the Battlefield .............................................................................................. 48 Beyond Faith ............................................................................................................. 52 Beyond Death............................................................................................................ 53 Potential Parts of Fortitude ....................................................................................... 55 Preeminence of Justice .............................................................................................. 61 Prudence .................................................................................................................... 64 Contemporary Relevance of Fortitude ...................................................................... 66 Chapter 2: Filipino Fortitude ........................................................................................................ 71 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 71 Social Virtue ............................................................................................................................. 74 Three Socio-Historical Examples of Filipino Fortitude ........................................................... 84 JALANDONI Page | vi Pasyon and Revolution ............................................................................................. 84 Philippine National Hero: Jose Rizal ........................................................................ 94 EDSA Revolution, 1986 ......................................................................................... 107 Resilience, Fortitude, and Filipino values .............................................................................. 123 Psychosocial Science Studies on Fear and Attachment .......................................... 125 Constructive Resilience in the Philippines ............................................................. 130 Solidarity and Bayanihan, Passivity and Bahala Na, Filipino Patience and the Optimistic Temperament ........................................................................................ 133 Joyful Fortitude ....................................................................................................................... 139 Celebration amidst Suffering: Wakes and Festivals ............................................... 142 People Power .......................................................................................................... 144 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 145 Chapter 3: A Critique of Filipino Fortitude ................................................................................ 148 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 148 Filipino Fortitude, A Critique ................................................................................................. 149 Suspicious of Virtue ................................................................................................ 149 Suspicious of Fortitude and its parts, Courage and Patience .................................. 153 Suspicious of Filipino Fortitude.............................................................................. 161 Praise for Filiipino resilience masks Filipino Injustice........................................... 167 Is Philippine Fortitude a burdened virtue? .............................................................. 172 Chapter 4: Anger, a Corrective to Filipino Fortitude .................................................................. 181 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 181
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