ALFREDO Co, a respected name in philosophy research and instruction, will address the question: What is Filipino philosophy?

With his lecture, “Streams and Shapes of Filipino Consciousness,” Co will weigh in on the philosophical outputs that Filipino scholars have created. His lecture will be on May 25, 9 a.m., at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex Auditorium of the University of Santo Tomas.

The lecture is the second part of Co’s research project as holder of the Oscar Picazo Professorial Chair in the Social Sciences and the Humanities at UST.

Earlier, Co, in his inaugural lecture, “The University of Santo Tomas and the Birthing of Philosophy in the Philippines,” said that Filipino philosophy should be evidenced by serious literature by Filipinos doing philosophy— those who are trained and have published in and about the field.

“If there is anything we can call ‘Filipino Philosophy,’ this can only be the product of the hard work of Filipino philosophers and scholars,” he said, stressing that many academics who search for an indigenous philosophy seem to forget that many Filipino scholars have already made their contribution to philosophy through their publications.

Co added that this body of literature “now makes a new philosophical landscape in Southeast Asia.”

For him, the inception of Filipino Philosophy kindled when the Filipino scholars started publishing that resulted in the shift of consciousness, from colonial to Filipino. It began between the mid-’50s to the ’80s, he said.

“What marked this period in the history of philosophy in the Philippines is how these scholars transformed the landscape of philosophy in the country,” he said. “Suddenly, universities, even with their specific strength in their emerging philosophical tradition, shaped an entirely new environment.”

He also urged those who truly want to study Filipino Philosophy to “take the painful task of reading the writings of the first wave of Filipino philosophers.”

The professorial lecture is organized by the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, UST Department of Philosophy and UST Research and Endowment Foundation Inc. through the Office for Grants, Endowments and Partnerships in Higher Education.