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In this article, the author looks carefully into the Filipino value system as it relates to caring. A critique of traditional value theory yields the conclusion that reason-based values have primacy over those that are based on emotion, such as caring. Feminist philosophy’s contribution is to cast a critical eye on the way traditional Western philosophy uses standards. It is revealed that philosophy and value theory are gendered. In looking at the Filipino values of caring such as pagkalinga, pagaaruga, and pakialam, the author puts them in context via her own life experiences.
She argues that caring ought to be recognized and re-valued but finds that most Filipinos have yet to take the value of pakikipagkapwa more seriously.
She adds that although caring is important, it is not independent of other value systems such as justice-based ethics. INTRODUCTION Filipino values have been around throughout generations, as these are what the Filipino people deem as ideal and desirable. I maintain that such values are never static, they mutate and evolve and are subject to changes as human interactions shape them.
These are values that individuals consider as good, important, proper, and suitable and there are as many Filipino values depending upon the many things that are valued (Timbreza 2001: 1).
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However these values have been interpreted in various ways, often in terms of consequences. That is, the result of valuing and knowing which values actually do us good and which do us harm. Many find it difficult to truly appreciate the positive functions of our traditional values because we only have a vague understanding of value system itself (Jocano 2000: 2).
Some have even managed to trace the country’s current problems to our culture’s value system and pronounce it as “damaged” (Fallows: 1987). 2 According to Jocano (2000: 19), Filipino values may be roughly translated to kahalagahan (valuing) and it has one important feature; as a value paradigm, it sets standards of behavior, or “pamantayan.
” This is the term that Felipe Landa Jocano prefers over halaga as it is the “most appropriate term for standard (2000: 19-20). ” He also notes that these values do set internal rules, act as directive forces, are themselves sources of meanings, and act as a system of meanings.
Jocano will figure prominently in my discussion of the Filipino value system as he has made an elaborate discussion of the pamantayan’s important elements, viz. , halaga (evaluative core), asal (expressive core), and diwa (spiritual core). This discussion is vital in understanding how closely our value system ties in with the Feminist Ethics of Care. Some of the examples of Filipino values that we are most familiar with and which easily come to mind are utang na loob (debt of gratitude) and delicadeza (propriety). We know what these mean and realize that these are valued because the Filipino is mindful about others.
These Filipino values arise out of our concern for the people around us, our “kapwa-tao. ” Kapwa (fellow person) is a relational standard. Importance is given to smooth inter-personal relationships because although we may be dealing with “others,” we recognize them as our fellow persons worthy of consideration. This relational aspect is not unlike the emphasis on the value of caring, espoused by Feminists, where the moral voice speaks a language of care that stresses relationships and responsibilities rather than personal autonomy.
Needless to say, a lot has already been written about Filipino values—these studies involve in-depth analyses of these core values and different ways of interpreting them. But I am focusing my research on values that are ever-present but seldom acknowledged, much less recognized in Filipino society. I have also narrowed the scope into a particular field that is consistent with my academic interests. 3 And as chance would have it, recent events in my life as a Filipino woman Feminist have provided context and contributed greatly to the outcome of this research.
In this paper I will first make a survey of some Filipino values through Jocano’s value system and this will lead to my quest to reinterpret these values according to my context, my lived experience. Then there is need to re-examine the role of traditional philosophy and value theory, and in the way that these values are ordered and ranked, and whether they are universal or gender-neutral. I will assert that traditional value theory is gendered male and that there is a great need to re-valuate the missing feminine/Feminist component.
Some Feminist Ethical theories will be cited, along with the realization that these values have certain traits that are shared by ideals that the Filipinos hold dear. Our value system as evidenced by the many forms of caring—pag-aaruga, pagtangkilik, paglingap, pagkalinga, even pakialam show that it is highly relational, emotive,4 and very similar to the Feminist Ethics of care as espoused by Gilligan (1982), Noddings (1984), Tronto (1993) to name a few. I am well aware that the concept of having core Filipino values is in itself problematic as it assumes a general or essentialist idea.
So too with a consistent Feminist Ethics, as there are many versions, and internal disputes prevail. However, I will argue that despite these, the Filipino experience does show that the practice of caring is indeed present and highly valued. Lastly, I recommend that caring is a value that we, Filipino women and men alike, should recognize and give importance to. But while we value care and give primacy to the Filipino version of caring in pagkalinga, pag-aaruga, and paki(alam), this does not mean that care alone and its many forms ought to be ranked as the only worthy principle.
It should also be reviewed constantly and tempered with the ethics of justice. These two paradigms are not distinct nor are they irreconcilable (Stocker 1987: 62). Filipino Value System According to Jocano (2000: 24), the Filipino value system or pamantayan has three elements, namely halaga, asal, and diwa. First, the pamantayan’s evaluative aspect, “halaga” (2000: 29) is what Filipinos find most worthy. It is given to observed traits that make the virtuous person, she or he who is “uliran.
” Interestingly enough, the halaga has not one but three dimensions: one’s self-worth (pagkatao), one’s dignified relationships with others (pakikipagkapwa-tao), and having compassion (pagkamakatao). These three are closely tied together, since one’s self-worth is interdependent with showing compassion and her dignified relationships with others. Second, the evaluative aspect is manifested in the expressive aspect of a person’s behavior or “asal. ” Asal has three standards (Jocano 2000: 51-83): kapwa (relational), damdamin (emotional), and dangal (moral).
Individualism is simply not a part of the traditional Filipino culture. Jocano shows evidence to this via the three elements of the kapwa, which is the relational standard. Pakikitungo is to act humbly, to concede, and to deal with others in order to maintain smooth interpersonal relationships. Pakikisama values sensitivity, it is to get along, be concerned and supportive. And in terms of crisis, pakikiramay is to sympathize and share sufferings. All three clearly show sensitivity, empathy, and compassion to the other (kapwa). This Filipino sensitivity and intuition shows the emotional standard of the asal.
Jocano referred to it as damdamin. To the Filipino, Even an unguarded/unintentional comment, stare, reprimand can cause serious, often fatal conflicts. Emotionalism is given higher premium than rationalism in handling situations or in coping with conditions. Our rationality often involves deep emotionalism particularly in interactions having to do with personal honor, dignity, and moral principles. (Jocano 2000: 68) The basic supportive norms of emotions are the different levels of concern we give to the “feelings of others” where their damdamin ought not to be hurt and conflicts are minimized.
5 With delicadeza proper behavior and refinement are expected. Delicadeza is connected to amor propio, which gives us self-esteem, knowing that we behave accordingly. Awa is mercy, sympathy, compassion for others and hiya comes in various forms. It is the painful feeling for wrongdoing. As the moral standard, dangal, which means social honor, reputation refers to one’s character, identity, pride and commitment to revered ideals. This includes knowing what is morally right, feeling what is morally good, and acting in a morally desirable way.
Dangal is manifested in values such as respect and deference or paggalang,6 reciprocity or utang na loob, and pagkabahala or concern and responsibility. From the expressive standard, let us proceed to Jocano’s spiritual aspect, which is diwa. This represents the efficacy of the spirit of firmness in what one believes in. It embodies fundamental quality of ideas, sentiments and actions. Without diwa,7 life would be devoid of inner vitality and meaning as it is also the highest embodiment of ethical principles and moral ideals in life.
But it is impossible to speak of the Filipino concept of diwa (Jocano 2000: 85-118) without an important point of reference, which is loob. This speaks of the inner core, describing our physical, mental, and emotional condition. Loob figures in the Filipino language and system of meanings. 8 In order to understand Filipino behavior and value system, Jocano avers that first we need to understand the Filipino kalooban where reasons and feelings are merged. Unlike the Western dichotomy of thought or reason versus feelings or intuition, these two are closely intertwined within the Filipino kalooban.
On the other hand, labas refers to outer conditions, a public persona sometimes used to conceal our true intentions. 9 Pakitang tao is camouflage, pagbabalatkayo is masquerade, pabalat-bunga is fake, kunwari is pretense, while pasikat is to show-off (Jocano 2000: 97). In summary, the Filipino value system of pamantayan is heavily relational. In as much as self worth or pagkatao is important, it finds expression in looking out for the welfare of others (kapwa) in emotional terms (damdamin) and moral terms (dangal). This culminates in the spiritual aspect of diwa as kalooban.
With this awareness of the Filipino value system comes a critical revisiting of philosophical concepts, particularly of the notion of reason as it relates to the concept of “good. ” If values are indeed ideals, or the pamantayan, then it makes sense to look into the discipline by which they are constantly examined. Gendered Philosophy Feminist Theory cuts across various disciplines, finding itself in the humanities (in philosophy and its many branches, literature), the social sciences (history, psychology, political science), even the sciences (biology).
It brings in the perspective that gender matters, calling into question the previously held belief that there is an absolute and universal way of doing things. For example when Aristotle (1981) asked, “What kind of life shall I best lead? ” we were taught that virtues, when cultivated and practiced accordingly, would lead us to the good life. What is often overlooked is the fact that Aristotle’s famous question never applies to women because his philosophy denies them the right to be full moral agents (Pearsall 1999: 314).
Looking closely at Aristotle’s works10 will show that although he is implicitly dishing out his advice to everybody, he is coming from a particular vantage point, that is, as a privileged free man living in Ancient Greece (Noddings 1990). Hence, Feminist philosophers argue that traditional philosophy is gendered as male, embodied by the man of reason (Lloyd 1984; Grimshaw 1986). Western philosophy in particular is notorious for dualisms, for example, reason/emotion, thought/feeling, abstract/concrete, general/particular, absolute/relative, active/passive, good/evil, to name but a few.
Ann Ferguson (1999: 61) notes that although reason involves the faculty of logical argument, abstraction, and universal generalization, it is not a mere unemotional center of knowledge since it also involves a love of and a desire for the Good. What is dangerous about this kind of thinking is that not only are the gray areas reduced but also when applied to real people and real life experiences, it becomes inadequate. Human beings as gendered individuals do not escape this dualistic thinking.
Men have been assigned the privileged terms of reason, thought, capable of comprehending the abstract, activity, and goodness—while women, in this mode of thinking, are relegated to what Simone de Beauvoir (1952) calls the “Other,” that is, the undesirable category. If man is rational then she is irrational because she is not man. Perhaps the greatest irony is that whilst philosophers since Aristotle insisted on woman’s irrationality and arguing in the name of philosophy, the goddess Sophia herself is a woman. 11 The dichotomy between reason and emotion is particularly important in discussing values.
Because traditional male ethicists link goodness with reason it is now imperative to look into the traditional way of doing value theory. If “reason-good” is linked with males and “emotion-bad” with females then the latter pairing becomes suspect. This means that there is simply one universal standard of goodness. But this so-called universal is not neutral, nor value-free. It is gendered. Nel Noddings (1990 :390) argues that to construct an ethic free of gendered views may be impossible as we live in gendered society. Our experiences as women are different from experiences of men, hence affecting our value systems.
FEMINISM, ETHICS, AND VALUES Traditional Western moral theories are deficient to the degree that they lack, ignore, trivialize or denigrate traits and attributes that are culturally associated with women. Joan Tronto (1989: 394) notes that what men in general value most differ from women. The traditional view is that men’s concerns are the more important things such as money, career, advancement and ideas. Women’s preoccupations are under-valued and deemed as less important, such as families, neighbors, friends, and caring (Tronto 1989: 394-395).
These so-called important things to be achieved require a certain set of traits. If a man values money and advancement, it follows that he needs to cultivate a set of principles and strategies to achieve that goal. He needs to be independent, competitive but to be fair to others; he also has to be just. Justice is indeed the “good” of traditional morality. Carol Gilligan (1982) presents her work as a response to Lawrence Kohlberg’s Six-stage process of moral development, and she concedes that although this scale appeals to many people, it is by no means applicable to all (Tong 1998).
Kohlberg’s findings reveal that women are assigned a lower moral stage. She conducted her own research and found that the moral development of women is not deficient in relation to men’s but that it follows a different logic, truly a “different voice. ” Gilligan argues that Kohlberg’s method is male biased as his ears are “attuned to male and not female moral voices. ” This moral voice speaks a language of care stressing relationships and responsibilities, rather than the language of justice12 that emphasizes rights and rules (Gilligan 1982).
According to Gilligan, there are at least two moral orientations that in their respective truths cannot be reduced to one another and neither is one the higher good. The ideal is to integrate both the ethics of justice and the ethics of care. Interpreting Gilligan’s work, Marilyn Friedman (1987: 193, 203) notes that women, more so than men, find it difficult to respond fully in hypothetical dilemmas. If more information is provided then the woman grasps the situation and is in a better position to respond.
This is where contextualizing or providing context is crucial as a concern for the contextual detail moves a moral reasoner from principled moral reasoning in the direction of contextual relativism and thus become reluctant to judge others. In Gilligan’s study, the women find that moral problems do not result from a conflict of rights to be adjudicated by ranking values (women and moral theory) but rather “moral problems are imbedded in a contextual frame that eludes abstract, deductive reasoning. ” These women employ strategies that aim at maintaining personal ties whenever possible without sacrificing the integrity of the self.
The Feminist debate about an ethics of care has become so extensive that Andrea Maihofer (1999: 393) claims it is now difficult to provide an overview of it. What Carol Gilligan started in 1982 has ignited a fierce discussion of its empirical correctness and the validity of its generalizations. Maternal thinkers like Sara Ruddick (1989) affirm that ethics and value systems should be built on a model that fits life as most people live in it on an everyday basis and not on a contract basis, in a way that two business executives would conduct their financial affairs.
Nel Noddings (1990) takes ethics as being about particular relationships between two persons, the “one-caring” and the “cared-for”—rooted in women’s experiences in caring for loved ones (children) and this has nothing to do with abstract principles or religion. She argues that the mother’s experience of caring and everyone’s remembrance of being cared for constitute the basis of ethics. Joan Tronto, like Ruddick, acknowledges that forms of insight, knowledge, and values develop in our everyday lives, and in concrete social settings but, unlike Ruddick, she bases her thought on a very broad concept of caring for others (Pearsall 1999: 315).
She identifies two types of caring, “caring about” and “caring for,” where the distinction is based on the object of caring. The boundaries aren’t fixed though she notes that caring about refers to less concrete objects and is characterized by a more general form of commitment (Tronto 1993). “Caring for” implies a more specific, particular object that is the focus of caring. It also involves responding to the particular, concrete, spiritual, intellectual, emotional needs of others.
She also argues that “traditional gender roles in our society imply that men care about but women care for” (Tronto 1989: 400). In developing the normative implications of the praxis of care for others, Tronto came up with the four phases of caring— caring about, noticing the need to care in the first place; taking care of, assuming responsibility for care; care-giving, the actual work of care that needs to be done; and, care-receiving, the response of that which is cared for to the care.
Hence, the success of caring for others depends upon the perception of the needs of another, as well as the readiness to take responsibility for those needs. Further, she extrapolates that this praxis of care for others has “four ethical elements of care: attentiveness, responsibility, competence and responsiveness” (Tronto 1993: 127) Although the ethics of care is an independent normative conception, Tronto, like Gilligan, emphasizes the need to integrate it with the ethics of Justice. THE EXPERIENCE OF CARING
Recent events in my life prompted me to reflect on my experiences of caring for and caring about, pakikisama, pakikipag-kapwa, pakikiramay. I have realized that indeed the Filipino value system has many similarities to the Feminist Ethics of Care. As both Filipino and Feminist woman I find that I am in a unique position as I discover just how deeply I am influenced by both values. Caring is inescapable. Before I did this research I felt burdened by relationships and responsibilities. Too much caring (about or for) was taxing.
My initial experience tells me that even our society does not recognize the importance of caring. Those who care about and for others were faced with that all-important question, what about me? Caring in the broad sense carries a variety of meanings. To care is to feel concern (be bothered, worry, love, think about), to show concern (hug, caress, pay a visit, spend time with) and understand what the other is going through (empathize, sympathize). Ultimately, it is the context of caring that will further illustrate why it is a value.
For Filipinos, caring may be synonymous with any (or may be all) of the following: pag-aaruga, care for especially the young or the sick, may be the value of what Ruddick calls maternal thinking; pagsasaalang-alang, to consider, or thinking about the welfare of another; pagtangkilik, to care about the comforts of another, being hospitable; pakialam, while sometimes taken to mean negatively (as interference) “may pakialam” is also a caring by means of staying informed and having a stake in the matter; pagkalinga is benevolence, compassionate caring.
Feminist Ethics maintain that the particular, concrete, everyday life experiences matter, because unlike the traditional model, this is rooted on our reality. For many Feminists, we too should be interested in the subject of the good but the road to happiness that has been paved by traditional ethicists may be closed because of fundamental differences. These principles have been based primarily on men’s lived experiences. As privileged males who had access to resources, they did not have to worry about sexual harassment, unwanted pregnancies, dealing with small children.
The sexual division of labor further cements the wall that separates the realm of the public and the private; indeed, Tronto (1993: 394) notes that while all persons do care, men merely care about, while women care for. Although I agree with Tronto on this score, I am also aware that she is setting up another dualism. In the past months I have experienced caring about and caring for different things, creatures, people. I care about issues like social justice, gender equality and animal rights.
These are issues and causes that I am passionate about. I also feel a sense of duty towards caring for others and see to it that these goals may be realized. But because of certain constraints I cannot fully get involved with these causes. My time is divided between what the establishment deems as “important” (that is, my career) and caring for others who depend on me and I feel responsible for. Although I am single, I am head of the family.
As the eldest child and bread-winner I am caring for my family, extending financial support to my brothers who are finishing their college studies, providing emotional and moral support to my mother who is constantly worried about stretching the family budget, looking after my grandmother, who at 89 years old is senile and incontinent, providing care to pets who demand affection, showing concern and lending an ear to troubled friends and students. Indeed my kapwa, important humans and creatures around me, matter a lot.
And I find that caring for others in its various guises, from pagsaalangalang or caring about the welfare of my students and friends who need personal and academic advice, and pakialam or bothering to be informed about what is happening with my loved ones and their personal affairs, to pagkalinga and pag-aaruga, or caring for helpless and homeless animals, and patiently looking after my senile grandmother. Caring fits well with the relational Filipino value system of pakikipagkapwa tao even as it develops in many levels.
It is easy to see how Filipinos care for family members (hindi iba sa atin), so too with caring for members of the community—our neighbors and friends, my students (taga-atin)—and caring for others as evidenced by the famous Filipino hospitality. The Filipino concept of the self is not autonomous in the way that the West, particularly American society values personal liberties. Along with caring is paki (alam) or asking and knowing about what is happening with others as a show of concern. To say “may pakialam” means to be a stakeholder.
But paki also carries with it another meaning that is taken negatively—the usyoso mentality of the Filipino. Westerners in particular view this as interference. At the risk of sounding nosy, Filipinos asking personal questions like where have you been or where are you going (saan ka galing, saan ka papunta) is borne out of a sincere desire to know because they are concerned. A quick retort to such questions may be “ano ba’ng paki mo? ”13 The Filipino self, as in Gilligan’s Feminist Ethics, is a self-in-relation as we are not individualistic.
But unlike advocates of Feminist Ethics who make no bones about caring as a feminine trait, the Filipino value system appears to be gender-neutral. All forms of caring, such as pagkalinga, pagsasaalang-alang, paglingap may be attributed to Filipino males and females. After all, pakikipag-kapwa tao does not denote a generic man, for tao means everybody. 14 CONCLUSION The Filipino system of values or pamantayan is very similar to the Feminist Ethics of care in the sense that both are relational, both value emotional sensitivity, prize smooth interpersonal relationships, and avoid hurting others.
While Filipinos use the concept of loob to be inward looking (Jocano 2000: 38), Feminists draw upon their experience as caregivers, as mothers and even as recipients of care. We see this in the many types of caring such as pakialam, pagkalinga, pagaaruga, pangangalaga, pagtangkilik, and the like. But each system is flawed in the sense that Care Ethics claims to speak for all women while Filipino value system claims to speak for all Filipinos. Although we recognize the importance of the perspectives of gender (Feminist) and ethnicity (Filipino), there is trouble that further differences might be obscured within these categories.
This type of essentialism has its pitfalls, for while we are critical of male Western/first world values, we may be guilty of erecting our own and imposing it on others. Also we must resist the allure of romanticizing the role of the caregiver because it is, as I have experienced it, burdensome. Easily the self may be obliterated in our preoccupation with caring for others. In our country today, a mass-exodus of nurses, midwives, teachers (care-givers all) who are also mothers and primary caregivers to their immediate family members are contributing to the brain drain.
15 And while they are looking after other people’s children, what is happening to their own families back home? Are the fathers doing a good job of caring or mothering? It becomes easy to again make generalizations about the Filipino psyche and gloss over important differences like the categories of class (those who can afford to pay for nannies and midwives) and gender (it is still the women who do a lot of actual caring-for). Filipino women (especially the poor) are overburdened. Feminists also caution women in contributing to their own exploitation (Tronto, 1987).
Putting the value of care in the Filipino context means that there is a need to be critical, and acknowledge the fact that despite this Filipino value system that is relational (that is, of pakikipagkapwa) there is evidence everywhere that caring is nonexistent: in the streets where male drivers are reckless (way beyond caring), a blatant disregard for traffic rules, poor work ethic in government offices (“walang paki sa dapat na pinagsisilbihan”), we cannot manage even our garbage situation so this results to flooding.
Too, caring is often misplaced as pakikialam. The concept of loob may be positive because we are inward looking but we need to expand the scope of the inner circle (the private) and encompass others. We should also include caring for other people (we are racists, we love foreigners but discriminate against our own race), creatures (we do not care as much about Philippine flora and fauna, we abuse our resources), and the environment.
We should also start caring about issues, be better informed and lose our apathy so we will not keep electing lousy leaders. We have pakialam over showbiz happenings, and street accidents but seldom when it matters most. It is now more than ever that we have to be concerned (or to make pakialam). But there is also a need to temper caring with the spirit of justice. Although scholars have done studies on values the aspect of caring has been overlooked. Caring has many forms and this is the most interesting part; it is expressed in so many ways.
It is also interesting to ask why despite our being caring/pakikipag-kapwa tao, we are not moving on? Caring is indeed undervalued and it has to be recognized. We need to figure out how to integrate it with the ethics of justice and make it work to our advantage. Yes, we care, may pagmamalasakit, but it is simply not enough. There is a need to take caring more seriously. To care about the self and the other go hand in hand. http://www. crvp. org/book/Series03/IIID-4/chapter-6. htm.
"Filipino Values" Article. (2016, Dec 30). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/filipino-values-article-essay
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