Jasmine Montemayor | University of the Philippines Los Baños (original) (raw)

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Papers by Jasmine Montemayor

One of the pressing issue in the Philippines during President Duterte’s administration is the ala... more One of the pressing issue in the Philippines during President Duterte’s administration is the alarming increase of crimes against human rights. For this paper, I would be using the political philosophy of Thomas Hobbes in analyzing this issue. I would show two ways of applying this – a) inclined with current administration; b) in conflict with current administration.

The double meanings this paper would discuss would be patterned to John Searle‟s discussion in In... more The double meanings this paper would discuss would be patterned to John Searle‟s discussion in Indirect Speech Acts, but would focus on a different notion of illocutionary acts. "Intended Double Meanings‟ is a different form of Indirect Speech Acts in which both illocutionary acts (the literal and the non-literal) are the primary illocutionary acts. By primary illocutionary acts, what I intend to really mean are primary intentions of the utterance.

Hegel (1770-1831) was a known and influential person during his time. He was a professor at Unive... more Hegel (1770-1831) was a known and influential person during his time. He was a professor at University of Jena, and it is in here that he discussed his stand on Art. During his time, he defined/looked at aesthetics (specifically fine art), with relation to theology and philosophy, as a means to reveal the Absolute or the sublime. Aesthetics for him is the pursuit of beauty in work of arts / in fine arts. He separated nature from work of arts because according to him, nature does not involve the activity of the mind, which is the only one capable of truth. Also, he has stated that everything spiritual is better than anything natural. And since nature does not pass in this conception of the mind, as opposed to the work of art, then a work of art stands higher than nature. Also, it is said that God is more honoured by what mind does than by the production or formation of nature. And so, work of art and the beauty in work of art is superior to that of nature and the beauty in nature. Nature for him cannot be considered as a work of art. In his Introductory Lectures in Aesthetics (1993), he then gives conditions for a work of art (which I would enumerate below). This Hegelian tradition (in regards to his notion of art) has been influential even until the nineteenth century, or even now on the 21 st century. I say that he still influence this century by the fact that there is still the desire to pursue a work of art in its relation to Beauty or something ideal in our contemporary era. This (pursuit of Beauty/Ideal), however, is debatable, but the fact that there are major disputes arise can be an evident for Hegel " s influence. This paper would argue that there are other works of art that can be considered as works of art, which do not necessarily follows the Hegelian tradition. It is also to be noted that I would consider the difference in milieu and context of his time to ours.

The focus of this paper is on the chapter of Daniel P. Sulmasy 'Reinventing' The Rule of Double E... more The focus of this paper is on the chapter of Daniel P. Sulmasy 'Reinventing' The Rule of Double Effect (Chapter 5) in The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics (Steinbock, 2007). The rule of double effect is an important term or notion in biomedical ethics. It is because it is conventionally used to justify medical practices like euthanasia, abortion on certain cases (like in tubal ectopic pregnancy), and on use of morphine to relieve one's pain but can also hasten one's death. In this chapter, Sulmasy claimed that the rule of double effect is an effective justification for same ethical cases although he amended it so that it can answer some criticisms that are being thrown at the conventional notion of double effect. In this chapter, he also distinguished the difference of intention to desires and motives. In this paper, I would argue that even though we can differentiate desires from intention, we cannot separate the notion of desire in intention. I chose this topic because I believe that including desires in intention necessarily would be of importance in separating intended from foreseen consequences of an action. And this separation of consequences or effect is an important aspect in the rule or principle of double effect in justifying some medical practices in biomedical ethics, and can be of use to bioethicists like Sulmasy who tries to justify the use of rule of double effect in some medical cases.

This philosophical paper is a “create paper” which means that I will create or present a concept ... more This philosophical paper is a “create paper” which means that I will create or present a concept that can either be the summation of concepts of different philosophers or the revised version of these concepts. The idea is that I will present my own version of the same concept but with my own perspective. For this paper, I will tackle briefly different philosophers regarding their stand on the use of faith and reason in explaining or discussing God and then present my own view on this. I chose this topic because this is one of the most important and prominent discussion during medieval philosophy. Also, this topic can be seen on different perspectives of philosophers and theologians during the three parts of medieval era which are the early, Arabic & Jewish, and late medieval philosophy. I will discuss St. Augustine, Peter Abelard, Maimonedes, and John Scotus as those who supported the use of faith and reason; and Peter Damian, William of Ockham, and rational philosophers like Aristotle & Averroes as those who do not support this. For my own view, I believe that we should not only put faith above reason, but we should still incorporate faith in our reason in discussing God. However, I do not wish to prove God’s existence using reason with faith. Faith and grace are enough in discussing God but reason can help us understand it better. I believe that we can feel God’s presence and love through His own grace and that the only role of reason in this topic is not to prove His existence but rather a way to understand better the things related to God – again, still with the incorporation of faith even in reason. It is also to be noted that God I am referring in this paper would be Christian God.

This paper aims to evaluate John Stuart Mill’s conception of autonomy. This theme/concept can be ... more This paper aims to evaluate John Stuart Mill’s conception of autonomy. This theme/concept can be seen on Chapter 3 of The Oxford Handbook of Bioethics (Jennings, 2007). Autonomy can be defined by different ways. It can be seen as “self-determination”, or even as the right of an individual to be free from others’ control or great influence in one’s decision-making. Also, it can be regarded in Kantian sense as obedience to self-imposed moral law (categorical imperative) but is dependent on reason. Mill’s conception of autonomy is more of the freedom on a libertarian way. He believes that reason is not a necessity for either autonomy or right. To quote Jennings (2007; p 83) “Reason is not a formal and universal kind of knowing for Mill and it does not establish the formal preconditions for either autonomy or right”. Autonomy is the freedom to choose and act according to his own way. And for that, I would argue that this definition is plausible. I chose this topic because the concept of autonomy is one of the important issues in ethics (both in practical and theoretical) and raises question to its definition, limits and its moral implications.

This philosophical paper focuses on the claim that propositions must be meaningful first before b... more This philosophical paper focuses on the claim that propositions must be meaningful first before becoming truthful. This topic has been debated by different linguistics and philosophers, and up to the present time, no definite answer has been agreed upon by everyone. Aside from the fact that this topic was given to me through draw lots in my PHLO 120 class, I believe that discussing this topic is important because this does not only tackle a theoretical classic philosophical problem, but this also affects every rational being that are fond of providing reasons on different things. We get to ask questions as to what are the topics that should be discussed (is it even worthy to talk about universal, metaphysical, unempirical things or just focus on sensible ones?) and this also help us deal with problems of confusion and uncertainty. It is because knowing what constitutes propositions and the things that should be valued like meaning and truth helps us be more aware on its effects in our everyday lives. This discussion is under the philosophy of language, and it is obvious that there are words that can mean many different things based on its usage in a sentence or in a context. This is worthy to de discussed because it helps us understand our fellow people better. In ordinary usage, this discussion is important to be tackled because misinterpretations in simple conversations can lead to mishaps of other people; also, every rational being engage in conversations from the moment they awake until before they go to sleep. Arguing whether propositions must be truthful first or meaningful first would give us an idea as to what aspect our language should focus more to minimize confusion. I will argue on the side that propositions must be meaningful first before truthful. Meaningful comes from the word " mean " which comes from the Old English mӕnan which means " to mean, intend, signify " (Harper, 2001). On the other hand, the word truthful in this paper pertains to the validity of a statement which is concerned with syntax, and the actuality or the state of the proposition to be true.

Epistemology is a field in philosophy that deals with the study of knowledge and true belief. Peo... more Epistemology is a field in philosophy that deals with the study of knowledge and true belief. People who engage in this discussion found knowledge to be valuable (may it be intrinsically or instrumentally) and have long searched what knowledge really is and what constitute it. It had its peak during the modern age for this is considered as the age of epistemology and age of justification. In epistemology, we get to ask questions as to what constitute knowledge or what is its difference to true belief? Then, we will ask the question, is knowledge more valuable than true belief? For this paper, I believe that knowledge is more valuable than true belief.

This philosophical paper would focus on proving the existence of universals in reality using the ... more This philosophical paper would focus on proving the existence of universals in reality using the own arguments of Peter Abelard, emphasizing the very notion of nominalism and realism. It is to be noted that Peter Abelard was said to be a nominalist, and this paper would focus on the arguments that will consider Abelard to be a realist. I personally believe that universals exist in reality, and through the different readings in Phlo 111 Medieval Philosophy class, other readings related to this, and the group discussion held in the said class, I realized that Abelard’s arguments can be that of a realist. This discussion is important because the problem of universals per se is in itself important (how can you talk about man if you cannot know its’ very form?) and so any rational attempts in answering this question would also be regarded as important. The methodology to be used would be the usage of the meanings of nominalism and realism in proving the claim.

The topic of this research is about the legitimacy of Philippine sovereignty. Majority of the sou... more The topic of this research is about the legitimacy of Philippine sovereignty. Majority of the sources used in this research were from the main library of the University of the Philippines Los Banos. The researcher focused on the internal and external meaning of sovereignty which would first be discussed in the paper. Then, the researcher looked at different aspects of the Philippines in terms of the economic, military and cultural aspects and examined these to know if it follows or contradicts with the meaning of sovereignty. The researcher also looked at the compliance and noncompliance of Filipinos to their government and these were also examined. After conducting the research, it was concluded that the sovereignty of Philippines is not fully practiced.

T his paper attempt s to analyze the nature of women violence in the Philippines, which could ... more T his paper attempt s to analyze the nature of women violence in the Philippines, which could have come into existence as an effect of the introduction of patriarchal society brought by the Spaniards duri ng their colonization in the country, using the perspective of Plato in regard s to art and beauty . The root of women violence in the Philippines can be patterned in influences of the Spaniards during the Spanish colonization and through ti me became a culture, which also serves as a manifestation of Plato’s “art” applied in the soci ety today.