The 46th Philosophical Association of the Visayas and Mindanao (PHAVISMINDA) International Conference commenced in Eastern Visayas State University Ormoc Campus (EVSU-OC), with the theme “Aquinas and Foucault: At the Crossroads of The Medieval and Contemporary Philosophy” yesterday, September 27, 2024.
It’s a three-day event imbued with insightful and intriguing information, attended by multifaceted participants with exceptional and commendable backgrounds, to further nurture and broaden their knowledge in the field of Philosophy. This momentous event was commenced by the welcoming message of the EVSU-OC Campus Director, Dr. Jeffry V. Ocay. Subsequently, Rev. Fr. Francis Paul S. Escaño, RC, PHAVISMINDA President, discussed the rationale of the conference as well as presented the participants of the said event.
Thereafter, Professor, Doctor Philip W. Rosemann, who was born in Germany and is a Cottrill-Rolfes Chair at the University of Kentucky, began the event with his lecture as the key-note speaker of the day. His research interests include Philosophy of History, Philosophy of Religion, Peter Lombard, Martin Heidegger, and Michel Foucault.
As the lecture ended, all participants present in the venue and via Zoom proceeded to give constructive feedback and exchange valuable information to clarify and understand the studied topic.
During the afternoon session, all participants advanced for the next lecture, with diverse topics coming from each of the diverse individual speakers. Occupying six different rooms, labeled as rooms A to F, each having its own distinct topic. Having Dr. Glenn G. Pajares in room A as a moderator with a topic of “Just War, Justice, and the Common Good”, Ann Mharie P. Palomo in room B with a topic of “Lesbian Ethics, Gender Issues, and Sex Struggles”, Ian Nicholas O. Jugo in room C with the topic of “Sexual Subjects and Repression, Situationships, and Divorce”, Jose Fennin B. Crave in room D having the topic entitled as “On Various Virtues and their Possible Applications”, Jovanni Flores Villacora in room E with the topic of “Irrationalism, Educational Issues, Crises, and Proposals”, lastly Dr. Anesito L. Cutillas in room F with the topic of “Education, Phenomenology, and the Human Person”. Each distinguished speaker proceeded the lecture with remarkable precisions of the aforementioned topics, ensuring that all active participants have delved into a much deeper understanding.
After the breakout sessions, another key-note address entitled “Aquinas, and Power Effects of Attention” was discussed by Gregory M. Reichberg, Ph.D. from Peace Research Institute Oslo, Norway. In his discussion, he highlighted that online platforms or websites were harvesting attention in order to get wealthy. That is why online platforms get wealthier when they’re giving out free information. “Attention is the heavy price we pay for the free information we get from various websites,” said Mr. Reichberg.
This first day of this pivotal event has gathered outstanding individuals, wrapped with the same endeavor of learning.
: A.F. Senillo (Contributor), M.J. Surima (Contributor)
: E.M. Mantala, J.C. Donayre, J.M. Tamse
