THE FILIPINO LANGUAGE IN THE FLOURISHING OF FILIPINO1 PHILOSOPHY: THE POINT OF CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE BETWEEN ROQUE FERRIOLS AND LEONARDO MERCADO.

The paper argues that Roque J. Ferriols [1924-2021] and Leonardo N. Mercado [1935-2020] simultaneously converge and diverge in their understanding of the value of the Philippine languages in the flourishing of Filipino philosophy. On the one hand, these philosophers converge in seeing the vitality of local languages in philosophizing. On the other hand, they diverge because Ferriols' trajectory is centrifugal while Mercado's is centripetal. Ferriols' centrifugal orientation is conditioned by his belief that there is no Filipino philosophy and that developing one is a pointless endeavor. Mercado's centripetal orientation is conditioned by his belief that a local language is a locus for philosophical investigation because it mirrors a worldview. In this paper, I first show their point of convergence by exploring the context that disposes them to focus their attention on a local language. Second, I show that their point of divergence is seen in the way they see a local language: Ferriols sees it as a way to express a worldview, while Mercado sees it as a way to investigate a worldview. Third, I propose that a synthesis of the thoughts of these two influential Filipino priest-philosophers contributes to the ongoing study on the development of Filipino philosophy in the postmodern Philippines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]