Understanding the Filipino notion of “Pakikisama” in the light of William James

concept of “Will”

A thesis presented to

Saint Anthony Mary Claret College

Undergraduate Department

In Partial Fulfillment of

The Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Arts

Major in Philosophy

Bonggay, Ben Daynos

September 2017
A. Background of the study

Looking for the meaning of life has been a long quest in the field of philosophy.

It’s been almost 4 years of studying philosophy but still the researcher is like Socrates

saying- “the only thing that I know is I know nothing”. The researcher studied already

from ancient to contemporary philosophy but still left in the hanging situation of the ideas

that were given by many philosophers. This course (philosophy) is not that ideal course

of the researcher, but it is still helpful even if it has two effects, it would be to doubt and

weakening or to deeper to strengthen the vocation of the researcher.

Upon reflecting many times, the researcher decided that the topic will be about

human relationship. The researcher believe that he can deepen more the understanding of

human relationship which is “pakikisama”. We can see that it is Tagalog as the researcher

chose the Filipino context about human relationship.

The researcher is a Filipino that’s why he found this topic interesting. For the

filipino we may heard this word many times, and sometimes it is being said as;

“Makisama”, “Pakisamahan”. But the researcher discovered that sometimes we are

confused what is “Pakikisama” really means. So the researcher will try to elaborate more

the meaning of this word and how it really give a good impact to Filipino values.

Pakikisama is a basic tendency for Filipinos, and is expressed in their private

lives, their public workplaces, and in their relationship with their neighbors. ... This

indicates that this is a typical Filipino trait. Pakikisama refers to an interpersonal

relationship where people are friendly with each other.

 The researcher observed that Filipino has this interpersonal relationship than other

people in the world. He had an experience of it already especially when he encounters a

stranger foreigner. The foreigner was so silent and it seem that he was so hard to

approach, his face was kind of strict, but still the researcher was the one who approach

the foreigner first. Even if the foreigner speaks limitedly the researcher was still trying to

be close to the foreigner so that they will not feel awkward to each other. And when the

researcher met a stranger which is Filipino also it was very different than to the foreigner.

The Filipino was very friendly and he didn’t hesitate to become a close friend of the

researcher.

The researcher would like to use the concept of “Will” in order to understand why

we come up with that idea of “Pakikisama” and why are we still following and doing it

even nowadays.

B. Statement of the problem

The researcher’s topic will be about the William James concept of “will”.

William James has different types of “Will” and so the researcher will try to connect it in

order to deepen the understanding of the Filipino notion of “Pakikisama”.

In order to fulfill this, there are following questions that need answers:

1. What is the Filipino notion of “Pakikisama”?

2. What is William James concept of “will”?

3. How the concept of “Will” of William James can be applied in the Filipino notion of

“Pakikisama”?
C. Significance

To make this topic helpful and meaningful to the readers, the researcher listed

down some institutions and people that would have benefit to this topic. These are the

following:

1. Filipinos

The researcher’s topic will be more on Filipino context so it will give benefits to

those Filipino people to deepen more there understanding about “Pakikisama”. Since we

are becoming blind to the importance of this particular values, the researcher will

elaborate it more in the light of William James concept of “Will”. using the idea of

William James, the Filipino will be enlightened, why we come up with this notion of

“Pakikisama”.

2. Church

The researcher will relate this Filipino notion of “Pakikisama” to religion

especially catholic. In the light of William James concept of “Will” it will give

enlightenment to the people on why we come up to this religion. So, it will give

understanding that this “Pakikisama” and William James concept of “Will” has

influenced.

3. In the field of philosophy

Since the researcher will use philosopher and this topic will be more on man’s

philosophy it is significant in the field of philosophy. It will help to those people who
 want to study the man’s philosophy, particularly Filipinos. It can be deepen and

refreshment understanding of William James concept of “Will”.

4. The congregations

This thesis is about internal relationship of the people. And in the seminary

community life is very important. As the researcher is studying in the seminary school, he

thinks that this will be helpful to all congregations. studying this topic will help the

congregation to be enlighten by idea. And to use this idea in order to have deeper internal

relationship within congregation to congregation.

3. The researcher

It will be helpful to the researcher itself, being a seminarian dealing people is the

most important aspect that needs to improve. And as a Filipino it is significant to give

value to this notion of “ Pakikisama”. In this thesis, relationship with the people will be

emphasize so it can give to the researcher a deeper understanding about the significance

of this notion of “Pakikisama” in his life.

D. Objective of the Study

The researcher’s goal is to use the William James concept of “Will” to have a

deeper understanding of what “Pakikisama” is for the Filipino people. There are ways to

achieve the goal of this topic and these are:

1. To explicate the Filipino notion of “Pakikisama”

2. To study the William James concept of “Will”

3. To propose a clearer understanding of “Pakikisama” in the light of William James

concept of “Will”.

E. Scope and Limitations of the Study

The study limits itself to Filipino notion of “Pakikisama” which is the internal

relationship of the Filipino people. It maybe includes other values of the Filipino and this

is to understand why we come up with this kind of Characteristic.

The term “Pakikisama” is derived from two Tagalog words: the root word

“sama, accompany, go along with” or come along with and the prefix paki, please or

kindly. Basically, it will be on a Filipino notion only. Other foreign understanding will

not be included.

From the topic William James concept of “Will” the study will be limited only to

Human will. William James has different types of understanding the “Will” of human

being and these are: Rational will, circumstantial will, Habitual will, modal will and the

Doxastic will. And these will be the scope of the study to understand better the Filipino

notion of “Pakikisama”.

F. Review of related Literatures

In order to expound the researcher’s ideas and to gather important information

which are related to this topic the researcher studied and reviewed some books.
Ceniza Lectures Claro R., Gripaldo Rolando M., Mclean George F., Leoncini Dante
Luis P. Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series IIID, Southeast Asia,
Volume 4: Washington, D.C. 2005.Pdf. 04/09/17
This book offers research in values and philosophy which talk about Filipino

cultural traits. It gives a discussion about Filipino psyche especially a conceptual analysis

of “Pakikisama” (Social acceptance, getting along well with others”) probing its

authentic meaning(s) as revealed by etymology and comparative word-use. The author

Leoncini takes great care to respect the amphibolous character of “Pakikisama”, which

makes of it a trait functioning in relation both to other values and to situation.

William Frederick H. Burkhard, General Editor. The Will to Believe. Cambridge,

Mass: Harvard University Press. Copyright © 1984, 1979, 1983, 1978, 1983, 1976,
1975, 1982 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. United States, Inc.,
New York, N.Y. Pdf. 04/10/2017
This Pdf is about the concept of “Will” and other philosophy works by William

James. the researcher will use the concept of “Will” as the main idea to help understand

better the Filipino notion ‘Pakikisama”. In this book, he said “I am all the while,

however, so profoundly convinced that my position is correct.… That statement is quite

significant in chapter III.

Leonardo Nieva Mercado, SVD. Elements of Filipino Philosophy. Tacloban City,

Philippines: Divine Word University publications, 1976. p.80
“This book is a first attempt to divine the philosophy of the common “tao” of the

Philippines.…” the researcher would like to use some ideas coming from this book.

Especially as it was stated that “the Filipino o the other hand, does not distinguish

between object and subject; he thinks concretely and non-dualistically”. This statement

will be help a lot to go beyond the ideas about the Filipino notion of “Pakikisama”.
Tomas D. Andres and Pilar B. Ilada-Andres. Understanding the Filipino. Quezon
City,Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1987.
This book contains a lot of ideas that would be helpful of making this thesis. Here

we can find some Filipino values that is related to stealing, and we can find “Pakikisama

is being used also as it was stated that “Pakikisama, or camaraderie among fellowmen

makes the Filipino flexible and easy to be with. In the name of pakikisama, some

Filipinos will do anything even stealing. So, the researcher would like to apply the ideas

the he got from this book to the thesis.

Leonardo N. Mercado, SVD. The Elements of Filipino Ethics. Tacloban City,

Philippines: Divine Word University publications, 1979.
The researcher found the deeper meaning of value from this book, “value” means

(halaga in tagalog) it is stated that “It shows that what they consider as important will

differ.and so the researcher would like to use it in order to give enlightenment the readers

of this thesis, the ideal that the researcher’s got will be more elaborated in the topic.

Florentino T. Timbereza. Quest for Meaning philosophy made easy for Filipinos.
Quezon City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 2000.
This book contains more philosophical issue that deal to Filipino. The researcher

found some ideas, that has possible to be helpful, especially the “Philosophical Wonder”

there’s a question on “Why does man have to philosophize?”. The researcher is thinking

that it can be connect to the Filipino notion of “Pakikisama”.

G. Research Methodology

The researcher will use books that would be helpful to achieve the goal. The goal

here is to show the importance of “Pakikisama” in the Filipino and what’s the reason

behind why we are doing it. The researcher will do some research online also and see if

the researcher can find any articles that is related to the topic. This topic will be more on

library and online work. The researcher will interview himself to give his understanding

about the topic.

H. Definition of Terms

1. Pakikisama - refers to an interpersonal relationship where people are friendly

with each other and is a typical personality trait of the Filipino people.1

2. William James - (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American

philosopher and psychologist who was also trained as a physician. The first educator to

offer a psychology course in the United States, James was one of the leading thinkers of

the late nineteenth century and is believed by many to be one of the most influential

philosophers the United States has ever produced, while others have labeled him the

"Father of American psychology"2

3. Will – the act of believing, most developed account of morality.3

1
http://repository.ris.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/11266/5196/1/shinrikenkiyo_008_045.pdf
2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James. 04/10/2017.
3
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/#4
 4. Filipino - the people who are native to, or identified with the country of

the Philippines. Filipinos come from various ethnolinguistic groups. Currently, there are

more than 175 ethnolinguistic groups, each with its own language, identity, culture and

history. The modern Filipino identity, with its Austronesian roots, was developed in

conjunction with Spanish, Chinese and American influences.4

5. Notion - late 14c., from Latin notionem (nominative notio) "concept,

conception, idea, notice," noun of action from past participle stem of noscere "come to

know," from PIE root *gno- "to know." Coined by Cicero as a loan-translation of

Greek ennoia "act of thinking, notion, conception," or prolepsis "previous notion,

previous conception."5

6. Concept - 1550s, from Medieval Latin conceptum "draft, abstract," in classical

Latin "(a thing) conceived," from concep-, past participle stem of concipere "to take in"

(see conceive). In some 16c. cases a refashioning of conceit (perhaps to avoid negative

connotations).6

4
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipinos
5
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=notion
6
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=concept
 Conceptual framework

Deeper understanding
of “Pakikisama”

Filipino notion of

William James
concept of “will”
 I. Conceptual Framework

In order to understand shortly the topic of this thesis, the researcher would like to

project it through Schematic presentation. In this way the readers can understand briefly

the main point of view of the topic. To understand better the Filipino notion of

“Pakikisama” the researcher used the William James concept of “Will”.

From the conceptual framework it will presents the main point of view of this

topic. First of all, the researcher would like to study and understand the concept of “Will”

and this idea will be used to really understand why Filipino reached this notion of

“Pakikisama”.

According to what I have learned from our professor Fr. Gwen Barde, William

James Has different concept of “Will” and these are:7

1. Rational will- it is the adequacy of our mental thinking

2. Circumstantial- it is the will to believe base on the circumstances.

3. Habitual- it is conditioned by the habit.

4. Modal- it is the will according the mood itself, meaning it can be change anytime

anywhere.

5. Doxastic- it is the will to believe without explanations needed. And it overrides all will.

Now these concepts will be use in order to understand better the real reason why

Filipinos had this kind of value “Pakikisama”.

7
Fr. Gwen B. Barde (lectures about human will by William James).2017
J. Division of Thesis

In chapter I, the researcher will discuss the background of the study, statement of

the problem, significance of the study, objectives of the study, scope and limitations,

review of related literature, schematic presentation, conceptual framework, definition of

terms that would be use in this research study, and the research methodology.

In chapter II, the researcher will show an understanding about the Filipino notion

of “Pakikisama”. This topic will be more elaborated by the researcher with the help of

the sources, in the discussion the researcher would like to present about the negative and

positive side of this notion of “Pakikisama”. In this topic the researcher would like to

present the distinct idea of that’s why it “Pakikisama” will be define into two words

which are: “Paki” and “Sama”.

In chapter III, the researcher will present the understanding on the study of

William James concept of “Will”. the researcher will present the types of “Will” the he

learned from his professor Fr. Gwen B. Barde. these are the following: Rational will,

Circumstantial will, Habitual will, Modal will and Doxastic will.

In chapter IV, the researcher will discuss on how this Filipino notion of

“Pakikisama” be understood in the light of William James concept of “Will”. This two-

main topic will have a genuine dialogue in order to have a relation, and this Filipino

notion of “Pakikisama” will be understand deeper.

 In chapter V, it will be the summary of the whole topic of this paper. And as

journeying this thesis the findings and the recommendations of this philosophical study

will be included .
Working bibliography:

William., Frederick H. Burkhard, General Editor. The Will to Believe. Cambridge, Mass:
Harvard University Press. Copyright © 1984, 1979, 1983, 1978, 1983, 1976,
1975, 1982 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College. United States, Inc.,
New York, N.Y. Pdf. 04/10/2017

Ceniza Lectures Claro R., Gripaldo Rolando M., Mclean George F., Leoncini Dante Luis

P. Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change Series IIID, Southeast Asia,

Volume 4: Washington, D.C. 2005.

Andres, Tomas D., and Pilar B. Ilada-Andres. Understanding the Filipino. Quezon City,
Philippines: New Day Publishers, 1987.
Mercado, Leonardo N. Elements of Filipino Philosophy. Tacloban City, Philippines:
Divine Word University publications, 1976.
Miranda, Fr. Dionisio M., SVD. Loob: The Filipino Within. Manila, Philippines: Divine
Word Publications, 1989.
Mercado, Leonardo N. The Filipino Mind Philippine Philosophical Studies II.
Manila,Philippines: The Council for Research In Values and Philosophy and
Divine Word Publications, 1994
Mercado, Leonardo N. SVD. The Elements of Filipino Ethics. Tacloban City, Philippines:
Divine Word University publications, 1979.

Timbereza, Florentino T. Quest for Meaning philosophy made easy for Filipinos. Quezon
City, Philippines: New Day Publishers, 2000.