Evaluation:
When I pre-enlisted for Philosophy
10, it was 12 midnight. I had this irrational fear that I might not get the
subjects I want if I wait until the next day/week (even though the deadline was
still about two weeks away). I didn’t know anything about the UP system then. I
didn’t know what subjects I was supposed to take. So when I was presented a
list of subjects that included Philosophy 1, Geography 1, Archaeology 1, and
Philosophy 10 among others, I leaped on a the chance to get Philosophy 10
simply because I thought (shamefully) the rest were too easy for me. Plus, the
course description for Philo10 was ‘Approaches to Philosophy’ which means I had
to use my brain and what’s a complete UP experience if you don’t constantly
broaden your ability to think critically?
The first few days of class came and
I was really intimidated with EVERYTHING especially when I found out we weren’t
all freshmen (I weep at my ignorance). What made it worse was that one sunny
morning I got to talk to one of the upperclassmen who is a 4th
Year-MBB student who remarked that I was ‘brave’ for taking Philo10. I
struggled to prove myself. I religiously read the readings the first few weeks,
but I was tongue-tied whenever I was asked to speak. Sir Caslib makes my mind
go blank the moment he asks me a question. It’s not that he’s scary, it’s just
that he makes you feel inadequate (and stupid hehe). After a few weeks I became
lenient with my readings, and I just paid attention to what Sir talks about.
It’s amazing how he can magically transform 30 pages worth of Greek philosophy
into a 30-minute lecture that makes you thirsty for more. I am a fan of reading
but even I admit that the readings bore me more often than they should, but I
found that it wasn’t much of a problem as sir discusses the lessons in a way
that makes you think the readings are actually fun to read. Apart from the
academic stuff, he really is a nice-ish and very much fun person (take note of
the fact that he acknowledges boho chic in the class).
Overall, it was one of the wildest
rides of my life. Philosophy 10 under Sir Bernard Caslib Jr. is THE BEST
EXPERIENCE EVER. True, I still haven’t gotten over the intimidation when
answering in class, but most of us, if not all, have forged a relationship with
him that I’m sure will last a lifetime. I can say that my thinking skills are
better. I no longer just ‘accept’ things without questioning them. Heck even
the existence of a chair is boggling me. I am more critical and more cautious
of my surroundings. I have learned the different points of views of
philosophers and their brilliance never cease to amaze me. If I were to rate
this class from zero to ten, I’m not going to tell you, you just have to
experience it yourself.
