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Leonardo Mercado

Father Leonardo Mercado sought to develop a genuine Filipino Philosophy by studying the language, culture, behaviors, and myths of ordinary Filipinos. He believed philosophies developed by prominent individuals did not truly represent Filipino thought, but were instead influenced by Western ideas. Mercado focused on analyzing the collective thoughts and worldviews of everyday Filipinos developed through their daily lives and customs. He established that Filipino Philosophy should be developed by and for Filipinos as a cultural group, informed by empirical cultural analysis rather than traditional academic methods. Mercado's anthropological approach enabled him to determine Filipino perspectives on concepts like the individual, society, and culture by comparing them through ancient, modern and contemporary lenses.

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896 views1 page

Leonardo Mercado

Father Leonardo Mercado sought to develop a genuine Filipino Philosophy by studying the language, culture, behaviors, and myths of ordinary Filipinos. He believed philosophies developed by prominent individuals did not truly represent Filipino thought, but were instead influenced by Western ideas. Mercado focused on analyzing the collective thoughts and worldviews of everyday Filipinos developed through their daily lives and customs. He established that Filipino Philosophy should be developed by and for Filipinos as a cultural group, informed by empirical cultural analysis rather than traditional academic methods. Mercado's anthropological approach enabled him to determine Filipino perspectives on concepts like the individual, society, and culture by comparing them through ancient, modern and contemporary lenses.

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emmanuel esmilla
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Father Leonardo Mercado’s loyalty on the search for genuine Filipino Philosophy made him a

prominent image – the father of the said discipline. His anthropological perspective on the study of
Filipino Philosophy made it possible for him to trace the genuine Filipino thought, primarily through its
language, culture, behaviour and mythology that provided them a mission and vision of the nation.
(Batoon, 2014, p. 1). This also enabled Mercado’s distinction of the philosophies that only comes from
prominent individuals and which who come from the group of ordinary Filipino people. Mercado pointed
out that those philosophies coming from such individuals, does not speak of the genuine Filipino
thoughts, but rather an integration from which they have learned from the Western enlightenment and
academic philosophy. Mercado viewed these kind of Philosophy as elitist in kind in which this view
served as his primary motivation of his loyalty towards the philosophy of the ordinary Filipino people.
Mercado built his framework of Filipino Philosophy through the Filipino’s collective thought by
which is done on ordinary times and by ordinary people. He emphasized the fact that the Filipino
Philosophy should be by the Filipinos, and for the Filipinos as a cultural group. (Batoon, 2014, p. 5). The
nature of Filipino vital thought for him is “engendered by the evolution and maturation of the historical
situation itself.” (Batoon, 2014, p. 6) This answered the doubts if the Filipino can philosophize with
themselves as it viewed the discipline stems from cultural empiricism. Meaning, Filipino philosophy shall
be examined and analysed from a cultural lens rather than academic.
This approach enabled Mercado to arrive at a more specific point-view of the Filipino philosophy
as the Filipinos’ “view” of the “world” – worldview. (Batoon, 2014, p. 8). He later abandoned the use of
traditional academic philosophical method of research and opted for a research that is capable of
interpreting a group of people’s empirical cultural worldview in a holistic way. (Batoon, 2014, p. 9). With
this he was able to determine the genuine Filipino thought towards different concepts such as, man as an
individual, its society and the things that constitutes it by comparing it through the lenses of ancient,
modern and contemporary philosophy. His analysis of Filipino language, culture and personality and their
corresponding role in one’s way of living made it possible for him to craft such framework that would
reflect a holistic body of knowledge which is normative with the ordinary Filipino. His loyalty towards
the philosophy of the Filipino masses, made him such a prominent figure – a father who is the pillar for
its inquiry.

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