EDUCATION MUST first free individuals from ignorance and selfishness before they could engage with others fairly and overcome more profound moral constraints, an Artlets professor said.
In his address during the 57th St. Thomas More Lecture, Asian Studies Prof. Lino Baron said people must emulate saintly role models to attain a “just and equitable social order” by getting rid of vices that demonstrate “ako muna (me first)” and “ako lamang (only me)” attitudes.
“The first task of education towards justice is to liberate the individual person from the enslavement imposed by ignorance, selfish attitudes and the greed that seek oneself, ako muna, in everything. The second duty is to free the person from selfish values, ako lamang, and ultimately from sin, which is the root of all enslavements and vices. Freed from the subjugations, the enlightened person can reach out to others in respect and fairness,” Baron said on Feb. 24 at the UST Medicine Auditorium.
“Ostensibly, today, the university’s emerging as the best site as conceptualized by St. Thomas More for the greater appreciation of the increasing value of a humanist education that ensures the emergence of a just and equitable social order,” he added.
A well-rounded education, Baron said, develops individuals who could set aside personal interests to drive social and economic reforms. He added that people contribute to meaningful change in society by overcoming self-centeredness.
“The end result of such an education will be the truly universal man who will be able to break the fetters of his egocentricity in a sincere effort to initiate social and economic reforms,” he said.
Citing Bishop Teodoro Bacani, who also spoke for the lecture series, Baron said saints like St. Thomas More should be emulated and not merely admired as they portray the effectiveness of a humanist education.
More, the patron saint of the UST Faculty of Arts and Letters, was an English lawyer and social philosopher. He is known for writing “Utopia,” a socio-political satire published in 1516 that describes the political system of an imaginary island state.
“We truly need men like St. Thomas More. The University of Santo Tomas has produced saints in the past, may it produce also the saints that are needed today to lead the Philippines to a happier future,” Baron said.
During the lecture, Baron also launched his book “Celebrating More,”which chronicles 50 years of Artlets annual lecture series.
The Artlets professor explained that only a fraction of the original lecture texts from 1968 to 2019 were available in college records, requiring him to source excerpts from university publications. Photographs and event coverage supplemented the collection, which was later sorted and organized into a coherent essay.
Baron said the lectures, despite covering diverse topics, were rooted in More’s life, ideas and writings while addressing contemporary Filipino concerns. He added that organizing them required bridging the 500-year gap between More’s time and the present and the cultural differences between Renaissance England and modern Filipino society.
“The existing lectures with or available excerpts guided the process of organizing the text of the volume and the emergence of the following themes, the importance of education, spirituality and religiosity, law and political order, stewardship, business and development, arts and culture.”
The St. Thomas More Lecture was established in 1968 by the late Artlets dean Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta and assistant dean Piedad Guinto-Rosales to honor the patron saint of the Faculty of Arts and Letters. F — A. V. A.
