Xavier University's philosophy professor Dr Jane Gallamaso recently discussed selected philosophical text on Buddhism and Hinduism at a lecture dedicated to the Graduate School of Philosophy and Religion of Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand.

The resource speaker underscored Eastern philosophy as an interesting topic for research to further expand the appreciation of Asian philosophy. Her lecture was titled “Fundamental Philosophical Questions Found in Oriental Philosophy and their Correlation to Western Philosophy.”

Gallamaso said that the participants of the lecture were curious about the Philippines and what Filipino philosophy is. She spoke before a crowd of professors and graduate students who are of Thai, American, Taiwanese, and Indian nationalities.

“Filipino philosophy as a system is still in progress. There’s no one, unified philosophy for all Filipinos because of various ethnicities and dialects. However, Filipinos have been doing philosophy either individually or collectively as a nation, especially in times of existential crisis,” she explained.

Gallamaso teaches Eastern (Hinduism, Buddhism and Chinese) philosophy as an elective course at Xavier University - Ateneo de Cagayan for more than ten years.

The lecture was organized by the Research Seminar class of AU's Graduate Program of Philosophy and Religion through the invitation of their chairperson, Dr Veerachart Nimanong. Gallamaso's lecture was also made possible due to the support of XU College of Arts and Sciences dean Dr Juliet Q Dalagan and XU Philosophy Department chairman Vicente S Carbon.

XU Philosophy Dept hopes to strengthen its links, through research and exchange of resources, with the philosophy units of other Catholic schools in Asia. ∎

A lecture on Eastern philosophy by Dr Jane Gallamaso (third from right) at the Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology of Assumption University in Bangkok, Thailand was held on October 26 and attended by school administrators, professors, and graduate students. Supplied photo.