14/10/2026
THE FIRST FILIPINO “ANALYTIC” PHILOSOPHER
Have you ever wondered why the UP Diliman Department of Philosophy prides itself in being “The Premier Analytic Philosophy Department in the Philippines”?
This all started with a man from Malabon named Ricardo Roque Pascual. Back then, there were only less than five faculty members in the joint department of Philosophy and Psychology (when UP’s main campus was still in Manila before the war). In 1933, Pascual became a faculty member and heavily emphasized teaching Logic in the curriculum. Pascual valued an approach that avoids illogical and unnecessary inferences. This could be traced all the way back to his first works on Rizal, where he stated:
“Let us undertake this study as a cold, logical, scientific investigation with-holding our verdict till the facts – not opinions – are gathered and classified to the best of our ability” (Smith, 1935, as cited in Joaquin, 2022).
He developed a much deeper appreciation of this new “logical” method of philosophizing after being under the tutelage of Rudolf Carnap and Bertrand Russell at the University of Chicago for his PhD. His dissertation was entitled, “Logical Analysis of Fictionalism with respect to the Theory of Truth”.
Russell made a big impact on Pascual’s philosophical outlook, where he even wrote a journal article entitled, “Understanding Mr. Russell”. He forwarded a copy of his essay, to which Russell was able to give a reply by sending him back a letter (which was unfortunately lost in the UP Faculty Center fire in 2015). It was because of this that Pascual had fully embraced this new style of philosophy.
When Pascual returned to UP in 1939, he was appointed as chair of the department and subsequently led the department to this new “analytic” method of philosophizing (later termed as “Analytic” Philosophy). He was eager to transform UP’s philosophy program similar to that of Chicago’s, namely with heavy emphasis on formal logic, alongside the history of philosophy, moral philosophy, empirical psychology, and the philosophy of mathematics and science. Unlike those of other universities at the time, there were no scholastic metaphysics in his curriculum. Interestingly as well, he also added a course on the “Philosophy of Rizal”.
Because of World War II, UP’s main campus was then transferred from Manila to Diliman, where an independent Department of Philosophy was born. This eventually led to the start of a lively academic community in UP, with Pascual reviving his philosophy program, and inspiring many others in their academic pursuits. A few noteworthy names include Alfredo Lagmay, Cesar Majul, Jose Encarnacion Jr., Ruben Santos-Cuyugan, and Armando Bonifacio (among others), later becoming known as the “Pasky Boys”, and advancing what we know now as the “Analytic” Tradition of Philosophy in UP Diliman.
References:
Picture Credits: J.J. Joaquin (DLSU); University Archives
Joaquin, Jeremiah Joven. “Analytic Philosophy in the Philippines.” Asian Journal of Philosophy 1, no. 2 (July 16, 2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44204-022-00029-z.
UP Diliman Department of Philosophy. “History - UP Diliman Department of Philosophy,” March 14, 2023. https://philosophy.upd.edu.ph/about/history/.
Graphics: Ciara Gascon & Azel Pumicpic
Caption: Gab Vicente
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