Reflections on Rizal, Hegel, Marx, and the 19th Century Ideological Spectrum

Professor Fernandez’s Philippine Institutions 100 class has discussed a wide array of topics ranging from the Hegelian thought to the different ideologies of the 19^th century throughout the semester. Her class is quite different from that of the other PI100 classes where they mostly discuss the peripherals regarding Rizal which includes discussions on his life story, his fellow compatriots, and, to some extent, the Katipunan. Whenever I have the chance to catch up with my friends who are also taking up this course in this semester, I never fail to notice the stark difference of how most PI100 classes are conducted with that of hers. And only now that I’m almost done with this course do I fully appreciate the way this course was taught in class. Other PI100 classes would always dwell with the trivial and non-sensical things concerning Rizal. They would almost always discuss his life story, but fail to get to the root of his greatness and that would be the ideologies that he embodied. Throughout the semester, Professor Fernandez unwavering emphasized that Rizal and his writings should always be properly contextualized according to his time and its prevailing ideologies. One should never label Rizal as a Capitalist nor as a Marxist for his era that of a Feudal system. Rizal knew of the Ideological State Apparatuses at work that prevented the Philippine archipelago to develop its factors of production and, consequently retarded our mode of production to Feudalism. Under Feudalism, the ecclesiastical power ruled supreme. The big and organized religious orders or as he called them, the corporations, owned most of the land and also had a considerable political clout they exercised not only on religious matters, but more so often on matters concerning the civil governance of the archipelago. Indeed, the Church trampled any other force during Rizal’s time. The Church was keen on promoting obscurantism among the natives for without any formal education, all hopes of intellectual liberation are squashed. It is from this enslavement of the Filipino minds that Rizal started his grand scheme to liberate his fellow countrymen.

During the course of his academic studies in Europe, Rizal immersed himself with a lot contemporary philosophers and thinkers of the 18^th and 19^th centuries. In this regard, it would then make sense to study the same set of contemporary thinkers and ideas that have likely influenced Rizal. It is only now that I fully realize the beauty of Rizal’s mind. He was a great admirer of Friedrich Hegel and his primacy of thought. Rizal also believed in liberalism's thrust towards rationality and the uplifting of an individual’s consciousness. It was also in this light that he came to realize the oppressing and obscuring ideological stance the Church administered during his time. Though his ideas were mostly liberal, Rizal also recommended the Conservatism’s thrust for the aristocracy of the elite class. He believed that in order for a society to move forward, its chosen civil servants must also be competent and must have the necessary track record to govern people. What made Rizal the greatest Filipino hero is that, though he was born oppressed under the Spanish colonial rule, he chose to liberate himself with education and, in the course of his life; he then shared this passion with the rest of his obscured countrymen. (03/03/2011)