Alfredo Pimentel Co (; born on November 30, 1949) is a Filipino

Sinologist Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilizatio ...

and philosopher.
.''The Philosopher: Alfredo P. Co, PhD'' October 2, 2016. He is the only contemporary Asian people , Asian scholar to deliver a plenary lecture at the COMIUCAP conference, in 2008.Spirituality of Buddhism
. ''Institute of Spirituality in Asia'' May 3, 2012.

Early years and education

In 1967, Co was named "Outstanding Chinese Youth in the Philippines" by the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

during his sophomore year in high school in Naga City. Co graduated with a philosophy degree at the Faculty of Arts and Letters at the

Pontifical A pontifical () is a Christian liturgical book containing the liturgies that only a bishop may perform. Among the liturgies are those of the ordinal for the ordination and consecration of deacons, priests, and bishops to Holy Orders. While the ...

and Royal

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

in 1972 and earned a master's degree in 1974. He also earned a doctorate degree in 1976 at the same university.Philo prof receives first 'festschrift'
. ''The Varsitarian Website'' May 3, 2012.

Career

Co holds two post-doctorates and two fellowships abroad. He was a Special Scholar of the "Soka University" to the International Asian Studies Program of the

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

for his Post Doctorate on Chinese Classical Philosophy from 1977 to 1978. He took classes in French at the Universite de Poitiers, Technical French at Universite de Bordeaux, and Comparative Philosophy at the Paris Sorbonne University as a French Government Scholar from 1979 to 1981. He wrote a dissertation in French entitled: ''La notion de Yi chez Kong Zi et la concepcion de la liberte chez Jean-Jacques Rousseau: La Politique du devoir et la politique du droit'' (The Notion of Yi in Confucius and the Concept of Liberty in Jean-Jacques Rosseau: The Politics of Duty and the Politics of Liberty). He was also Special Fellow of the Pacific Cultural Foundation of Taiwan and a Special Fellow of the International Society for Intercultural Studies and Research (India). He has been invited as visiting professor in Ateneo de Manila University, De la Salle University, and

University of San Carlos The University of San Carlos (USC or colloquially San Carlos) is a private, Catholic, research, coeducational basic and higher education institution administered by the Philippine Southern Province of the Society of the Divine Word missionarie ...

.The First Asian Philosopher
.''The COMIUCAP Website'' May 6, 2012. He founded the Philosophy Circle of the Philippines in 1972, and at present, he is the incumbent president of the Philippine Academy of Philosophical Research and the Editor of Karunungan – A Journal of Philosophy. He is also a member of the Federation Internationale des Societies de Philosophie based in Fribourg, Switzerland, the Asian Association of the Catholic Philosophers, and Vice President for Asia of the Conférence Mondiale des Institutions Universitaires Catholiques de Philosophie.
.''Co of Philosophy conferred the title “Professor Emeritus”'' March 9, 2017.
. ''Professor Emeritus Co of Philosophy elected COMIUCAP VP for Asia'' September 3, 2018. Co is also consultant to CULTURE and Quest, a publication of the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

, India; UNITAS, UNITAS journal of the U.S.T.; and BUDHI, a journal of Ateneo de Manila. He is currently a chair of the Philippine Commission on Higher Education's (CHED) Technical Committee for Philosophy and a full Professor of Philosophy in U.S.T. In 2008, along with Franck Budenholzer, Juan Luis Scannone, and Jean-Luc Marion, Co was the first and only Asian scholar to date to deliver a plenary lecture at any COMIUCAP conference. In 2017, Co was conferred the title Professor

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

by the University of Santo Tomas. The title is conferred to faculty members who have reached retirement but highly distinguished due to excellence in teaching, research, or extension services. This distinction was conferred due to local and international recognitions, publications, and university commendations. As Professor Emeritus, Co continues to teach at the University of Santo Tomas both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Bibliography

* ''Across the Ancient Philosophical World'' (2015) * ''La Philosophie Comparee : Sur la politique l'humour, et la transcendance'' (2009) * ''Ethics and Philosophy of the Human Person'' (2009) * ''Issues in Eastern Philosophy, Arts, and Culture'' (2009) * ''5 Comparative Philosophy and Postmodern Thoughts'' (2009) * ''Doing philosophy in the Philippines and other essays'' (2009) * ''Two Filipino Thomasian Philosophers on Postmodernism'' (2004) * ''Under the Bo Tree, On the Lotus Flower'' (2003) * ''The Blooming of a Hundred Flowers'' (1992)

Festschrift

In 2010 he was awarded with an eight-volume ''

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

'' by the

to honor him for his distinguished and outstanding achievements in the field of Philosophy. The Festschrift that contains collection of his writings and celebratory essays by colleagues and former students is considered a milestone in the history of philosophy in the Philippines.Professor Doctor Alfredo Co
Pontificia Universita Urbiniana official website, accessed June 20, 2013

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Co, Alfredo Filipino sinologists Filipino philosophers Filipino non-fiction writers Filipino people of Chinese descent University of Santo Tomas alumni 20th-century Filipino philosophers 21st-century philosophers 1949 births Living people Academic staff of the University of Santo Tomas Bicolano people