UST HONORS LEADING ASIAN PHILOSOPHER WITH ‘EMERITUS’ TITLE
For his prominence and influence that have been recognized across continents, the University of Santo Tomas (UST) lauded philosopher Prof. Alfredo P. Co, Ph.D., with a “professor emeritus” title.
The title is the highest honor that the university accords upon its faculty members. The foremost Sinologist in the Philippines and a leading philosopher in Southeast Asia, Co have discussed his research works before acclaimed academics in countries around the globe.
He was the first Asian scholar to be invited as plenary speaker at the Conference Mondiale des Institutions Universitaires Catholiques de Philosophie (World Congress of Catholic University Institutions of Philosophy) in 2008. In his over 40 years in the academe, Co has published more than 50 academic articles in anthologies, journals, and books like “Across the Ancient Philosophical World: Essays in Comparative Philosophy” (2009) and “La Notion de Yi Chez Kong Zi et la Conception de Liberte Chez Jean-Jacques Rousseau: La politique du devoir et la politque de troit” (1981).
Co obtained his bachelor, master’s, and doctorate de- grees in Philosophy from UST before pursuing two post-doctorates on Classical Chinese Philosophy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and on Comparative Philosophy at the Sorbonne (Université de Paris III and Université de Paris IV) as scholar of the French government.
Fondly called by his students as “venerable master,” Co was previously recognized with the St. Thomas Aquinas Professorial Chair for the Humanities (UST Graduate School) and the Oscar Picazo Professorial Chair for the Social Sciences and Humanities (UST Faculty of Arts and Letters).