Beyond Understanding Pariwara: A Philosophical Journey Toward Authentic Being

In the Philippines, there is a word that carries a heavy weight in everyday conversation: pariwara. It describes a person who has gone astray, someone whose life has drifted off course into carelessness, irresponsibility, or moral failure. When a family or community uses this label, it often feels like a final judgment, a way of saying that the person has lost their way permanently and cannot be trusted again. It is a term that separates the individual from the group, marking them as someone who has broken the bonds of shared responsibility and mutual care that hold society together. But this common understanding raises a profound question that philosophers have long debated: Is a person defined forever by their worst moments? Can someone who has fallen truly find their way back, or is the label of failure a permanent cage?

This question sits at the intersection of two major ways of thinking about human life. On one side is the Western tradition of existentialism, which argues that people are not born with a fixed nature but are constantly creating themselves through their choices. On the other side is Filipino philosophy, which emphasizes that a person is never truly alone; our identity is built through our relationships with others and our shared sense of community. A new research article by Charlu Pimentel, a scholar from Sultan Kudarat State University, brings these two perspectives together to rethink the meaning of pariwara. The study does not rely on surveys or experiments but instead uses deep philosophical analysis to examine the lived experience of being labeled as "lost." The author argues that being pariwara is not a permanent identity but a temporary state of confusion that can actually become a turning point. By combining the Western idea that we are free to choose our future with the Filipino understanding that we are connected to our community, the paper suggests that a person who has gone astray can rebuild their character and return to an authentic way of living.

The journey begins by looking at what pariwara actually means in the minds of the people who use it. In the Tagalog language, the word points to someone who has been misdirected, often due to a lack of guidance or harmful influences. It is not just about making a bad choice; it is about a deeper disconnection from the inner spirit and the web of relationships that give life meaning. In Filipino thought, a person is defined by kapwa, a concept that means "shared self." This idea suggests that we are not isolated individuals but exist in a state of togetherness with others. When someone becomes pariwara, they are not just failing as a lone individual; they are experiencing a rupture in their connection to family and community. They have drifted away from the shared moral expectations that keep life coherent. This is similar to how a ship might lose its compass; it is not that the ship has ceased to exist, but that it has lost its orientation relative to the world around it.

The paper challenges the common belief that once a person is labeled pariwara, they are stuck that way forever. This view assumes that a person's character is fixed, like a statue carved in stone, where past mistakes permanently define who they are. However, the author draws on the work of the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, who famously argued that existence comes before essence. This means that human beings are not born with a pre-written script. Instead, we define ourselves through our actions and choices. A person who has made destructive choices in the past is not condemned to repeat them indefinitely. They retain the capacity to choose differently. The label of pariwara might describe a person's current situation, but it does not have to describe their entire essence. It is a condition they are in, not a nature they are born with.

To understand how someone moves from this state of being lost to a state of being whole, the paper weaves together several philosophical threads. First, it looks at the concept of freedom and responsibility. The author suggests that overcoming the state of being pariwara requires an honest confrontation with the past. It is not enough to simply wish for change; the individual must take ownership of their actions and recognize that they have the power to make different choices. This aligns with the ideas of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, who believed that becoming a true self involves facing one's own existence rather than running away from it. The painful recognition of failure can paradoxically become the starting point for self-understanding.

The paper also brings in the ideas of Martin Heidegger, who distinguished between living an "inauthentic" life and an "authentic" one. Living inauthentically means letting society or other people define who you are, simply following the crowd without thinking. When a person is repeatedly called pariwara, they might start to believe that this is all they are, accepting the label as a fixed truth. Authenticity, on the other hand, involves realizing that while the past shapes you, it does not have to control your future. It is the act of stepping back from the crowd's judgment and deciding for yourself who you want to become. This does not mean erasing the past or pretending the mistakes never happened. It means acknowledging the history while refusing to let it be the final definition of the self.

Another crucial piece of the puzzle comes from the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle and his theory of virtue ethics. Aristotle taught that character is not something you are born with, but something you build through practice. Just as a person becomes a carpenter by building things, a person becomes responsible by doing responsible things. If someone has developed habits of irresponsibility or dishonesty, those habits are not unchangeable parts of their soul. They are patterns that can be replaced. The path forward involves the slow, deliberate work of practicing new behaviors. One must learn to tell the truth, fulfill obligations, and exercise self-control, not just once, but repeatedly, until these actions become part of who they are. This process is difficult because old habits are strong, but it is possible because human character is always in the making.

The paper also emphasizes the vital role of hope. A person who has been socially defined by failure may eventually lose the ability to imagine a future that is different from their past. They may fall into despair, believing that change is impossible. Here, the work of the French philosopher Gabriel Marcel is brought in to offer a different perspective. Marcel distinguished hope from simple optimism. Optimism is just the belief that things will get better, but hope is an active stance that keeps the door open to possibility even when things look bleak. It is the refusal to let the present moment exhaust all the meaning of a life. For someone labeled pariwara, hope is the belief that their story is not finished. It is the courage to keep moving forward even when the path is unclear.

This journey of transformation is not a solitary one, which is where the Filipino concept of kapwa becomes essential. While Western philosophy often focuses on the individual's internal struggle, Filipino philosophy reminds us that we are always connected to others. The author argues that a person cannot become authentic by simply cutting themselves off from their community to find their own way. True transformation happens within the context of relationships. It involves an inward change of heart, known as loob, which then leads to a restoration of connection with family and society. The person who has been pariwara does not return to the community as a stranger seeking forgiveness, but as someone who has done the hard work of understanding themselves and is now ready to participate fully and responsibly in the shared life of the group.

The paper illustrates this process with real-life examples of people who have turned their lives around. It mentions figures like the actor Robert Downey Jr., who overcame years of substance abuse and legal troubles to rebuild a successful career, and Danny Trejo, who transformed his life from prison to becoming a counselor and actor who helps others. These stories are not presented as proof that everyone will succeed, but as evidence that it is possible. They show that a period of being lost does not have to be the end of the story. The key is not to deny what happened, but to confront it, learn from it, and choose a different path. The transformation is a gradual process of reorienting one's life, moving from a state of disconnection to a state of meaningful engagement.

Ultimately, the study proposes a new way of seeing the concept of pariwara. Instead of viewing it as a permanent sentence that condemns a person to be "bad," it should be seen as a moment of existential disorientation that can lead to growth. The path from being lost to finding oneself involves a series of steps: recognizing the problem, reflecting on the causes, taking responsibility, making new choices, practicing new habits, and holding onto hope. It is a movement from irresponsibility to responsibility, from despair to hope, and from a life dictated by others to a life lived authentically. The past may demand accountability and restitution, but it does not have to determine the future. The paper concludes that human beings possess the capacity to recover their agency, rebuild their character, and consciously choose a more authentic way of being. The label of pariwara may describe where a person is, but it does not have to decide where they can go.