Editor ’s Note

Abstract

      This second issue of The Pinnacle reflects the commitment to contribute to the
current scholarly discourse. The articles are on AI, Sustainable Development, and the
Future of Higher Education. Two continually relevant analyses of the human subject and
the problem of evil are likewise featured to satisfy a philosophically curious reader.

       Artificial Intelligence (AI) belongs to the consciousness of the time. Its nature and
capabilities continue to pervade and challenge the existing paradigm and status quo. The
first article proposes guided AI governance in human manipulation to mitigate risks while
the second one highlights AI’s pedagogical strength as auxiliary tool that scaffolds thinking
and expands access to ideas.

      The article identified under sustainable development (SD), for its part, examines the
practices and challenges of inclusive education in rural schools. While it was found out that
teachers were consistently engaged in inclusion practices, major challenges, such as
limited resources and insufficient trainings, must be addressed through collaboration,
contextualization and other adaptive strategies.

      The future of Higher Education is discussed in the fourth and fifth articles. On the
government’s proposal of three-year degree programs, one study analyzed that without
adequate institutional support these shortened programs will undermine academic quality
and create systemic implementation gaps. On the steady decline in the quality of Philippine
education, the other study pointed to implementation gaps in policy, structure of pedagogy,
and access to infrastructure as contributing conditions.

      Finally, one article in philosophy recovers the human subject and provides a “new
look” by reviewing the relevant theories of Marx, Lukacs and Weber while the other article
treats the problem of evil in an unconventional “no-thought” manner, which the author
labeled as the anti-theodicy position.

      Given the featured articles, indeed this issue largely engages with the current
scholarly discourse and addresses the ever-relevant interest on the human person and
human nature. It is, hence, both timely and timeless.

      May this second issue of The Pinnacle continue to inform and inspire researchers,
scholars and all those who are in pursuit of truth; those who are “lovers of wisdom.”

                                                               Bernabe M. Mijares Jr., PhD
                                                                           Editor-in-Chief