Ilokano-Ness Of Bain Ken Basol: A Phenomenological Inquiry

Abstract

This study aims to metaphysically explore, interpret, and establish how the Ilocanos in the northern part of the Philippine islands experience bain ken basol, understood as shame and sin or guilt, during moral failure and how they resolve it. The research method used is a qualitative research design employing the philosophic phenomenological method that comprises the four intertwining steps of 1) epoche, 2) phenomenological reduction, 3) imaginative variation, and 4) synthesis. Vital information had been explored from thirty informants represented by the young, middle-aged, and old generations through in-depth, semi-structured interviews or open-ended questioning. The findings of the study revealed that the cultural complexities and the perspectival and contextual concepts of the Ilocano society have established a progressively multifaceted psychoanalytic intersubjective ground. The discussions of the experiences and concepts built up on bain ken basol further boiled down to four theories, namely: theory of distinctiveness, theory of oneness, theory of accommodation, theory of interconnectedness, theory of relational responsibility.