The Marginal Utility of the Filipino Soul: An Esoteric Inquiry into Diminishing Returns in Philippine Arts
The Marginal Utility of the Filipino Soul: An Esoteric Inquiry into Diminishing Returns in Philippine Arts Amiel Gerald A. Roldan™ July 1, 2026 In the grand ledger of human experience, where the calculus of value meets the ineffable flux of spirit, the economic doctrine of marginal utility finds unexpected resonance within the archipelago of Philippine arts. Marginal utility—the additional satisfaction or “utility” derived from the consumption of one more unit of a good—classically diminishes as saturation approaches. The first sip of water in parched thirst quenches profoundly; the tenth, indifferently. Yet what transpires when this principle is transposed from the marketplace of commodities to the temple of cultural production and aesthetic encounter? In the Philippine context, this transposition unveils not merely an economic analogy but a profound ontological critique: the arts of the archipelago, forged in the crucibles of indigenous cosmologies, colonial impositions, revolu...
