This book brings the history of Latin American philosophy to an English-speaking audience through the prominent voices of Mauricio Beuchot, Horacio Cerutti-Guldberg, María Luisa Femenías, Jorge J. E. Gracia, Oscar R. Martí, León Olivé, Carlos Pereda, and Eduardo Rabossi. They argue that Spanish is not a philosophically irrelevant language and that there are original positions to be found in the work of Latin American philosophers. Part I of the book looks at why the history of philosophy has not developed in Latin America. A range of theoretical issues are explored, each focusing on specific problems that have hindered the development of a solid history. Part II details the complex task of writing a history of philosophy for a region still haunted by the specter of colonialism.
Many of the philosophical questions raised in Latin America may seem to be among the perennial problems that have concerned philosophers at different times and in different places throughout the Western tradition, but they are not altogether the same--for Latin American thinkers have often adapted them to capture problems presented by new circumstances, and sought resolutions with arguments that are indeed novel. This book explains how well-established philosophical traditions gave rise in the New World to a characteristic form of thought not to be found in other cultures. There was no clean sweep of the past and an attempt to start over: rather, Latin American thinkers gradually adapted European ideas to their needs, sometimes borrowing on a larger scale, sometimes less. It is then no surprise that, under Iberian rule, Scholasticism became the accepted view and began to lose its grip only when the rulers did. But what does seem surprising is the radical way in which those traditions were on occasions challenged, as illustrated by the cases of José de Acosta, a Jesuit priest in Peru, and the Mexican nun, Juana Inés de la Cruz–each of whom spoke out against certain aspects of the official philosophy in colonial society. And when theories familiar elsewhere arrived to Latin America, as in the cases of positivism and Marxism, they were often seen differently in the light of new circumstances.But above all, this book shows that there is a body of interesting philosophical arguments offered by Latin Americans concerning problems that have arisen in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking parts of the New World. In connection with this purpose, it examines how Latin Americans have thought about philosophical issues belonging to metaphysics, philosophy of science, cross-cultural psychology, feminist epistemology, ethics, and social and political philosophy. These are taken up in due course, paying special attention to questions of rationality, gender discrimination, justice, human rights, reparation for historically dispossessed native peoples, and relativism vs. universalism--all matters of continuing concern in Latin American thought, from its earliest stirrings to the present day. And among some specific issues that have generated heated controversies from the early twentieth century to the present, the book explores how Latin Americans and their descendants abroad think of their own cultural identity, examines their critique of US mass-culture and moral philosophy, and considers at some length the vexing problem of which name, if any, is the correct one to use to refer to all of this exceedingly diverse ethnic group. A closer look at the defining elements of Latin American identity has often led to questions concerning the characteristic features that might distinguish Latin Americans and their descendants abroad from other peoples of the world, the existence of a typically Latin American philosophy, and the correct name to refer to them. These, often conflated in the literature, are treated separately by the author, who favors a historically-based account of Latin-American identity. She also argues that the existence of a characteristically Latin American philosophy can be shown–though not by appealing to some standard but implausible reasons. And to resolve the question concerning a correct ethnic-group name, she proposes a new approach to the semantics of those names.
Argentinean philosopher, theologian, and historian Enrique Dussel understands the present international order as divided into the "culture of the center" -- by which he means the ruling elite of Europe, North America, and Russia -- and "the peoples of the periphery" -- by which he means the populations of Latin America, Africa, and part of Asia, and the oppressed classes (including women and children) throughout the world. In 'Philosophy of Liberation,' he presents a profound analysis of the alienation of peripheral peoples resulting from the imperialism of the center for more than five centuries. Dussel's aim is to demonstrate that the center's historic cultural, military, and economic domination of poor countries is 'philosophically' founded on North Atlantic onthology. By expressing supposedly universal knowledge, European philosophies, argues Dussel, have served to equate the cultural standards, modes of behavior, and rationalistic orientation of the West with human nature and to condemn the unique characteristics of peripheral peoples as "nonbeing, nothing, chaos, irrationality." Hence, Western philosophies have historically legitimated and hidden the domination that oppressed cultures have suffered at the hands of the center. Dussel probes multinational corporations, the communications media, and the armies of the center with their counterparts among the Third World elite. The creation of a just world order in the future, according to Dussel, hinges on the liberation of the periphery, based on a philosophy that is able to "think the world" from the perspective of the poor and to reclaim the Third World's distinct cultural inheritance, which is imbedded in the popular cultures of the poor. Apart from the liberation of the periphery, there will be no future: "the center will feed itself on the sameness it has ingrained within itself. The death of the child, of the poor, will be its own death." This is a disquieting but stimulating book for scholars and advanced students of philosophy, ethics, liberation theology, and global politics.
"El libro tiene dos grandes temas: la identidad cultural, sobre la que se expresan opiniones balanceadas entre los extremos posibles, y la 'liberacion social', entendida en general como liberacion con respecto a estructuras opresivas. El itinerario de e
This collection of historical, philosophical, sociopolitical, and literary essays examines the linkages between the Iberian Peninsula and Latin America.
Latin American and Latinx Philosophy: A Collaborative Introduction is a beginner’s guide to canonical texts in Latin American and Latinx philosophy, providing the non-specialist with necessary historical and philosophical context, and demonstrating their contemporary relevance. It is written in jargon-free prose for students and professors who are interested in the subject, but who don’t know where to begin. Each of the twelve chapters, written by a leading scholar in the field, examines influential texts that are readily available in English and introduces the reader to a period, topic, movement, or school that taken together provide a broad overview of the history, nature, scope, and value of Latin American and Latinx philosophy. Although this volume is primarily intended for the reader without a background in the Latin American and Latinx tradition, specialists will also benefit from its many novelties, including an introduction to Aztec ethics; a critique of “the Latino threat” narrative; the legacy of Latin American philosophy in the Chicano movement; an overview of Mexican existentialism, Liberation philosophy, and Latin American and Latinx feminisms; a philosophical critique of indigenism; a study of Latinx contributions to the philosophy of immigration; and an examination of the intersection of race and gender in Latinx identity.
Through a close examination of philosopher Leopoldo Zea's historicist phenomenology, Mario Saenz offers fresh insights into the role of Mexican intellectuals in the creation of a Latin American "philosophy of liberation". While this philosophy of liberation has been widely recognized as the most intellectual political ideology to emerge from Latin America this century, few scholars have specifically explored the Mexican roots of this intellectual movement. Saenz redresses this imbalance by placing Zea and his contemporary intellectuals firmly within the context of post-revolutionary Mexico, a political and social landscape that fostered criticisms of colonial and neo-colonial structures of dependence. Saenz demonstrates how Zea's philosophy was informed by a sense of Mexico's distinctive social and cultural identity.
While recognizing its origins and scope, Alejandro A. Vallega offers a new interpretation of Latin American philosophy by looking at its radical and transformative roots. Placing it in dialogue with Western philosophical traditions, Vallega examines developments in gender studies, race theory, postcolonial theory, and the legacy of cultural dependency in light of the Latin American experience. He explores Latin America's engagement with contemporary problems in Western philosophy and describes the transformative impact of this encounter on contemporary thought.
This comprehensive collection of original essays written by an international group of scholars addresses the central themes in Latin American philosophy. Represents the most comprehensive survey of historical and contemporary Latin American philosophy available today Comprises a specially commissioned collection of essays, many of them written by Latin American authors Examines the history of Latin American philosophy and its current issues, traces the development of the discipline, and offers biographical sketches of key Latin American thinkers Showcases the diversity of approaches, issues, and styles that characterize the field
Available in English for the first time, a masterwork by Enrique Dussel, one of the world's foremost philosophers, and a cornerstone of the philosophy of liberation, which he helped to found and develop.
