Philosophy of the Americas

In this paper, I would like to focus upon two things. The first concerns the intertwining of naturalism and religion, namely the fact that early American naturalism defined itself as a “secular religion”. This expression sounds like an oxymoron, but the analysis of a dazzling text by Francis Ellingwood Abbot will help us to clarify the concept of “godless religion”, which will be taken up in the following years by all the major naturalists of the time. The second concerns the (...) power of the symbolic dimension of naturalism, especially in the debates of the 1940s. In those years naturalism was engaged in a battle for the survival of democracy. “Science”, “democracy” and “freedom” were not only concepts debated on a theoretical level, but they outlined a system of archetypes by virtue of which post-war liberal and democratic America would build a relevant part of its self-image. (shrink)

There are two competing ways of understanding nefarious expressions of nationalism in countries like the U.S., either as xenophobia or racism. In this essay, I offer a way of capturing what is attractive in both accounts: a way of thinking about the xenophobia of U.S. nationalism that does not miss or minimize the role that race plays in condemning such expressions, but at the same time does not risk overextending the definition of racism. To do this, the essay makes a (...) case for decoupling and slightly revising the meaning of the terms “racialization” and “racial formation” while also proposing a third term, “racial disintegration.” In doing so, we find that the xenophobia directed at certain pan-racial groups, at least in places like the U.S., promotes a unique brand of White supremacy and does so in ways that maintain or reshape the nation's understanding of race and specifically its racial categories. (shrink)

In this chapter, I provide an overview of the major elements of Richard Rorty’s thought from Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature onward as they relate to the larger project he claims animates his entire body of work: abandoning the idea that “getting things right” involves knowledge as accurate representation in favor of the idea that “getting things right” involves achieving liberal democratic consensus.

This chapter begins by accepting Kristie Dotson’s recent claim that professional philosophy does not present diverse practitioners with livable options. This is because the profession prizes the practice of vetting contributions by measuring them against supposedly neutral and commonly-held standards for determining what counts as philosophy and what counts as not-quite philosophy. This practice tends to exclude diverse practitioners because the standards are not, it turns out, commonly-held, nor are they neutrally applied. Rather, these norms and their application are informed (...) by unacknowledged social and political values that exclude diverse practitioners by rendering the profession hostile to them. This chapter argues that we can find, in the work of Richard Rorty, a conception of philosophy that comports well with Dotson’s demand that we reconsider our professional practices so as to make philosophy more livable for diverse practitioners. Though Rorty’s earlier work relies too heavily on the idea of a philosophical canon, his later work, in which he comes to see philosophy as cultural politics, bears striking and useful similarities to Dotson’s suggestion that we see philosophy as a culture of praxis. In short, if professional philosopher were to adopt Rorty’s suggestion that we “let a hundred flowers bloom” by seeing philosophy as cultural politics, then we could reorient those standards, norms, and practices that currently deny livable options to diverse practitioners. (shrink)

"CAMINOS DEL PENSAR DE NUESTRA AMÉRICA se integra con 27 ensayos, cuyos autores escriben en torno a siete materias principales: Eticidad y educación; Circunstancialidad y liberación; Literatura y expresión; Movimientos sociales ¿antiguos y modernos?; Epistemologías actuales en América Latina; Tecnología ecología y ciencia, y cierra con Temas en el tintero en América Latina, todos ellos con un objetivo común: la historia de las ideas. Gracias al trabajo metodológico y guía del doctor Mario Magallón Anaya fue posible conjuntar temas diversos entrelazando (...) ideas; este libro es resultado de sesiones de análisis en las que distintas generaciones convergieron desde sus disciplinas para pensar a nuestro mundo en estas primeras dos décadas del siglo XXI."--Back cover. (shrink)

Diz o ditado que "quem não gosta de samba, bom sujeito não é: ou é ruim da cabeça ou doente do pé". Os filósofos tradicionalmente são doentes do pé e muitos deles certamente são ruins da cabeça. Isso parece tornar o tema desse livro pouco viável. Entretanto, tentamos mesmo assim. Afinal gente ruim da cabeça também é inconsequente. Na verdade, esse livro é a continuação do desejo compartilhado por seus diversos autores de aproximar a filosofia da cultura brasileira. E nada (...) melhor para tornar esse diálogo palpável do que o motivo fornecido pelo samba. Afinal, ele é uma de nossas manifestações nacionais mais típicas, difundidas e que tem sobrevivido a várias transformações ao longo do tempo. Através desse livro, esperamos ter nos tornado menos doentes do pé e menos ruins da cabeça -- apesar de quase todos gostarem de samba. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This article offers the first step in an ongoing project of revisiting the foundations of latinidad and lo latinoamericano by focusing on the exclusions enacted by the history of these concepts and the cultural and political identity that comes with them. In conversation with Susana Nuccetelli and Omar Rivera, the author focuses on two emblematic authors in the history of Latin American philosophy (Simón Bolívar and José de Vasconcelos) that are usually read as offering a novel, liberatory conception of (...) the Latin American reality/identity, categorically different from European and Anglo-American conceptions. This common reading of some of the foundational texts on Latin American identity, however, conceals not only the active, textual removal of Blackness in the construction of this identity, but also the literal subtraction of Black bodies, lives, and histories from the Latin American nations and communities. Both of these elements are an explicit part of the philosophical programs of Bolívar and Vasconcelos. The article shows how the thought and political practice of these two authors, celebrated in different ways as foundational of what we understand as Latin America today, exemplify the exclusionary historical demarcation of latinidad. (shrink)

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo examinar críticamente la discusión en torno a la identidad nacional panameña denominado el problema de lo panameño, particularmente aquellas perspectivas propuestas por filósofos profesionales, así como determinar su alcance y revisitar sus presupuestos. Con ello en mente, intentaremos contextualizar hasta donde sea posible dicha discusión, buscando poner de relieve los factores históricos que la motivan, además de evaluar la vigencia de esta.

In Brasilien wird Vilém Flusser (1920-1991) zuweilen als brasilianischer Philosoph besprochen, in Deutschland wird sein Werk dagegen dem mitteleuropäisch-jüdischen Ideenraum zugeordnet. Fest steht: Der gebürtige Prager Vilém Flusser verbrachte mehr als dreissig Jahre in Brasilien. Auch seine Ideen sind hiervon nicht unberührt geblieben. Vorliegende Studie verbindet Werkanalyse, Biographie und Zeitgeschichte und geht zudem der Frage nach, inwiefern Flussers Texte als Arbeit an einer eigenständigen Kulturphilosophie in und für Brasilien zu verstehen sind, die anders als die marxistische Kulturkritik Frankfurter Prägung sich (...) als ein ideologiefreies, der geschichtlichen Entwicklung enthobenes Denken betrachtet. Mittels einer an der Konstellationsforschung orientierten Methode greift sie Flussers interdisziplinäre und entgrenzende Denkweise auf, rekonstruiert sein weitverzweigtes intellektuelles Netzwerk und beleuchtet dabei auch weniger bekannte Akteure der zweiten Reihe. Der historischen und philosophischen Kontextualisierung übergeordnet ist der Ansatz der Verschränkung brasilianischen und mitteleuropäischen Denkens, das sich bei Flusser durch das kulturtheoretische Konzept der Anthropophagie des brasilianischen Modernismus und Hegels Begriff des Geistes illustriert findet. (shrink)

This book offers timely contributions to the process of conceptualizing a Latin American specificity and its forms of integration in larger contexts, both on the level of thought and the level of political and social praxis. To produce a critical reading of philosophy while also developing a philosophy of criticism is essential in cultures that continue to struggle for the decolonization of both thought and life. This book allows Anglophone readers access to the world of ideas of some of the (...) most relevant Latin American thinkers of our age. Through a comprehensive discussion of the works and contexts of thinkers such as of José Carlos Mariátegui, Enrique Dussel, Bolívar Echeverría, and Roger Bartra to Walter Benjamin, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, and Peter Sloterdijk, Mabel Moraña demonstrates that Latin American thought has not only been inseparable from Western philosophy but also from the determinants of its history and social struggles. By doing so, Mabel Moraña provides an extensive perspective on the connections between historical moments, social structures, and discursive practices. With its interdisciplinary focus, this book will be an important resource for scholars and students in Latin American studies, comparative literature, world literature, and philosophy. (shrink)

Introduction: Mexican Philosophy: What Is It and Why It Matters -- Relajo -- Nepantla -- Zozobra -- Corazonada -- Tik -- Figure of the World -- Mexistentialism.