Latin American Philosophy for the 21st Century: The Human Condition, Values, and the Search for Identity

by Jorge J.E. Gracia (Editor)

This excellent collection is the most complete anthology of Latin American philosophers in English available today. Leading philosophers from several different Latin American countries and from various periods in the history of Latin American thought are included. Though the main focus is upon the rich contemporary period, several key texts from the colonial and independent period are included to provide the reader with some historical background. Dividing the work into four major sections ― Colonial Beginnings and Independence, Philosophical Anthropology, Values, and The Search for Identity ― the editors complement their selections with introductions to the themes covered in each section and brief biographies of each author. An up-to-date bibliography provides the reader with information on the latest work done in the field, both in English and Spanish.This outstanding compilation is accessible enough to serve as an introduction to the field, while at the same time it is sufficiently sophisticated to be of use even to advanced scholars specializing in Latin American philosophy. It will serve as an important resource for students and teachers dedicated to a more pluralistic canon of philosophical texts.

Genres: Philosophy

250 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2003

About the author

Jorge J.E. Gracia is the Samuel P. Capen Chair, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Department of Comparative Literature in the State University of New York at Buffalo.

His areas of specialization include Metaphysics/Ontology, Philosophical Historiography, Philosophy of Language/Hermeneutics, Ethnicity/Race/Nationality Issues, Hispanic/Latino Issues, Medieval/Scholastic Philosophy and Hispanic/Latino/Latin-American Philosophy. While Gracia's earlier work was primarily in the areas of Medieval Philosophy and Metaphysics, much of his recent work has focused on issues of race, ethnicity and identity. His contributions to the philosophical study of race and ethnicity have been groundbreaking. It is within this area that Gracia proposed his familial-historical view of ethnicity and his genetic common-bundle view of race. These views of race and ethnicity have helped to shape the field and addressed many issues that previous theories had left unanswered.

Reviews

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you know how difficult it is to find books on Latin American philosophy? It's pretty difficult, especially if you're like me and you don't speak Spanish. (Actually it's probably pretty easy if you speak Spanish)

This was the first book I ever read on philosophy that wasn't considered part of the popular canon, which is to say old dead Germans and older dead Greeks. In here you get a huge range of philosophy from a lot of philosopher's you'll want to find out more about only to discover they don't have so much as Wikipedia pages. Risieri Frondizi's entry in here (I forget what it's called but it was about the identity of Man) was an enormous influence to me in college, essentially changing my entire life, and his English language wikipedia entry was literally created in 2020, several years after I had given up finding him or his work.

Anyway, everyone who dares to call themselves a student of philosophy, let alone a philosopher proper, needs to have familiarity with things like these. Most philosophy majors I met in college really only knew about such as Aristotle and Hegel. Can you imagine being a musicologist but not being familiar with any rock and roll music outside of the Beatles? Absolutely insane. You should learn about Latin American philosophy and you should do it by reading this book specifically. I read this book and also had a professor named Dr Jesus Ramirez. I'd recommend taking a class with him but I don't know where he is now.