Ethnic Labels and Philosophy: The Case of Latin American Philosophy

WHAT ARE THE KEY QUESTIONS?
1. Is there such a thing as Latin American Philosophy?
2. Given that there is no nation called, “Latin America” can a group of philosophers and
their works be gathered under an ethnic identity – are there any precedents?
3. How should the ethnic identity called, “Latin American Philosophy” be understood –
are there specific criteria for a philosopher or philosophical work to be included in this
category?
Jorge J. E. Gracia
Samuel P. Capen Chair
SUNY Distinguished Professor
Department of Philosophy and Department of Comparative Literature
State University of New York at Buffalo
1. IS THERE SUCH A THING AS LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY?
Are there any textbooks published on this subject?
1. IS THERE SUCH A THING AS LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY?
Do any accredited schools have Latin American Philosophy courses listed in current catalogs?
Yes!
Nope!
Yes!
Nope!
Yes!
Nope!
Yes!
Nope!
Nope!
1. IS THERE SUCH A THING AS LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY?
DO ENCYCLOPEDIAS OF PHILOSOPHY RECOGNIZE IT?
Latin American Philosophy
Latin America, philosophy in
First published Wed Aug 14, 2013
“Geographically, Latin America extends
from the Mexican–US border to those
regions of Antarctica to which various
Latin American countries have laid
claim. It includes the Spanishspeaking Caribbean. Philosophy in
Latin America dates from preColumbian (before 1492 in Hispanic
America) and precabralian times
(before 1500 in Brazil)….”
“Latin American philosophy is generally
understood to be philosophy produced
in Latin America or philosophy
produced by persons of Latin
American ancestry who reside outside
of Latin America….”
Yep, it is here too!
2. CAN A GROUP OF PHILOSOPHERS AND THEIR
WORKS BE GATHERED UNDER AN ETHNIC IDENTITY?
What is the difference between a national philosophy and an ethnic
philosophy?
•
A National Philosophy would depend on the historical establishment of geopolitical boundaries and might include a number of distinct ethnicities. (e.g.
Spain)
2. CAN A GROUP OF PHILOSOPHERS AND THEIR
WORKS BE GATHERED UNDER AN ETHNIC IDENTITY?
What is the difference between a national philosophy and an ethnic
philosophy?
•
An Ethnic Philosophy might include more than one geo-political nation or even be
identifiable without reference to geo-political regions but have a connected
history of ideas or an identifiable ethnicity. (e.g. Spanish Philosophy begins before
Spain exists as a nation, and usually includes references to such diverse
philosophers from Seneca and Averroës to Miguel de Unamuno, José Ortega y
Gasset, and George Santayana)
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
“…ethnic philosophies are
historical realities
enmeshed in webs of
complicated relations, and a
proper understanding of
them must reflect this
reality.”*
*Gracia, Jorge J.E. "Ethnic Labels and Philosophy: The Case of Latin
American Philosophy. " Mendieta, Eduardo ed. Latin American
Philosophy: Currents, Issues, Debates. Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP,
2003. p.66. Print.
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
I.
Three Conceptions of “History”:
 “…certain events from the past”
 “…an oral, written or even mental text that describes what happened….”
 “…a discipline of learning.”
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
II. Three Corresponding Conceptions of the History
of an Ethnic Philosophy:
 “…certain past ideas” (e.g. José Vasconcelos’ concept of the
“Cosmic Race”)
 “…an account of those ideas” (e.g. Historia de la filosofía en
Latino-américa by Manfredo Kempff Mercado
 “the actions taken in order to produce such an account or the
methodological rules that govern such actions.” (e.g. “the series
of actions taken by Manfredo Kempff Mercado to compose his
history or, as the historiographical rules governing such actions”
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
II. Three Corresponding Conceptions of the History of an
Ethnic Philosophy:
“The difficulties begin insofar as “ethnic
philosophy” can refer to the concept “ethnic
philosophy” itself, to the concepts of particular
ethnic philosophies such as “Latin American
philosophy” or “German philosophy,” or to the
realities behind these concepts. And it can also
refer to a certain discipline (actions, principles,
or both) concerning these concepts.” (p.59)
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
III. History of the concepts of Latin American Philosophy as an Ethnic
Philosophy:
 Modern use of the concept of ethnicity is a fairly recent & complex construct.
 from Merriam-Webster: “origin of Ethnic: Middle English, from Late Latin ethnicus, from Greek
ethnikos national, gentile, from ethnos nation, people; akin to Greek ēthos custom — First Known
Use: 15th century” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethnic
 From The Real World, An Introduction to Sociology: ”Ethnicity is a socially defined category based
on common language, religion, nationality, history, or another cultural factor. Sociologists see race
and ethnicity as social constructions because they are not rooted in biological differences, they
change over time, and they never have firm boundaries.”*
*Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. "Chapter 8: Race And Ethnicity As Lived Experience." The
Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 4th ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2014. N. pag. Print.
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
III. History of the concepts of Latin American Philosophy as an Ethnic
Philosophy:
 The concept of “Latin America” does not predate the period of independence
(1806)
 The concept of “Latin American Philosophy” seems to begin with Juan Bautista
Alberdi in the 2nd half of the 19th century.
 there has been “scant attention” paid to the history of Latin American Philosophy as
a discipline to date.
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
IV. History of the Reality of Particular Ethnic Philosophies –
“The reality of an ethnic philosophy may antecede the concept of that philosophy”
(p.60)
…or, just because you didn’t see it, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t there!
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
V. Three Mistaken Conceptions of Latin American Philosophy:
The nativist theory holds that a work is Latin American if it
originates in Latin America.
 Gracia brings up some objections to this idea:
 there are few if any ideas that can be held to be entirely
native to Latin America.
 the work could be written by a Latin American thinker and
about ideas central to Latin American issues but because
it originated outside of Latin America – for instance the
philosopher lived in Paris or in the United States, this
criterion would rule out such a work from being included
in the category.
(e.g. “Visible Identities” by Linda Martín Alcoff)
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
V. Three Mistaken Conceptions of Latin American Philosophy:
The originalist theory holds that for something to be called Latin American, the work
must be entirely original.
 Gracia easily dismisses this theory by the following, “…for the thought of every
thinker is the product of many ideas borrowed from many different sources.”
(p.61) No philosophical work appears in a vacuum without reference to much
that has come before it.
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
V. Three Mistaken Conceptions of Latin American Philosophy:
The culturalist theory holds that a work may be Latin American if it is “the product of
Latin American culture.” (P.61)
Gracia has two objections to this approach.
 First, it has proved very controversial to develop a precise definition of Latin
American culture.
 Secondly, it would require the content of all works in the category to be culturally
specific. This is particularly problematic because by its very nature, philosophy
more often seeks to transcend the particular and seek out more universal truths
about the human condition, the nature and possibility of knowledge, and the
nature of reality.
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
VI. A Proposal for the Concept of Ethnic Philosophy
 Gracia rejects strict articulations of necessary or sufficient conditions – as too
many philosophers or their works would be wrongly excluded.
 Gracia instead argues for “a category without strict boundaries” and that a flexible
“more or less” set of criteria should be accepted wherein membership is a matter of
degree:
A work…
 may have been written in Spanish or Portuguese
 may have been written by someone born in Latin America
 may be concerned with issues important to Latin America such as
experiences of coloniality or marginality
But then again, it may not!
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
VI. A Proposal for the Concept of Ethnic Philosophy
Because of the many clear exceptions to each of these criteria, Gracia rejects an
essentialist (e.g. Plato’s “Eidos”), strict definition of what characteristic or qualities
must be present in order for some one or something to be called a member of the
category, “Latin American Philosophy.”
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
VI. A Proposal for the Concept of Ethnic Philosophy
…Instead, Gracia argues for a Wittgensteinian approach:
“For a large class of cases--
though not for all--in which we
employ the word "meaning" it can
be defined thus: the meaning of a
word is its use in the language.”*
* Wittgenstein, Ludwig, "Section 43." Philosophical Investigations. , trans. Gertrude
Eliz abeth Margaret Anscombe. Malden (Mass.): Blackwell Pub., 2001. N. pag. Print.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, oil over a photograph., The Granger Collection, New York
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
VI. A Proposal for the Concept of Ethnic Philosophy
“It is quite clear that here Wittgenstein is not
offering the general theory that “meaning is
use," as he is sometimes interpreted as
doing.…Knowing the meaning of a word can
involve knowing many things: to what objects
the word refers (if any), whether it is slang or
not, what part of speech it is, whether it
carries overtones, and if so what kind they
are, and so on. To know all this, or to know
enough to get by, is to know the use. And
generally knowing the use means knowing
the meaning.”*
*“Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889—1951)” by Duncan Richter, The
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ISSN 21610002, http://www.iep.utm.edu/, 23 January 2015.
3. HOW SHOULD THE ETHNIC IDENTITY CALLED, “LATIN
AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY” BE UNDERSTOOD?
VII. Conclusion
“Ethnic philosophies, understood as past
ideas expressed in texts, are historical
entities enmeshed in a variety of relations
which make possible their classification in
various ways. … The conditions are
themselves historical and subject to
change, and they depend in part on the
perspective that is used to establish
them.” (p.66)