American Philosophy as Philosophy without Qualification

Introduction

Leopoldo Zea, a Mexican philosopher and student of the Spanish exile José Gaos, published this reply to Salazar Bondy in 1969, also with Siglo XXI. He agrees that Latin American thought has suffered from dependence but rejects the conclusion that it has therefore produced no authentic philosophy. Every philosophy, European philosophy included, begins from concrete circumstances – an idea Zea took from Ortega y Gasset by way of Gaos – and its universality lies in reflecting honestly on them. Latin American reflection on its own situation, including its colonial past, is therefore philosophy “without qualification”, not a regional variant. The exchange between the two became a classic of the debate on whether there is a Latin American philosophy.

Connections

Responds to

• Is There a Philosophy of Our America?1968 · Augusto Salazar Bondy