Is There a Philosophy of Our America?

Introduction

Augusto Salazar Bondy, a Peruvian philosopher, published the essay in 1968 with the Mexican publisher Siglo XXI. Surveying philosophy in Latin America from colonial scholasticism through positivism to contemporary schools, he concludes that it has been largely imitative: imported currents followed one another without original contributions or roots in local reality. The reason, he argues, is not a lack of talent but the dependence and underdevelopment of Latin American societies, which produce an alienated culture. An authentic philosophy is possible only as part of overcoming domination – and could itself contribute to that process. The essay set off a debate that fed into the philosophy of liberation.

Connections

Answered in

• American Philosophy as Philosophy without Qualification1969 · Leopoldo Zea