17th-18th Century Latin American Philosophy

ABSTRACT This article interprets a recently recovered manuscript, Tratado de astronomía y la reformaçión del tiempo, composed by Antonio Sánchez in New Granada c.1696, in the context of the Spanish and Renaissance cosmographies. Sánchez’s Tratado proposes a spherical astronomy, in which celestial bodies – including comets — move in orbs containing pyramidal knots that explain the changing speed observed in the motion of planets. From this astronomy and following the peninsular style of repertorios, Sánchez derives two major conclusions: the corrected (...) length of the solar year and a revised birth date of Jesus. Taking as center of reference Vélez, where Sánchez was based, these claims led to conclusions in domains ranging from calendric astronomy to eschatology, including the incorporation of the indigenous peoples into salvation narrative and a demonstration of the arrangement of the celestial orbs at the Last Judgment. Sánchez’s Tratado constitutes an expansion of the Spanish mathematical cosmography that sheds light on the production of knowledge in the Spanish-American world and, at the same time, provides elements to reassess our understanding of the global circulation of Renaissance and early modern ideas. (shrink)

In this paper, we explore the connections between the culinary art and the poetic work by Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. In particular, following a detailed study of the analogies between, on the one hand, food and culinary preparation, and on the other hand, poetry and composition, we show that culinary art functions as cause and catalyst of Sor Juana’s poetic creation. Also, we show that, for the hieronymite nun, there is an intimate and profound relation between good seasoning, (...) beauty and moral good. (shrink)

The Novohispanic nun Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz has not been traditionally considered as a philosopher within the Anglophone philosophical sphere because her writings are primarily poems and plays. In the last three decades, only a few philosophers have engaged with Sor Juana's works. However, their scholarship has focused only on a narrow range of issues, such as Sor Juana's defense of the right of women to be educated, and has neglected other dimensions of her thought, such as her (...) position on self-control. In this study, I argue that, in contraposition to traditional interpretations of Sor Juana's views on self-control offered by Octavio Paz and Anna More, it is better to read her as adopting a stance on self‐control that prefigures a position recently adopted by Al Mele (who distinguishes having self‐control from being self‐controlled). In particular, I show that the interpretation that I propose is better than the others I discuss because it fits better Sor Juana's apologetic goals. (shrink)

Introducción -- Pedro Hispano y la lógica mexicana de la Colonia -- Nebrija como antecesor de la lingüística en la Nueva España: las Institutiones de Nebrija como libro de texto y otros influjos -- La teoría del significado semántico en Alonso de la Vera Cruz -- La teoría del significado semántico en Tomás de Mercado -- Lenguaje y lógica en Antonio Rubio -- Lenguaje y lógica en el siglo XVIII -- Los tropos en la retórica de Vallarta y Palma (s. (...) XVIII) -- El uso de la analogía por fray Diego Durán, O.P.: semiótica y antropología -- Conclusiones. (shrink)

El trabajo aborda el papel que ha desempeñado el mestizaje en el proceso de formación y desarrollo de la cultura latinoamericana. El arte ha sido uno de los ámbitos privilegiados de expresión del mestizaje latinoamericano. Se analizan algunos ejemplos sobre las “hibridaciones de la imagen” у "las creaciones mestizas" en la época colonial mexicaпa, en particular, de aquellas que se conocen como iconos que fueron “colonizados por el cielo” у tienen alas. Nos referimos а las mariposas, las cuales poseen su (...) simbolismo particular en diferentes pueЫos. Para ello se exploran cieгtas imágenes mestizas de la mariposa en la edad novohispana. (shrink)

This article examines the study of natural history on the imperial periphery in late colonial Spanish America. It considers the problems that afflicted peripheral naturalists—lack of books, instruments, scholarly companionship, and skilled technicians. It discusses how these deprivations impacted upon their self-confidence and credibility as men of science and it examines the strategies adopted by peripheral naturalists to boost their scientific credibility. The article argues that Spanish American savants, deprived of the most up-to-date books and sophisticated instruments, emphasised instead their (...) sustained experience of local nature and their familiarity with indigenous knowledge. It details how some creole naturalists, such as the Mexican José Antonio Alzate, questioned the applicability of European classificatory systems to American fauna and flora, and it analyses the complex relationship between natural science and creole patriotism. (shrink)

Humanitarian intervention is a staple of current discussions about relations among states. Should powerful states interfere in the internal affairs of weaker ones, particularly those identified as failed states, in order to bring peace and stability when it is clear that the existing government can not do so? The concept is an old one, not a new one. European nations that engaged in overseas expansion generally justified their conquests on the grounds that they would seek to civilise and Christianise the (...) peoples whom they encountered. The most extensive discussion of the right ? or the responsibility ? of strong states to intervene on a humanitarian basis occurred among sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish intellectuals who sought to justify the Spanish conquest of the Americas. The most famous of these figures was Francisco de Vitoria (1485?1546) whose De Indis outlined all of the arguments that could be raised for and against such intervention. His line of argument suggests that in the long run, intervention even with the best of intentions, may well lead to tragic consequences. It may even be hubris, the sin of those who would play God. (shrink)

El presente trabajo, escrito en ocasión del centenario de García Bacca, pretende poner de manifiesto la dimensión pedagógica del Maestro. Y ello, a propósito de su trabajo como estudioso de la Filosofía Colonial Venezolana, tema frecuentemente obviado cuando se valora el trabajo de este filósofo.

Existe um espac. o inédito entre o texto da Ratio Studionim e a obra educativa realizada pela Companhia de Jesus durante dois séculos (1550-1767) na Europa, América. Ásia e África. O primeiro ponto de encontro entre o ideal jesuitico e cada nação hispanoamericana foi constituido pelos chamados "Colegios Máximos" ou Universidades. Estuda-se aqui como arquétipo a Universidade Xaveriana de Bogotá, quanto à sua produção filosófica, teológica e jurídica. O segundo ponto de encontro centrou-se nos colégios dispersos nos núcleos populacionais que (...) surgiram através da Nova Granada. Aqui se estabeleceu um diálogo local entre os ideais da formação e da acção jesuíticas, e as gerações que emergiam nas pequenas cidades. diálogo que. no nosso modo de ver. representou um elemento fundamental na transformação radical das sociedades coloniais. /// There is an original gap between the text of the Ratio Studiorum and the work carried out by the Society of Jesus during two centuries (1550-1767) in Europe. America, Asia and Africa. The "Colégios Máximos", that is the universities, were the first meeting point between the Jesuitic ideal and each hipanicamerican nation. Here we examine as a model the Bogota Javerian University in her philosophical, theological and juridical production. The second meeting point was the set of colleges scattered throughout the New Granade. Here a local dialogue was established between the ideals of formation and of Jesuitic action, and the generations that emerged in the small villages, a dialogue which, from our point of view, was a fundamental factor in the radical transformation of colonial societies. (shrink)

The name "School of Salamanca" refers to a group of theologians and natural law philosophers who taught in the University of Salamanca, following the inspiration of the great Thomist Francisco de Vitoria. It turns out that the Scholastics were not simply medieval, but began in the 13th century and expanded through the 16th and 17th centuries; and they developed some original theories about economics and international law.Why should a few men mainly interested in theology and ethics apply themselves in analyzing (...) issues so far from their worries? The answer leads us to a revision of the morality rules, due to the new problems in business ethics. Thus, for example, the appearance of inflation made them have doubts about the merchant's morality. In order to solve this and other problems, they began to analyze the new and suspicious economic activity. As a result of their observations about ethical issues they discovered some advanced theories for the history of economic thought, such as the early formulation of the quantity theory of money. (shrink)

Colonial Mexico represents a period of enduring philosophical importance. In areas of contemporary interest, such as semiotics, ontology, and logic, the work of Hispanic philosophers provides a valuable resource. This book presents a study of philosophical activity in Mexico from 1500 to 1800.

The essays in this book are concerned with the intellectual development of the Spanish Empire in America from 1492 until Independence in the 1820s. The first section deals with the creation of a powerful language of natural law in the 16th and 17th centuries. The second explores the ways in which this was used to account for, and to deprecate, the cultures of the Native Americas. The final section traces the emergence of Enlightenment modes of approaching the subject of âe~Othersâe(tm), (...) both in Europe and the New World, and charts the emergence of a separate cultural identity among the creole population of the Americas. (shrink)

HISPANIC PHILOSOPHY. The notion of Hispanic philosophy is a useful one for trying to understand certain historical phenomena related to the philosophy developed in the Iberian peninsula, the Iberian colonies in the New World, and the countries that those colonies eventually came to form. It is useful for two reasons. First, it focuses attention on the close relations among the philosophers in these geographical areas; and second, other historical denominations and categorizations do not do justice to such relations. This becomes (...) clear when one examines the standard general categorizations according to which the philosophical thought of the mentioned geographical areas is divided and studied: Spanish philosophy, Portuguese philosophy, Catalan philosophy, Latin American philosophy, Spanish-American philosophy, and Ibero-American philosophy. (shrink)

Disputationes in universam logicam Aristotelis.,. BNMX: xiii, 8, (NI, 297; VTA 429; VTB). 2. Philosophia Naturalis. Disputationes in octo libros Physicorum ...