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Fall 2006
Volume 06, Number 1

Newsletter on Hispanic/Latino Issues in Philosophy

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Eduardo Rabossi. A Personal Memory

María Cristina González
Universidad de Buenos Aires

I met Eduardo Rabossi when I was a student at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in the mid-1960s. He had just come back from the United States where he received a Master of Arts degree at Duke University. We were both attending a seminar directed by the philosopher Gregorio Klimovsky. Those meetings were my first forays into philosophy of logic and language and, in general, into analytic philosophy.

I remember only a few specific topics discussed in those meetings; I cannot recall specific conclusions. Yet, I can easily evoke the keen, meticulous, and occasionally heated discussions about diverse theses and arguments. Most participants showed their analytical skills, rebuilding the arguments, asking sharp questions, and making insightful comments. The views and works of Russell, Quine, Strawson, and many other philosophers were carefully surveyed and rigorously examined. Each lecture was a treat, partly because of the enthusiasm everybody displayed.

Rabossi was a rigorous, insightful, accurate, and enthusiastic thinker, and he fostered these qualities in a large number of undergraduates, graduates, young researchers, and grant holders.

One of Rabossi´s goals in classes and seminars, which I attended first as a student and later on as a colleague, was to settle the real philosophical discussion. In 1971, after his stay in Oxford, he was invited to give a lecture at the Buenos Aires Science Studies Center. On that occasion, he read a paper entitled La filosofía analítica y la actividad filosófica,1 in which he presented his idea of "analytic philosophy." He argued that it is possible to identify four traits which (in his words) "deserve special attention: I - the tendency to make a more or less close connection between philosophy and language, II - the adoption of a careful attitude toward metaphysics, III - a positive attitude toward scientific knowledge, and IV - the overt or covert recognition that analysis is a necessary condition for philosophizing."2

According to him, these traits belong to the "family resemblance" (literally) of a very heterogeneous group of philosophers and can be found in classical philosophy as well. Yet, the originality of analytic philosophy lies in the shape that these features take when used as analytical tools in philosophical research. The novelty lies in how analytical philosophers highlight or emphasize one or some of them. Taking as a starting point this broad notion of analytic philosophy, Rabossi used analytical tools to examine the views of contemporary philosophers (Wittgenstein, Russell, Strawson, Davidson) and also classical authors (Aristotle, Hobbes, Hume, Locke, Stuart Mill).

Not only that, Rabossi analyzed the teaching of philosophy. He identified three different models of teaching and learning philosophy our universities environment3: the dogmatic, the eclectic, and the critical model. He defended the feasibility of the critical model. He used this model not only in classes but also in the meetings of his research teams. In this sense, his way of doing philosophy became paradigmatic for those of us who shared his view about philosophy and how to practice it.

His public performances in the governmental field are well known. He was an active member of CONADEP (Comisión Nacional de Desaparición de Personas) and sub-secretary of Human Rights from 1985 to 1989, but his activities as the chair of the Philosophy Department and the Institute of Philosophy (School of Philosophy and Letters, Universidad de Buenos Aires) through the same period are not sufficiently acknowledged. He was convinced that it was necessary to organize, develop, and strengthen all the institutions involved in educating and spreading philosophical practices. But such organization had to take as a starting point the pluralist framework that the critical model of teaching and learning philosophy makes possible. After all, he believed that at present it is in the universities where the profession of philosopher is validated. For Rabossi, philosophical activity could flourish exclusively inside institutions that offer the conditions appropriate for dialogue for, according to him, philosophy is dialogical. In 1972, together with other Argentine philosophers, Rabossi founded the Sociedad Argentina de Análisis Filosófico (SADAF), and he also chaired and become part of the executive committee of the organization. Furthermore, since 1981, he was editor-in-chief of Análisis Filosófico, official organ of SADAF, and one of the most important philosophical journals in Latin America.

I can recall several memorable and occasionally endless Saturday meetings that took place in SADAF, where members and invited philosophers alike were given the opportunity to discuss their work in progress. In addition to this, during the tragic period of military dictatorship, Rabossi created courses for a Master in Philosophy Degree in SADAF (1981-1982). His objective was to promote philosophical education for young students. Thus, while the national universities were closed to any possibility of a serious, committed, and critical education, SADAF became one of the institutions belonging to the "catacombs culture" (Santiago Kovadloff dixit) that promoted critical thinking and questioning.
Rabossi’s concerns for philosophical institutions went beyond local boundaries. He was one of the Argentine philosophers who promoted the foundation of the Asociación Filosófica Argentina (AFRA) as a pluralistic environment for Argentine philosophers, independent from dogmas or factions. But he was also involved in promoting philosophy in Latin America, chairing and being an active member of the executive committee of Sociedad Interamericana de Filosofía (SIF). In all cases, he contributed by organizing conferences, colloquia, and similar events for philosophical dialogue.

This short memory has tried to portray Rabossi as a committed philosopher. I am sure that it does not do him justice. However, there is something else that I will just mention. In addition to his professionalism and love for philosophy, there was a human side to Eduardo that cannot be disregarded. He was a very perceptive and attentive person, attuned to the needs of others and always ready to listen and provide his support. These traits contributed to his being a loyal, generous, and noble friend to my family and me for almost forty years.

Endnotes

1. Rabossi, Eduardo A. "La filosofía analítica y la actividad filosófica," Cuadernos del Instituto de Lógica y Filosofía de las Ciencias n° 5, la Plata, FAHCE, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 1972.

2. Op. cit., 7-8.

3. Rabossi, Eduardo A. "Enseñar filosofía y aprender a filosofar: nuevas reflexiones." In La filosofía y el filosofar. Problemas de su enseñanza, edited by Obiol, G. A. and Rabossi, E. (Buenos Aires, Centro Editor de Americana Latina, 1993).

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