APA Newsletters
Spring 2000
Volume 99, Number 2

Newsletter on Hispanic/Latino Issues in Philosophy

Syllabi

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Courses on Latin American Philosophy

S. Nuccetelli
Carleton College

LATIN AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY
Philosophy 220

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course will offer an overview of the historical contexts in which the major problems of Latin American philosophy have originated, with thematic discussions where some proposed solutions to those problems are evaluated according to their philosophical merits. Although it may appear that the philosophical questions raised by Latin American thinkers are among the perennial problems that have concerned philosophers throughout the Western tradition since antiquity, in fact they are not the same. Rather, the questions have been adapted by Latin American thinkers to capture problems presented by new circumstances, and these philosophers have sought resolutions in ways that are indeed novel. This course will explain how well-established philosophical traditions gave rise in the New World to a distinctive manner of thinking.

COURSE MATERIAL

We shall be reading the following books (available at the bookstore):

[1] Las Casas, Bartolomé de

Witness: Writings of Bartolomé de las Casas. G. Sanderlin, ed. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1993.

[2] Martí, J.

José Martí Reader: Writings on the Americas. D. Shnookal and M. Muñiz (eds.). Hoboken, NJ: Ocean Press, 1999.

[3] Paz, Octavio

Sor Juana or, The Traps of Faith. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1988.

[4] Rodó, J.

Ariel. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1988.

[5] Sarmiento, D. F.

Facundo: Civilization and Barbarism. New York: Viking Penguin, 1998.

[6] Tedlock, D. (ed.)

Popol Vuh: the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life. New York: Touchstone, Simon & Schuster, 1996.

Other readings for this course will be on reserve in the library.

TENTATIVE SCHEDULE OF TOPICS AND READINGS

Week 1 (Jan. 5 & 7)

Topics:

Folk Cosmologies and Demarcation Criteria in Philosophy

Folk Cosmologies and Religious Beliefs

Readings:

Popol Vuh: the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life. [6]

Week 2 (Jan. 10, 12 & 14)

Topics:

Radical Cultural Diversity

Relativism vs. Universalism
Readings

Díaz del Castillo, Bernal. The Discovery and Conquest of Mexico. London: Percy Lund, Humphries & Co., 1928 (selection).

Garcilaso de La Vega. Royal Commentaries of the Incas. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1966, pp.1474-82 (selection).

Montaigne, Michel de. "On Cannibals." In The Essays of Michel de Montaigne. New York: The Heritage Press, 1946.

Week 3 (Jan. 19 & 21)

Topics

Was the Spanish Conquest Morally Justified?

Natural-Law Theory: For and Against the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Readings

Las Casas, Bartolomé de. Witness: Writings of Bartolomé de las Casas. [1]

Gutiérrez, Gustavo. "Foreword."[1]

Week 4 (Jan. 24, 26 & 28)

Topics

Latin America and Modern Paradigm Shifts

The Received View in Epistemology: For and Against

Was Juana Inés de la Cruz a Feminist?

Women’s Rights in Latin America Today

Readings [3]

Juana Inés de la Cruz. "Reply to Sor Philothea." In A Sor Juana Anthology, Octavio Paz, ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,1988.

Week 5 (Jan. 31, Feb. 2 & 4)

Topics

Alberdi’s Puzzle: Should Latin Americans Care about Philosophy?

Bolívar’s Puzzle: Must Latin American Countries be Democracies?

Justice vs. the Right to Development in Latin America Today
Readings

Alberdi, Juan Bautista."Ideas para presidir la confección del curso de filosofia contemporánea" In Escritos Postumos de Juan Bautista Alberdi, vol. 15. Buenos Aires: Imprenta Juan Bautista Alberdi, 1900: 612.

Bolívar, Simón. Selected Writings of Bolívar. Harold A. Bierck, Jr., ed. New York: The Colonial Press,1951.

EXAM

Week 6 (Feb. 7, 9 & 11)

Topics

Sarmiento’s Puzzle: Whose Civilization Is Preferable to Barbarism?

Political Freedom, the Right to Education, and Some Puzzles about Race

Are Determinism and Social Responsibility Compatible?

Readings [5]

Week 7 (Feb. 14, 16 & 18)

Topics

Positivism: For and Against

Positivism in Latin America

The Arielist Critique of the United States.

Readings [4]

Week 8 (Feb. 21, 23 & 25)

Topics

America vs. the Americas

José Martí’s Dilemma

Marxism in Latin America

The Question of the Land: José Carlos Mariátegui

Readings [2]

Mariátegui, José Carlos. The Heroic and Creative Meaning of Socialism: Selected Essays of José Carlos Mariátegui, M. Pearlman ed. Atlantic Highlands: Humanities Press International,1996 (selection).

Week 9 (Feb. 28, Mar. 1 & 3)

Topics

Populist and Nationalist Alternatives

The Latin American "Value Debate" Today

Readings TBA

Reyes, Alfonso. The Position of America. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1950.

Week 10 (Mar. 6, 8 & 10)

Topics

Against Latin American Philosophy: Risieri Frondizi’s Case

For Latin American Philosophy: Leopoldo Zea’s Reply

An Argument for Latin American Thought: A. Roig’s Rejoinder

Questions of Authenticity in Latin American Thought Today
Readings

Frondizi, Risieri. "Is There an Ibero-American Philosophy?" Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 1948: 345–55.

Roig, A. Teoría y Crítica del Pensamiento Latinoamericano. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1981.

Zea, Leopoldo. "Identity: A Latin American Philosophical Problem." Philosophical Forum, vol. XX, nos. 1-2, 1988–89: 33–42.

PAPER DUE (March 10)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

1. Evaluation

A student’s grade in this course will be determined as follows:

20% Demonstrated regular class participation.

40% A take-home exam with three essay questions.

40% One paper (no more than 1,000 words, double-spaced) on a topic approved by the instructor. Projects for these essays will be discussed in class. The essays are due on the date specified in this syllabus.

2. Written Work

The following format is recommended for papers:

a) Choose two incompatible views.

b) State the thesis or argument of your target piece.

c) Reconstruct the objection or objections of the critical response.

d) Provide your own critical assessment of the dispute (this should be a substantial part of your essay, since it is the most important element).

All assignments presented to the instructor must be type-written.

3. Other Policies

Attendance will be checked.

GETTING IN TOUCH

Regular lectures: M & W 11:10–12:20; F 12:00–1: 00, Leighton Hall, Rm. 202.
Office hours: M-W-F 3:30–6:30 (other hours by appointment). Rm. C-15 Laird Hall, #7024.

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APA Newsletters Spring 2000 Volume 99, Number 2

APA Newsletters
Spring 2000
Volume 99, Number 2