The Orchestral Human: Perspectives on Human Nature from Latin American Philosophy Open Access

Abstract

Though a discipline inherently tied with its region's colonial history and thus the people that from these origins arose, Latin American philosophy has hardly been surveyed as a field with important contributions to the philosophy of human nature. This is a product of both the subfield's scarcity of works which directly engage with this subject matter, as well as its ongoing preoccupation with the social and political dimensions of life in the region. Amongst this apparent scarcity, however, Risieri Frondizi, José Vasconcelos, and Francisco Romero stand out as figures of mid-20th century Latin American philosophy which dedicated entire works to understanding aspects, if not the entirety, of the human experience. Like puzzle pieces, the gaps in these men's contributions are complemented by each other. In this process, a distinct picture emerges: that of humanity as an orchestra. This is an evolution of an analogy developed by Frondizi in attempting to concretely convey the image of the self as a structure greater than the sum of its parts. As will be argued, Vasconcelos and Romero each provide the symphony with the materials it needs in order to make music––the music and instruments, respectively. Only together, however, are their ideas able to articulate a complete notion of what humanity is. This is in understanding that these three works are not the only ones of its kind within the subfield; rather chosen for their ability to coalesce into one another and create this picture of humanity which effectively summarizes one dimension of Latin American philosophy’s stance on human nature. The purpose of this work, then, is to bridge these works together in an attempt to create a solid foundation for the further exploration and development of this discourse within the subfield.

Table of Contents

Overture …1

I. Frondizi: The ‘What’, Gestalt, and the Metaphor of the Orchestra …5

i. On the Existence of the Self …6

ii. On the Nature of the Self …10

II. Vasconcelos: The Race-Mindset Intersection …15

i. The ‘Cosmic’ Future of Humanity …16

ii. The Role of Mindset …20

III. Romero: Intentionality and Purpose …25

i. “Mere Intentionality” and “Spiritual Intentionality” …27

ii. The Uniquely Human …32

IV: Assembling the Orchestra …36

i. Alignments and Dissidences, or a Diagnosis of Latin American Philosophy …36

ii. Tuning the Instruments …44

Encore …50

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Philosophy
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Latin American Studies Philosophy
Keyword	mestizaje vasconcelos phenomenology romero orchestra frondizi human nature humanity race
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	John Lysaker, Emory University
Committee Members	Ernesto Blanes-Martínez, Emory University Robert Goddard, Emory University

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