Mestizaje, Race, and Aesthetics in Latin America

Philosophical work around race in 19th and 20th century Latin America goes hand in hand with theorizing about national identity in post-independence republics. Philosophers at the time were concerned with issues faced by emerging multiracial and multicultural states (e.g., Simón Bolívar, José Martí, Leopoldo Zea), and they often regarded racial and cultural mestizaje (mixing) as an ideal that could set the grounds for post-racial (and post-racist) democracies. Aesthetics played a central role in Latin American philosophy at the time since the expressive practices that emerge as a result of mestizaje are regarded as part of the very foundation of Latin American identities. Nevertheless, although mestizaje is postulated as the basis for post-racial societies, the notion needs to be problematized since it risks remaining part of a white supremacist project when whiteness continues to be regarded as that under which contributions by other racial groups should be subsumed.

  • The aim of this Blueprint is to examine issues that emerge from the notion of mestizaje in the context of aesthetic practices and debates around identity in Latin American philosophy. The readings and discussion are aimed at motivating questions such as:
  • What is the role of the aesthetic in the formation of Latin American identities?
  • Is taste racialized in Latin American philosophy as it is in the Western European tradition?
  • Does Latin American philosophy inherit a white supremacist racial hierarchy? Does this racial hierarchy translate into an aesthetic hierarchy?
  • How should cultural appropriation be understood in the context of cultural mestizaje?
  • Is mestizaje problematic insofar as it risks erasing Black and Indigenous identities?
  • What can these debates in Latin American philosophy contribute to contemporary discussions in aesthetics? In the blueprint, its background and rationale.

Immoral Monuments and the Commemoration Debate

Recently, statues, monuments, and commemorations of oppressors, such as Confederate monuments, that of Cecil Rhodes, John A. Macdonald, and Chiang Kai-shek, etc., have become the targets of protests and even vandalism. Correspondingly, there is a recent boom in philosophical interest in the ethics and aesthetics of commemorations. What are we to do with these artefacts of the past that honour the immoral? What reason, if any, do we have to preserve or remove them? In this blueprint, we shall read about cases from different countries, from authors from diverse backgrounds, with the hope of coming to have a better understanding of what justice may demand of us in an imperfect world in confronting our uncomfortable past.

This blueprint will be suitable for students with some preliminary philosophical background, such as second and third-year undergraduates. It not only aims at helping the readers to properly grasp how moral principles can be applied to real-life cases, but also to understand the practical value of seemingly abstract philosophical work – such as the philosophy of language – in our everyday lives and struggles. Each paper is designed to provide one week, or session’s worth of content.

For a more in-depth version of this Blueprint, see The Commemoration Debate: A Survey.

Explorations into Nahua and Mayan Philosophy of Mind

This blueprint aims at exploring the landscape of philosophical concepts and ideas present in ancient Nahua and Mayan thought. By Nahua thought we mean the intellectual legacy of the Nahuatl speaking people who inhabited the Mexican Central Plateau from roughly the fourteenth century until the first years of the colonial Mexico. Throughout the blueprint, we refer at times to this intellectual tradition as pertaining to the Aztecs, the Mexicas, or the Nahuas depending on the group of people to which the selected reading refers. By Mayan thought we mean, in turn, the legacy of the people who has inhabited the Maya region of Southern Mexico and a great part of Central America roughly from the Classical period to the eighteenth century. The Mesoamerican philosophical landscape is rich, but difficult to navigate due to important methodological challenges such as the scarcity of sources. Great progress has already been made, however, in the understanding of philosophical concerns by key scholarly figures. Based on their work, this blueprint explores philosophical concerns that we might associate now with philosophy of mind: the human soul, the relation between the soul and body, perception and the senses, time experience, and personhood. Our hope is that this blueprint contributes to displaying the richness of the Mesoamerican philosophical landscape.

The blueprint is divided into three sections, each composed of three proposed sessions. It begins with an introductory section that provides historical and cultural background, followed by two thematic sections: one that focuses on Nahuatl thought, and one that focuses on Mayan thought. To put together the blueprint, the selected readings range from philosophical, historical and anthropological texts to literature. In sections II and III, we have included primary sources that will help illustrate the philosophical ideas discussed in the selected readings. In these sections we have specified how the different readings fit together. When necessary, we have provided a bit of context in the introductory comments guiding the session.

Philosopher Queens: Women in Philosophy and the History of Exclusion

Women have historical been excluded from the traditional canon of philosophy. This reading group aims to help students think through, first, why such exclusion as taken place and, second, to think about what ought to be done to remedy it. The reading list is therefore divided into two sections. The first two weeks focus on the deconstruction and reconstruction of the traditional canon; thinking about the exclusion of women and other marginalised groups, and then attending to the process of reconstruction (or abolition). The final six weeks of the course focus on individual women philosophers. This is (obviously) nowhere near exhaustive. But it provides a basic starting point for those wanting to read more women philosophers.

The Book

This Blueprint is based around an excellent introductory book co-edited by the author, titled: Philosopher Queens: The lives and legacies of philosophy’s unsung women. We will read some sections from it, but we recommend the entire book, of course! Here is what the publisher has to say about it:

The history of philosophy has not done women justice: you’ve probably heard the names Plato, Kant, Nietzsche and Locke – but what about Hypatia, Arendt, Oluwole and Young? The Philosopher Queens is a long-awaited book about the lives and works of women in philosophy by women in philosophy. This collection brings to centre stage twenty prominent women whose ideas have had a profound – but for the most part uncredited – impact on the world. You’ll learn about Ban Zhao, the first woman historian in ancient Chinese history; Angela Davis, perhaps the most iconic symbol of the American Black Power Movement; Azizah Y. al-Hibri, known for examining the intersection of Islamic law and gender equality; and many more. For anyone who has wondered where the women philosophers are, or anyone curious about the history of ideas – it’s time to meet the philosopher queens. 

Race, Disability, and Gender in Bioethics

This blueprint is organized into three sections, each corresponding to an area that has been underdiscussed in the dominant bioethics literature. The first considers issues of race and bioethics. It focuses especially on bioethics and Black Americans, an intersection on which important work has recently been done. The second highlights new work on disability and bioethics. Topics include taking seriously the testimony of disabled people, and the triaging of care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The third section considers work on gender and bioethics. It begins with a paper that applies feminist ethics to moral distress, an important concept in nursing ethics that is often left out of physician-dominated mainstream bioethical discussion. The last two papers are on the care of transgender adults and children, respectively.

Together these papers can be used as the basis of an 8-week reading group. There are 9 papers, but both the Ray and Ashley papers are short, and either could be doubled up with the reading that comes after it. Despite being short, however, both papers are rich enough to furnish material for a week on their own.

These readings just scratch the surface of important and expanding areas of bioethics. But by the time you’ve worked through them, you should have a better grasp of some central concepts, and you should have a good idea of where to look to find further readings.

Reclaiming the System: New Visions for a Future of Work

The future of work is gaining traction as a central topic of discussion, both within academic philosophy and broader public discourse. Much of that discussion, however, has primarily been focused on questions regarding the role of AI and automation, the possibilities of mass unemployment, and, in the wake of the COVID pandemic, the future of the workplace. These questions, while important, address a narrow range of problems and offer a limited vision of what the future of work could look like. Therefore, this blueprint offers an overview of a wider range of philosophical perspectives which have considered alternatives to our current systems of work and employment. It touches upon a range of underrepresented topics in philosophical work literature: perspectives offered by members of underrepresented groups, underexplored problems presented by existing systems, and creative solutions which challenge many of the basic foundations of our current cultural relationship to work. Many of the authors address the ways in which structural injustice is embedded in current systems; all share a common interest in a future of work which is more empathetic, more human. [The title of this blueprint is borrowed from Lisa Herzog’s book, “Reclaiming the System: Moral Responsibility, Divided Labour, and the Role of Organizations in Society” (2018).]

African Languages and African Philosophy

This blueprint will help you explore the key texts discussing the role of African languages in the philosophy of Africa. Can western languages express the key concepts of African philosophy? As you read, you will learn a lot about the conceptual frameworks of African philosophy and explore a selection of issues discussed by African writers.

More broadly, this Blueprint offers a great opportunity to inquire about the role of language in the philosophical practice in general. It will be great to anyone interested in the broad questions about how we do philosophy.

How to use this Blueprint?

There is no particular order in which the texts on this list have to be read. Feel free to explore them in any order you prefer. You might also decide not to read all 14 texts, in which case you can use the abstracts and comments you will find on each entry to choose those that interest you the most.

Native North American Ethics

Native North American Philosophy has so much to offer us, both as philosophers and human beings. And yet, within both academic philosophy and society at large, it has often been caricatured, forced into ways of thinking which do not do it justice, dismissed, or simply ignored. But, if there is one thing that even a minimal acquaintance with Native North American philosophy has to offer, it is a picture of resilience, wisdom, and hope, despite some of the gravest challenges that any set of cultures has ever faced. In general, Native North American communities are diverse and so are their intellectual and philosophical traditions. But, if this introductory set of readings does anything right, it will be in showing that there is a great deal to learn from Native North American ethical thought when it comes to such things as: how to care for one’s self, how to care for one’s community, how to care for future generations, how to care for one’s sovereignty, how to care for one’s land, how to care for non-human life, and more.

Content wise, due to the multitude of philosophically rich texts by Indigenous authors, we have only focused on authors from communities in Native North America. But, we acknowledge that Native Meso and Latin-American thinkers and their philosophies should also have their own reading lists in this series. We have also tried our best to find readings from authors from communities across North America and not just from any one particular locale – you will find this noted by each author’s name. Even still, we have left a number of gaps – but, hopefully, future work will fill them in.

How to use this Blueprint?

In this blueprint, your weekly schedule should follow the topics rather than the readings. There are only seven weekly topics, but each of them is rich in content. So, readers should feel free to either select several readings to focus on collectively for each week or to take on different readings individually so that they can share with each other in weekly discussion. And, of course, they should also feel free to read everything collectively each week if they have the time and the energy.