Philosophy and Emancipation: Fichte’s Spirit in Alberdi’s Letter

Abstract

In 1837, Juan Bautista Alberdi (1810-1884), one of the most important Argentine thinkers of his generation, inaugurated the reception of Fichte in our territory, by mentioning him in a note at the end of his Preliminary Fragment to the study of Law and again, a few years later, in a brief programmatic writing entitled “Ideas to preside over the preparation of the course of Contemporary Philosophy…”. I will argue that despite the geographical distance and cultural differences that set them apart, it is possible to find a deep affinity between Fichte’s and Alberdi’s positions and thoughts. From a shared adherence to a philosophy of history based on the idea of progress, both of them made freedom the central theme of their meditations and attributed to philosophy an emancipating role. Their doctrines are born in intimate connection with the revolutions of which they consider themselves sons and heirs, and they each assume the task of contributing to national emancipation. Thus, concentrating on some passages of the two works in which Alberdi mentions Fichte and on other writings produced around the same time, my goal is to find Fichte’s spirit in the letter of the young Argentinean thinker.