Historical Reality As de Objet of Philosophical Inquiry: Notes for an Emergent Our-American Humanism

Abstract

If humanisms—both in their classical, as well as in modem strands—have gone astray as they fell into universal and abstract formulations, resulting in various forms of disregard towards diversity, it may be worth, in the current context, to inquire whether it is possible to find a way of conceiving the relationship between the universal and the particular such that it acknowledges the dynamic character of reality and, from the recognition of that which is different, contributes to the fulfillment of a new kind of humanism. Salvadoran philosopher Ignacio Ellacuría establishes a dialogue with Hegel and Marx, and particularly with Xavier Zubiri—with whom he collaborated closely—in order to posit a way of thinking about intramundane reality as complex and differentiated, concrete, fully qualified and in constant process. His philosophy of historical reality offers clues for a new humanism.