Positivism in Mexico
Published on 1. January 1974
Book
Paperback/Softback
266 pages
978-1-4773-0532-4 (ISBN)
Description
Positivism, not just an "ivory tower" philosophy, was a major force in the social, political, and educational life of Mexico during the last half of the nineteenth century. Once colonial conservatism had been conquered, the French Intervention ended, and Maximilian of Hapsburg executed, reformers wanted to create a new national order to replace the Spanish colonial one. The victorious liberals strove to achieve "mental emancipation," a kind of second independence, which would abolish the habits and customs imposed on Mexicans by three centuries of colonialism.
At this singular moment in Mexican history, positivism was offered as an extraordinary means and pathway to a new order. The next stage was the education of the Mexican people in this liberal philosophy and their incorporation into the process of development achieved by modern nations.
Leopoldo Zea traces the forerunners of liberal thought and their influence during JuArez's time and shows how this ideology degenerated into an "order and progress" philosophy that served merely to maintain colonial forms of exploitation and, at the same time, to create new ones that were peculiar to the neocolonialism that the great nations of the world imposed on other peoples. Zea examines the regime of Porfirio DIaz and its justification by the positivist philosophers of the period. He concludes that the conflict between exploited social groups, on the one hand, and foreign interests and a middle class on the margin of an oligarchy, on the other, brought about the movement known as the Mexican Revolution.
At this singular moment in Mexican history, positivism was offered as an extraordinary means and pathway to a new order. The next stage was the education of the Mexican people in this liberal philosophy and their incorporation into the process of development achieved by modern nations.
Leopoldo Zea traces the forerunners of liberal thought and their influence during JuArez's time and shows how this ideology degenerated into an "order and progress" philosophy that served merely to maintain colonial forms of exploitation and, at the same time, to create new ones that were peculiar to the neocolonialism that the great nations of the world imposed on other peoples. Zea examines the regime of Porfirio DIaz and its justification by the positivist philosophers of the period. He concludes that the conflict between exploited social groups, on the one hand, and foreign interests and a middle class on the margin of an oligarchy, on the other, brought about the movement known as the Mexican Revolution.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Austin, TX
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
437 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4773-0532-4 (9781477305324)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Leopoldo Zea (1912-2004) was the director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the National University of Mexico.
Content
Preface to the English Translation
Introduction
I. Philosophy and Its History
1. The Problem
2. Ideas about the History of Philosophy
3. Absolute and Circumstantial Truths
4. The Historical Method in Philosophy
II. Positivism in Mexican Circumstances
5. The Mexican Interpretations of Positivism
6. The Positivist Generation
7. Mexican Positivists Defend Their Doctrine
8. The Interpretation Pursued in This Study
III. The Positivism of Auguste Comte
9. Comtism as the Expression of a Social Class
10. Order and Liberty
11. The New Order According to the Philosophy of Comte
12. The Ideal of Comtian Philosophy
IV. Mexican Positivism
13. Mexican Positivism as the Expression of a Social Group
14. Elements of Disorder in Mexican Society
15. The Law of the Three Phases of Mexican Positivism
16. The Plan of This Work
Section One: The Birth
I. The Positivist Interpretation of Mexican History
17. The Road Toward Emancipation
18. Mexico as a Link in the Mental Emancipation of Humanity
19. The Struggle between the Negative and Positive Forces in Mexico
20. Mexico, Last Bastion of the Positive Spirit or of Progress
II. Historical Circumstances in Mexico, 1867
21. The Triumph of the Mexican Liberal Party
22. The Basis for the Establishment of Order
23. Application of the Positivist Doctrine to the Historical Circumstances of 1867
24. The Adaptation of the Positivist Doctrine to the Religious Policy of the JuArez Government
Section Two: The Origins
I. The Forces of Progress and Reaction
25. The Liberal Antecedent of Mexican Positivism
26. The Forces of Reaction
27. Clerical and Military Interests
28. Civic Interests
II. Mexican Liberalism's Ideals of Education and Government
29. Education as a Class Instrument
30. Relations between the State and the Citizens
31. The State as an Instrument of a Faction and as an Instrument of Society
32. The State as the Guardian of Public Order
III. The Ideology of the Mexican Bourgeoisie in Its Combative Phase
33. "Liberty," a Concept in the Service of a Social Class
34. Persuasion as an Ideological Tool of the Mexican Bourgeoisie
35. Respect for Ideas
36. The Thesis concerning the Rights of Others
Section Three: The Development, "Gabino Barreda"
I. Gabino Barreda and the Problem of Freedom
37. Freedom as an Individual Right
38. Freedom within the Positivist Order
II. Barreda's Defense of the Interests of the Mexican Bourgeoisie
39. The Defense of Catholicism against Jacobinism
40. The Defense of Private Property
41. Noninterference of the State in Private Property
42. The Justification of Barreda's Ideas within the Mexican Reality of His Time
III. Gabino Barreda's Plan of Education
43. The Plan of Education Proposed by Barreda
44. Uniformity of Thought as a Basis for the Protection of the Social Order
45. Compulsory Education
46. Education as a Means to Avoid Social Anarchy
47. Jacobinism Considered by Barreda as the Chief Enemy of His Plan of Education
IV. Barreda's Defense of His Plan of Education
48. Attacks on Barreda's Plan of Education
49. The New Plan of Public Education and Its Criticisms
50. The Defense of Spiritual Power against Civil Power
Section Four: The Development, "The Disciples"
I. The Positivists and the Construction of the New Order
51. The Foundation of the AsociaciOn MetodOfila
52. A Feeling of Crisis in Barreda's Followers
53. The Rigor of the Positivist Method and What the Followers of Barreda Expected from Such Rigor
II. The Application of the Positivist Method
54. The Application of the Positivist Method to Philosophical Problems
55. The Strict Application of the Positivist Method Independent of Emotion and Sympathy
III. The Theory of Some Positivists concerning the Social Order
56. The Relationship between Superiors and Inferiors
57. The Relationship between Rich and Poor
58. The Relationship between Intellectual Superiors and Intellectual Inferiors
59. The Relationship between Sociology and Biology
60. The Application of Social Science to Social Problems
61. Positivism as the Justification for a Class Ideology
IV. The Creation of the Social Order
62. The Social Consequences of Barreda's Work
63. The Meaning of Order to the Generation Educated by Barreda
64. The Social Order that Resulted from the Educational Work of Barreda
65. The Order of the Mexican Bourgeoisie
Section Five: The Utopia
I. Freedom of Conscience and Positivism
66. The Unconstitutionality of Positivist Education
67. Defense of the Constitutionality of Positivist Education
68. Freedom of Conscience Cannot Be Opposed to Social Order
69. The Enemies of Positivist Education
II. The Ideal of a New Positivist Spiritual Power
70. Society's Ideal of Accord among All Members of Society
71. Social Enforcement of the Principles of Positivism
72. The New Spiritual Power
73. Spiritual Power Cannot Be Neutral
III. The Struggle for Spiritual Power
74. National Preparatory School Education Considered as Sectarian
75. The Clergy and Freedom of Conscience
76. Defense of the Social Validity of Positivism
77. The Utopia of the Mexican Positivists
Bibliography
Index
Introduction
I. Philosophy and Its History
1. The Problem
2. Ideas about the History of Philosophy
3. Absolute and Circumstantial Truths
4. The Historical Method in Philosophy
II. Positivism in Mexican Circumstances
5. The Mexican Interpretations of Positivism
6. The Positivist Generation
7. Mexican Positivists Defend Their Doctrine
8. The Interpretation Pursued in This Study
III. The Positivism of Auguste Comte
9. Comtism as the Expression of a Social Class
10. Order and Liberty
11. The New Order According to the Philosophy of Comte
12. The Ideal of Comtian Philosophy
IV. Mexican Positivism
13. Mexican Positivism as the Expression of a Social Group
14. Elements of Disorder in Mexican Society
15. The Law of the Three Phases of Mexican Positivism
16. The Plan of This Work
Section One: The Birth
I. The Positivist Interpretation of Mexican History
17. The Road Toward Emancipation
18. Mexico as a Link in the Mental Emancipation of Humanity
19. The Struggle between the Negative and Positive Forces in Mexico
20. Mexico, Last Bastion of the Positive Spirit or of Progress
II. Historical Circumstances in Mexico, 1867
21. The Triumph of the Mexican Liberal Party
22. The Basis for the Establishment of Order
23. Application of the Positivist Doctrine to the Historical Circumstances of 1867
24. The Adaptation of the Positivist Doctrine to the Religious Policy of the JuArez Government
Section Two: The Origins
I. The Forces of Progress and Reaction
25. The Liberal Antecedent of Mexican Positivism
26. The Forces of Reaction
27. Clerical and Military Interests
28. Civic Interests
II. Mexican Liberalism's Ideals of Education and Government
29. Education as a Class Instrument
30. Relations between the State and the Citizens
31. The State as an Instrument of a Faction and as an Instrument of Society
32. The State as the Guardian of Public Order
III. The Ideology of the Mexican Bourgeoisie in Its Combative Phase
33. "Liberty," a Concept in the Service of a Social Class
34. Persuasion as an Ideological Tool of the Mexican Bourgeoisie
35. Respect for Ideas
36. The Thesis concerning the Rights of Others
Section Three: The Development, "Gabino Barreda"
I. Gabino Barreda and the Problem of Freedom
37. Freedom as an Individual Right
38. Freedom within the Positivist Order
II. Barreda's Defense of the Interests of the Mexican Bourgeoisie
39. The Defense of Catholicism against Jacobinism
40. The Defense of Private Property
41. Noninterference of the State in Private Property
42. The Justification of Barreda's Ideas within the Mexican Reality of His Time
III. Gabino Barreda's Plan of Education
43. The Plan of Education Proposed by Barreda
44. Uniformity of Thought as a Basis for the Protection of the Social Order
45. Compulsory Education
46. Education as a Means to Avoid Social Anarchy
47. Jacobinism Considered by Barreda as the Chief Enemy of His Plan of Education
IV. Barreda's Defense of His Plan of Education
48. Attacks on Barreda's Plan of Education
49. The New Plan of Public Education and Its Criticisms
50. The Defense of Spiritual Power against Civil Power
Section Four: The Development, "The Disciples"
I. The Positivists and the Construction of the New Order
51. The Foundation of the AsociaciOn MetodOfila
52. A Feeling of Crisis in Barreda's Followers
53. The Rigor of the Positivist Method and What the Followers of Barreda Expected from Such Rigor
II. The Application of the Positivist Method
54. The Application of the Positivist Method to Philosophical Problems
55. The Strict Application of the Positivist Method Independent of Emotion and Sympathy
III. The Theory of Some Positivists concerning the Social Order
56. The Relationship between Superiors and Inferiors
57. The Relationship between Rich and Poor
58. The Relationship between Intellectual Superiors and Intellectual Inferiors
59. The Relationship between Sociology and Biology
60. The Application of Social Science to Social Problems
61. Positivism as the Justification for a Class Ideology
IV. The Creation of the Social Order
62. The Social Consequences of Barreda's Work
63. The Meaning of Order to the Generation Educated by Barreda
64. The Social Order that Resulted from the Educational Work of Barreda
65. The Order of the Mexican Bourgeoisie
Section Five: The Utopia
I. Freedom of Conscience and Positivism
66. The Unconstitutionality of Positivist Education
67. Defense of the Constitutionality of Positivist Education
68. Freedom of Conscience Cannot Be Opposed to Social Order
69. The Enemies of Positivist Education
II. The Ideal of a New Positivist Spiritual Power
70. Society's Ideal of Accord among All Members of Society
71. Social Enforcement of the Principles of Positivism
72. The New Spiritual Power
73. Spiritual Power Cannot Be Neutral
III. The Struggle for Spiritual Power
74. National Preparatory School Education Considered as Sectarian
75. The Clergy and Freedom of Conscience
76. Defense of the Social Validity of Positivism
77. The Utopia of the Mexican Positivists
Bibliography
Index