Positivism in Mexico

Leopoldo Zea

Published by University of Texas Press 1974

Positivism in Mexico

Leopoldo Zea
Translated by: Josephine H. Schulte

https://doi.org/10.7560/764132

Overview
Contents

About this book

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 Juárez’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 Díaz 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.

Author / Editor information

Leopoldo Zea (1912–2004) was the director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the National University of Mexico.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION Publicly Available Download PDF	xiii
INTRODUCTION
I. Philosophy and Its History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	3
II. Positivism in Mexican Circumstances Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
III. The Positivism of Auguste Comte Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
IV. Mexican Positivism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
SECTION ONE: THE BIRTH
I. The Positivist Interpretation of Mexican History Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
II. Historical Circumstances in Mexico, 1867 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
SECTION TWO: THE ORIGINS
I. The Forces of Progress and Reaction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
II. Mexican Liberalism's Ideals of Education and Government Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	68
III. The Ideology of the Mexican Bourgeoisie in Its Combative Phase Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	78
SECTION THREE: THE DEVELOPMENT, "GABINO BARREDA"
I. Gabino Barreda and the Problem of Freedom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	93
II. Barreda's Defense of the Interests of the Mexican Bourgeoisie Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	101
III. Gabino Barreda's Plan of Education Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	110
IV. Barreda's Defense of His Plan of Education Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	122
SECTION FOUR: THE DEVELOPMENT, "THE DISCIPLES"
I. The Positivists and the Construction of the New Order Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	139
II. The Application of the Positivist Method Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	148
III. The Theory of Some Positivists concerning the Social Order Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
IV. The Creation of the Social Order Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	169
SECTION FIVE: THE UTOPIA
I. Freedom of Conscience and Positivism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	183
II. The Ideal of a New Positivist Spiritual Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
III. The Struggle for Spiritual Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	206
BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	223
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	231

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Copyright year: 1974
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 266

eBook

Published: December 15, 2014
ISBN: 9781477305331