Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nation-Building through Education: Positivism and its Transformations in Mexico

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

2020

Abstract

In this chapter, Stehn explains how French and British positivism were incorporated into education reform in Mexico in the second half of the 19th century, and then criticized by a new wave of Mexican philosophers in the first half of the 20th century. Stehn claims that a central aim of Mexican philosophy was to build the Mexican nation and national identity by means of education, a strategy that extends into the Chicano Movement of the late 1960s. This chapter examines how positivism was used to build the Mexican nation and reconstruct Mexican identity through education, creating philosophical debates about the relationships among science, religion, morality, education, race, economic progress, and national development. Auguste Comte advocated for a universal education that would attend to both the intellectual and moral development of children by introducing them to the natural and social sciences while developing their personal, familial, and social morality. An even greater continuity lies in the fact that Comte, Gabino Barreda, and Justo Sierra each sought to transform the ethical and political lives of their peoples by instituting a better system of education, which would include not just scientific or technical instruction but moral instruction. Jose Vasconcelos interpreted Barreda's attempt to cultivate a national spirit by way of a positivist education as a necessary historical stage that moved Mexico beyond the philosophy of scholasticism.

Comments

Original published version available at https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315100401-5

First Page

77

Last Page

99

Publication Title

Latin American and Latinx Philosophy

DOI

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315100401-5

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