Horst Matthai Quelle (30 January 1912 – 27 December 1999) was a Spanish-speaking German

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

Biography

Quelle was born in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Germany in 1912. In 1938, at the beginning of the German economic crisis and the rise of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) i ...

and

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and t ...

in Europe, Quelle moved to Mexico. There, he began studying philosophy at the

National Autonomous University of Mexico The National Autonomous University of Mexico ( es, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in Latin America, where it's also the bigges ...

where he took classes with writer

Carlos Monsivais Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

and philosophers

Leopoldo Zea Leopoldo Zea Aguilar (June 30, 1912 – June 8, 2004) was a Mexican philosopher. Biography Zea was born in Mexico City. One of the integral Latin Americanism thinkers in history, Zea became famous thanks to his master's thesis, ''El Positivi ...

and Emilio Uranga. Quelle earned his undergraduate degree,

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, where he returned as a professor of philosophy in the 1980s. He also taught at the

Universidad Iberoamericana The Ibero-American University ( es, Universidad Iberoamericana), also referred to by its acronym ''UIA'' but commonly known as ''Ibero'' or ''La Ibero'') is a private, Catholic, Mexican higher education institution, sponsored by the Mexican provi ...

and since 1986, the

Universidad Autónoma de Baja California The Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC) ( es, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California) is a public institution of higher education in Baja California. Established in 1957, UABC has its headquarters located in the city of Mexicali. T ...

. He died in

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

, Mexico on 27 December 1999.

Philosophy

In the introduction to the compilation ''Philosophical Texts (1989-1999)'' his philosophy is summarized as follows: 1. The exterior world is a phenomenon of the

individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own need ...

since it is consciousness which gives form to the perceived world. 2. There are institutions and historical currents that strive to sabotage the practical application of this knowledge. These are mainly the church, the state and science and western philosophy when it subordinates itself to these three agents. 3. To acquire consciousness that the world is a phenomenon of the individual and that there are institutions and historical currents that occult this wisdom means becoming responsible of the world, thought and language. If the individual gives form to the world, he is those objects, the others and the whole universe, as such, he has to rebel against the forces which intend to convince him that he is only part of the world, and not the whole world. One of his main views was a "theory of infinite worlds" which for him was developed by

pre-socratic philosophers Pre-Socratic philosophy, also known as early Greek philosophy, is ancient Greek philosophy before Socrates. Pre-Socratic philosophers were mostly interested in cosmology, the beginning and the substance of the universe, but the inquiries of th ...

. For him reality is a product of consciousness and each individual consciousness is a world on itself. Another important concept in his philosophy is one he called "non-mutuality" which expresses that which does not permit communication between individuals.Horst Matthai Quelle. ''Textos Filosóficos (1989–1999)''. pg. 15
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Selected works

;Published books and compilations *''"Pensar y ser I. Ensayo de una fenomenología metafísica"'', Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali, (1996). La edición original cuenta con 176 páginas. El tiraje fue de únicamente 300 ejemplares. *''"Pensar y ser II. La Escuela de Mileto"'', Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali, (1995). La edición original cuenta con 125 páginas. El tiraje fue de sólo 300 ejemplares. *''"Pensar y ser III. Heráclito, el obscuro"'', Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali, (1997). La edición original cuenta con 230 páginas. La edición contó con mil ejemplares. *''"Pensar y ser IV. La teoría parmenídea del pensar"'', Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali, (1990). La edición original cuenta con 78 páginas. El tiraje fue de 750 ejemplares. *''"Textos filosóficos (1989-1999)"'', Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali, ,(2002) *''"Todos los pensamientos son verdaderos"'', Verdehalago, Ciudad de México, (2012). ;Articles *''"El hombre y sus fronteras. Una visión filosófica"'', artículo en ''Estudios sobre las Culturas Contemporaneas'', de la Universidad de Colima, número 11, (1991) *''"Filosofía y literatura"'', artículo en ''Yubai'', de la UABC, número 8, (1994) *''"Organización interempresarial y empleo"'', artículo en ''Paradigmas'', de la UABC, número 10, (1995) *''"Amerasia (una reflexión filosófica)"'', artículo en ''Cuad. Am.'', número 6, (1995) *''"El papel crucial de las instituciones humanísticas fronterizas de México para la defensa de la cultura latinoamericana"'', artículo, (199?) *''"El humanismo como problema humano"'', artículo en ''Semillero'', de la UABC, número 31, (2000) ;Talks *''"¿Son Compatibles el Concepto de Paideia y la Idea de lo Absoluto?"'', ponencia, (199?) *''"The Pseudo-concepts Phenomenon and ΛΟΓΟΣ in the Phenomenological Philosophies: A Viable Alternative"'', ponencia, (199?) *''"Life as Eontopoiesis and Self-Individualization"'', ponencia, (199?) *''"Crisis económica: microeconomía versus macroeconomía"'', ponencia presentada al ''Foro de Análisis: La crisis económica, oportunidades y retos para Tijuana'', Tijuana, (1995) *''"Industria y escuela: un problema de vinculación"'', ponencia presentada al ''Comité de Vinculación de la CALACINTRA'', Tijuana, (1992) ;Others *''"Las Discrepancias en las calificaciones de las diferentes materias del currículo correspondiente al año 1ª. de la preparatoria Benemerito de las Americas"'', Brigham Young University, (1978)

References

External links

*''Vida y obra de Horst Matthai Quelle'', essay by Heriberto M. Yépez, i
''La virgen no llama tres veces y otros textos''
Various authors, México, 1998, . {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthai Quelle, Horst 1912 births 1999 deaths 20th-century German philosophers Autonomous University of Baja California faculty Emigrants from Nazi Germany German emigrants to Mexico German male writers Mexican philosophers National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni National Autonomous University of Mexico faculty Universidad Iberoamericana faculty Writers from Hanover