Josef Estermann (born 1956) is a Swiss philosopher and theologian, known for his studies in the domain of

interculturality Interculturalism is a political movement that supports cross-cultural dialogue and challenging self-segregation tendencies within cultures.John Nagle, Multiculturalism's Double-Bind: Creating Inclusivity Cosmopolitanism and Difference. Ashgate Pub ...

, indigenous philosophies and theologies of

Abya Yala Abya Yala, which in the Kuna language means "land in its full maturity" or "land of vital blood", is the name used by the Native American Guna people who inhabit the geographic region called the Darién Gap, between what is now northwest Colomb ...

, and the

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S l ...

worldview A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural ...

.Biography of Visiting Professor Dr. Josef Estermann, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main
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Biography

Estermann was born in 1956 in

Sursee Sursee is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. Sursee is located at the northern end of Lake Sempach, not far from where the ''Sure'' (or '' Suhre'') river exits the lake ("See"), hence the name "Sursee ...

, in the canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. He completed his studies in theology and philosophy in Switzerland and the Netherlands, completing the doctoral degree in philosophy at the University of Utrect with a thesis on Leibniz. From 1990 to 1998, Estermann served as a missionary, working with Sociedad Misionera de Belén (SMB) in Cusco, Peru. During this period, his interests shifted to autochthonous cultures and worldviews of the Andean region. From 1998 to 2003, Estermann served as director of the Institute for Missionology. From 2004 to 2012, Estermann worked in La Paz, Bolivia as an investigator for the Instituto Superior Ecuménico Andino de Teología (ISEAT), a major university in San Andreas. In this period, Estermann devoted his investigations to Andean philosophy and theology, researching and developing intercultural methodologies for religious and philosophical sciences. Since 2013, Estermann has served as the director of RomeroHaus in Lucerne and docent at the University of Lucerne.

Thought

While Estermann was trained in occidental thought, he soon came to be interested in non-European philosophy, especially the philosophies of Latin American peoples. In this evolution, works of

Emmanuel Lévinas Emmanuel Levinas (; ; 12 January 1906 – 25 December 1995) was a French philosopher of Lithuanian Jewish ancestry who is known for his work within Jewish philosophy, existentialism, and phenomenology, focusing on the relationship of ethics to ...

and

Johann Baptist Metz Johann Baptist Metz (5 August 1928 – 2 December 2019) was a German Catholic priest and theologian. He was Ordinary Professor of Fundamental Theology at the University of Münster, and a consultant to the synod of German dioceses. He is regarded ...

were decisive. Beginning in the 1990s, Estermann devoted his attention primarily to indigenous knowledges of Latin America. Estermann is a proponent of ''Andean Philosophy'' (''Filosofía Andina''), a philosophical form of thought indigenous to Andean villages of the

. His investigations of Andean philosophy apply methods and philosophical approaches of intercultural philosophy as well as linguistics, cultural anthropology and history.

Bibliography

* “Filosofía Andina: Estudio Intercultural de la Sabiduría Autóctona”. Quito, 1998. * “Teología Andina: Antología”. La Paz, 2005. * “Filosofía Andina: Sabiduría indígena para un mundo nuevo”. La Paz, 2006. * “Si el Sur fuera el Norte: Chakanas interculturales entre Andes y Occidente”. La Paz y Quito, 2008. * “Interculturalidad: Vivir la diversidad”. La Paz: ISEAT, 2009. * “Compendio de la Filosofía Occidental en Perspectiva Intercultural”. En 5 tomos, La Paz, 2011. (T 1: Introducción al Pensamiento Filosófico; T 2: Filosofía Antigua y Medieval; T 3: Filosofía Moderna; T 4: Filosofía Contemporánea; T 5: Filosofía Sistemática). * “Cruz y Coca: Hacia la descolonización de la Religión y la Teología”. La Paz, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estermann, Josef 1956 births Living people 20th-century Swiss philosophers Indigenous American philosophy 21st-century Swiss philosophers Scholars of contemporary philosophy