Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez (September 17, 1915 – July 8, 2011) was a Spanish-born

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

philosopher, writer and professor born in Algeciras,

Andalucia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

Biography

After studying philosophy at the University of Madrid, Vázquez emigrated to Mexico in 1939 with thousands of other intellectuals, scientists and artists following the defeat of the Republic in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

, in which he participated as editor of the central publication of the Juventudes Socialistas Unificadas (JSU) “Ahora”. Sánchez was appointed a full-time professor of 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 ...

in 1959, becoming a

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of the university in 1985.Galván Chávez, Ana. "Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez y el marxismo" ("Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez and Marxism") Retrieved 22 Mar. 2009. Sánchez also held honorary doctoral degrees from the Universidad Autónoma de Puebla and the

University of Cádiz The University of Cádiz (in Spanish: Universidad de Cádiz), commonly referred to as UCA, is a public university located in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, Spain, noted for its medicine and marine sciences curricula. It was founded in 1979 ...

(Spain).Galván Chávez, Ana. "Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez y el marxismo" ("Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez and Marxism"). Retrieved 22 Mar. 2009. He embraced

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

, although an open, renovating, critical and non-dogmatic version of it. His fresh interpretation of Marxism ran parallel to that of the

Frankfurt School The Frankfurt School (german: Frankfurter Schule) is a school of social theory and critical philosophy associated with the Institute for Social Research, at Goethe University Frankfurt in 1929. Founded in the Weimar Republic (1918–1933), dur ...

. In fact, ''The Philosophy of Praxis'' was published at around the same time as

Herbert Marcuse Herbert Marcuse (; ; July 19, 1898 – July 29, 1979) was a German-American philosopher, social critic, and political theorist, associated with the Frankfurt School of critical theory. Born in Berlin, Marcuse studied at the Humboldt University ...

was writing his '' One Dimensional Man''. In regard to

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

, he opposed normativism.

Philosophical works

* ''The Aesthetic Ideas of Marx'' (1965) * ''The Philosophy of Praxis'' (1967) * ''Rousseau in Mexico (The Philosophy of Rousseau and the Ideology of Independence) (1969) * ''Aesthetics and Marxism'' (1970) * ''Anthology. Texts of Aesthetics and Theory of Art'' (1972) * ''Art and Society: Essays in Marxist Aesthetics'' (1973) * ''From Scientific Socialism to Utopian Socialism'' (1975).

Miscellaneous

Memoirs * ''Recollections and Reflections of an Exile'' (1997) Poetry * ''Poetry'' (2005)

References

* Gandler, Stefan
''Critical Marxism in Mexico: Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez and Bolívar Echeverría''
Leiden/Boston, Brill Academic Press, 2015. 467 pages. .(Historical Materialism Book Series, ; vol. 87.) * Gandler, Stefan: ''Peripherer Marxismus. Kritische Theorie in Mexiko.'' Hamburg, Berlin: Argument-Verlag, 1999. 459 pages, . * Gandler, Stefan: ''Marxismo crítico en México, Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez y Bolívar Echeverría.'' (Foreword: Michael Löwy.) México, D.F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica / Facultad de Filosofía y Letras UNAM / Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro, 2007, 621 pages, . Reprint: 2008.

External links

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Spanish Philosopher Adolfo Sanchez Vazquez Dies in Mexico
1915 births 2011 deaths 20th-century Spanish philosophers Marxist theorists Marxist writers Mexican philosophers Mexican male writers National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni National Autonomous University of Mexico faculty People from Algeciras Spanish philosophers Spanish emigrants to Mexico {{Mexico-philosopher-stub

Biography

Philosophical works

Miscellaneous

See also

References

External links