Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez (September 17, 1915 – July 8, 2011) was a Spanish-born Mexican philosopher, writer and professor born in
Algeciras, Andalucia.
Biography
After studying 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 () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, 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 (, UNAM) is a public university, public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countri ...
in 1959, becoming a
professor emeritus
''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus".
...
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 (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 political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
, 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 is a school of thought in sociology and critical theory. It is associated with the University of Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, Institute for Social Research founded in 1923 at the University of Frankfurt am Main ...
. In fact, ''The Philosophy of Praxis'' was published at around the same time as
Herbert Marcuse was writing his ''
One Dimensional Man''. In regard to
ethics
Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
, 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)
See also
*
Western Marxism
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
20th-century Mexican philosophers
21st-century Mexican philosophers
Mexican male writers
National Autonomous University of Mexico alumni
Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Mexico
People from Algeciras
21st-century Spanish philosophers
Spanish emigrants to Mexico
{{Mexico-philosopher-stub