José Gaos (26 December 1900,

Gijón Gijón () or () is a city and municipality in north-western Spain. It is the largest city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality by population in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Asturias. It is located on the coa ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

– 10 June 1969,

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

) was a Spanish philosopher who obtained political asylum in Mexico during 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 ...

and became one of the most important Mexican philosophers of the 20th century. He was a member of the Madrid School.

Biography

Gaos grew up in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

and

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

in Spain as the eldest of nine siblings, including the actress

Lola Gaos Dolores Gaos González-Pola (2 December 1921, in Valencia – 4 July 1993, in Madrid), better known as Lola Gaos, was a Spanish film, television and theatre actress. Famous with her works with Luis Buñuel but specially the film '' Furtivos'' ...

and the poets Alejandro and Vicente Gaos. Gaos spent most of his childhood in the home of his maternal grandparents in

Asturias Asturias (; ; ) officially the Principality of Asturias, is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwest Spain. It is coextensive with the provinces of Spain, province of Asturias and contains some of the territory t ...

. At age 15, he moved to join the rest of his family in

. That same year, he was introduced to philosophy through a history of philosophy by Jaime Balmes. Balmes' writing on the radical

historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

of philosophy inspired Gaos' later work. Gaos attended the

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...

, then transferred to the University of Madrid, where he earned his bachelor's degree and doctorate. His

doctoral dissertation A thesis (: theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: D ...

dealt with the problem of

psychologism Psychologism is a family of philosophical positions, according to which certain psychological facts, laws, or entities play a central role in grounding or explaining certain non-psychological facts, laws, or entities. The word was coined by Joh ...

. After university, Gaos became a philosophy professor in León, at the

University of Zaragoza The University of Zaragoza, sometimes referred to as Saragossa University () is a public university with teaching campuses and research centres spread over the three provinces of Aragon (Spain). Founded in 1542, it is one of the List of oldest u ...

and, after 1933, at the University of Madrid. In 1938, during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), he was exiled due to his republican and socialist sympathies. He moved to Mexico and taught as professor 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 ...

/UNAM. He was influenced by neo-scholasticism,

neo-Kantianism In late modern philosophy, neo-Kantianism () was a revival of the 18th-century philosophy of Immanuel Kant. The neo-Kantians sought to develop and clarify Kant's theories, particularly his concept of the thing-in-itself and his moral philosophy ...

and

Edmund Husserl Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology. In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...

, in addition to

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

philosophers like

Martin Heidegger Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...

and

Nicolai Hartmann Paul Nicolai Hartmann (; 20 February 1882 – 9 October 1950) was a German philosopher. He is regarded as a key representative of critical realism and as one of the most important twentieth-century metaphysicians. Biography Hartmann was born a ...

and, first and foremost, by his teacher, the Spanish philosopher

José Ortega y Gasset José Ortega y Gasset (; ; 9 May 1883 – 18 October 1955) was a Spanish philosopher and essayist. He worked during the first half of the 20th century while Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism and dictatorship. His philosoph ...

. Gaos was a disciple of Ortega as one of many philosophers that made up the Madrid School. Gaos' other teachers included philosophers Manuel García Morente and

Xavier Zubiri Xavier Zubiri (; ; 4 December 1898 – 21 September 1983) was a Spanish philosopher. Zubiri was a member of the Madrid School, composed of philosophers José Ortega y Gasset (the founder of the group), José Gaos, and Julián Marías, among ...

. Gaos also was a prolific translator of German philosophy, contributing to the translation projects of the School of Madrid that had been set up by Ortega. Gaos translated to Spanish the books of philosophers such as:

(the first Spanish translation of ''Being and Time''),

John Dewey John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century. The overridi ...

Søren Kierkegaard Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...

G. W. F. Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a 19th-century German idealism, German idealist. His influence extends across a wide range of topics from metaphysical issues in epistemology and ontology, to political phi ...

Max Scheler Max Ferdinand Scheler (; 22 August 1874 – 19 May 1928) was a German philosopher known for his work in phenomenology, ethics, and philosophical anthropology. Considered in his lifetime one of the most prominent German philosophers,Davis, Zacha ...

Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant (born Emanuel Kant; 22 April 1724 – 12 February 1804) was a German Philosophy, philosopher and one of the central Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment thinkers. Born in Königsberg, Kant's comprehensive and systematic works ...

Johann Gottlieb Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Ka ...

and

Leopoldo Zea Leopoldo Zea Aguilar (June 30, 1912 – June 8, 2004) was a Mexican Philosophy, 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, ''E ...

was a notable student of Gaos. Gaos's ''Collected Works'' (''Obras completas'') are edited by the UNAM in Mexico City, where the Gaos-Archive is.Se
the website of the Gaos Archive (Archivo Gaos).
/ref>

Selected publications

* ''La filosofía de Maimónides'' (1940) * ''El pensamiento hispanoamericano'' (1944) * ''Dos exclusivas del hombre: la mano y el tiempo'' (1945) * ''Antología del pensamiento en lengua española en la edad contemporánea'' (1945) * ''Filosofía de la filosofía'' (1947) * ''Método para resolver los problemas de nuestro tiempo'' (1950) * ''Introducción a'' El ser y el tiempo ''de Martin Heidegger'' (1951) * ''En torno a la filosofía mexicana'' (1952) * ''Filosofía mexicana en nuestros días'' (1954) * ''La filosofía en la universidad'' (1956) * ''Ensayos sobre Ortega y Gasset'' (1957) * ''Confesiones profesionales'' (1958) * ''Discurso de filosofía'' (1959) * ''Orígenes de la filosofía y su historia'' (1960) * ''Filosofía contemporánea'' (1962) * ''Historia de nuestra idea del mundo'' (1973) * ''Filosofía de la técnica'' (2022), collection of Gaos' essays, ed. by María Antonia González Valerio and Nicole C. Karafyllis

References

External links

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaos, Jose 1900 births 1969 deaths People from Gijón 20th-century Mexican philosophers Academic staff of the National Autonomous University of Mexico Mexican people of Asturian descent Academic staff of the University of Zaragoza Spanish emigrants to Mexico 20th-century Spanish philosophers