Utopia and historical sense in Latin America: the case of Ariel and Philosophy of Liberation

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore the topic of utopia in Latin American thought. Beginning with the concepts of utopia and ideology, (Ricoeur, 2000) the paper argues about an intrinsic radicalization of what the Latin American has been offering as utopian discourse. Such radicalization also concerns the question regarding the historical identity of Latin America and the requirement to establish a thought in harmony with this identity. Therefore, the various trends of intellectual discourse offer conceptual elements to rethink the notion of utopia in Latin America. From a historical point of view, the paper proposes a short two–stage journey: first, through Ariel (Rodó, 1900) and second, through discourse in Philosophy of Liberation (Dussel, 1977).