Table Of ContentPHILOSOPHICAL AN AL YSIS IN LA TIN AMERICA
SYNTHESE LIBRARY
STUDIES IN EPISTEMOLOGY,
LOGIC, METHODOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Managing Editor:
JAAKKO HINTIKKA, Florida State University, Tallahassee
Editors:
DONALD DAVIDSON, University of California, Berkeley
GABRIEL NUCHELMANS, University of Leyden
WESLEY C. SALMON, University of Pittsburgh
VOLUME 172
PHILOSOPHICAL
ANALYSIS
IN LATIN AMERICA
Edited by
JORGE J. E. GRACIA
State University of New York at Buffalo
EDUARDO RABOSSI
Universidad de la Plata
ENRIQUE VILLANUEVA
Univerdidad Nacional Aut6noma de Mexico
and
MARCELO DASCAL
Universidade Estadual de Campinas and Tel·Aviv University
D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY
A MEMBER OF THE KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP
DORDRECHT/BOSTON/LANCASTER
library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Philosophical analysis in Latin America.
(Synthese library; v. 172)
Includes index.
1. Philosophy-Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Philosophy
Latin America-Addresses, essays, lectures. 1. Gracia, Jorge J. E.
II. Series.
B29.P454 1984 199'.8 84-3342
ISBN-\3: 978-94-009-6377-1 e-I SBN-\3: 978-94-009-6375-7
DOl: 10. I 007/978-94-009-6375-7
Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company,
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All Rights Reserved
© 1984 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland
Sotlcover reJJ.rint of the_hardcover I st edition 1984
No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
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For if anyone com po ses and j oi ns by the
understanding that which nature does not suffer to
be joined, no one is unaware that that is false,
as would be the case should one join by the
imagination horse and man and construct a centaur.
But if it be done by division and by abstraction.
the thing would not be constituted as the idea is,
yet for all that, the idea is still not in the
least false.
Boethius, Second Commentary on Porphyry'S
"Isagoge", Bk. I; EL. 64, 84.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ix
INTRODUCTION / Jorge J. E. Gracia
I. PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS IN ARGENTINA /
Eduardo Rabossi 17
NORMATIVE KNOWLEDGE AND TRUTH / Carlos E. Alchourron
and Eugenio Bulygin 25
LEGAL PRINCIPLES AND LEGAL POSITIVISM / Genaro R. Carrio 47
LOGIC AND THE HYPOTHETICAL-DEDUCTIVE METHOD /
Gregorio Klimovsky 73
THE LIMITS OF THE ENFORCEMENT or MORALITY THROUGH
THE CRIMIN AL LAW / Carlos Santiago Nino 93
ON THE INCONSISTENCY OF MEINONG'S ONTOLOGY / Raul
Orayen 115
MEANING, FORCE AND EXPLICIT PERFORMA TIVES / Eduardo
A. Rabossi 141
II. PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS IN MEXICO /
Enrique Villanueva 165
EXISTENTIAL QUANTIFIERS AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN
PHYSICAL THEORIES / C. Ulises Moulines 173
(SIMPLE) QUALITIES AND RESEMBLANCE / Jose A. Robles 199
viii TABLE OF CONTENTS
THEORY OF DESCRIPTIONS, MEANING AND PRESUPPOSI
TION / Alejandro Rossi 219
ETHICS AND THE LANGUAGE OF MORALITY / Fernando
Salmeron 243
THE PRIVATE LANGUAGE ARGUMENT I Enrique Villanueva 255
III. PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS IN BRAZIL /
Marcelo Dascal 277
PHILOSOPHY, COMMON SENSE, AND SCIENCE / Marcelo Dascal 285
DECIDABILITY AND COGNITIVE SIGNIFICANCE IN CARNAP /
Zeljko Loparic 313
NATURAL CONJECTURES / Joao Paulo Monteiro 339
IV. PHILOSOPHICAL ANALYSIS IN OTHER LA TIN
AMERICAN COUNTRIES /
Jorge J. E. Gracia 365
POPPER'S SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF INDUCTION /
Pedro Lluberes (Venezuela) 381
ON THE CONCEPT OF REASON / Francisco Miro Quesada (Peru) 397
APPENDIX: LA TIN AMERICANS RESIDING IN THE
UNITED STATES AND CANADA /
Jorge J. E. Gracia 413
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES 417
INDEX OF PROPER NAMES 421
PREFACE
Historians of Latin American philosophy have paid
relatively little attention to the development of
philosophical analysis in Latin America. There are two
reasons for this neglect: First, they have been primarily
concerned with the forma tive period of philosophical
development, in particular with the so called "founders" of
La ti n American philosophy. And second. philosophical
analysis did not become a noticeable philosophical trend in
Latin America until recent years. True. a nunber of Latin
American philosophers took notice of Moore. Russell. the
members of the Vienna Circle and other important figures in
the analytic movement qui te early. But these were isolated
instances that lacked the sustained effort and broad base
indispensible to make a serious impact in the development of
Latin American philosophy. That has changed now. There are
not only good numbers of philosophers who work within the
analytic tradition, but also some journals and institutes
dedicated to the analytic mode of philosophizing. It is.
therefore. most appropriate to publish a collection of
articles which would introduce the reader of philosophy to
the most representative analytic material produced so far in
Latin America. Indeed. it is not only appropriate. but also
necessary. since most of the published analytic literature
to date is scattered in various journals, sometimes of
difficult access. Moreover, not all that has been published
is representative of the best already produced and of the
potential that the movement has in Latin America. Much of
it is simply the resul t of an effort to absorb ideas already
proposed elsewhere, lacking as a result sufficient
originality to be taken as serious contributions to
philosophy. The aim of this collection, then, is not only
to introduce the reader to a vital philosophical current in
contemporary Latin American philosophy, but also to present
some of what the editors think is the best material that has
been produced by philosophical analysis in Latin America to
date.
The criteria used in the selection had little to do
wi th time or themes. Philosophical analysis is a new
current and. therefore, most of those who have adopted it
are young or at most mature philosophers; only a handful are
past the age of sixty. Therefore. instead of setting
ix
J. J. E. Gracia et al. (eds.), Philosophical Analysis in Latin America, ix-xii.
© 1984 by D. Reidel Publishing Company.
x PREFACE
artificial thematic or temporal boundaries at the start. we
decided to begin with tentative lists of authors who had
consistently published and are still actively publishing
material which could be classified as part of the analytic
tradi tion, and then select from their writings what seemed
best and most appropriate for a collection of this size and
intent. Not every author included. however. can or would
accept to be described as an "analytic philosopher." Sane
would argue. and rightly so. that the philosophical
orientation of some or even many of their published works is
not analytic. Nevertheless. all those included here have to
some extent contributed to the development and dissemination
of philosophical analysis in Latin America. In general.
long or very technical papers were excluded as well as those
whose main intent was the mere exposition or negative
criticism of someone else's views. We looked for clear
style. accessibility to a general philosophical audience,
and originali ty.
The selection was done under the general editorship of
Jorge J. E. Gracia. He launched the idea, coordinated the
efforts of the editors, kept the channels of communication
open, and formulated and maintained the general perspective
of the volume. Each editor had primary responsibility for a
predetermined geographical area, but also worked wi th the
others in the selection of the various articles. Eduardo
Rabossi, in particul ar, worked closely wi th the general
editor in the. selection of the articles and the formulation
of cri teria.
In order to make clear the interrelationships among the
selected authors, and to provide a setting where their work
may be understood, they were gathered into four groups,
according to the country or geographic area where they
reside. Philosophers from Argentina. Mexico, and Brazil
constitute the first three groups, since these are the
countries that have produced the largest number of analytiC
philosophers; the fourth group canprises authors fran the
rest of Latin America. The articles have been arranged in
alphabetical order according to the author's last name.
Each area is preceded by an introduction which discusses the
development of philosophical analysis in that location. A
general introduction at the beginning of the collection
presents a brief historical account of philosophical
analysis and summarizes its present state in Latin America.
PREFACE xi
Concurrently with this English edition, a Spanish
edition is being published by the Fondo de Cultura
Economica. It is a much longer work, including a m.mber of
papers fran the various geographical areas left out in the
English edition as well as an entire section on Latin
American philosophers who work wi thin analytic parameters in
the United States and Canada. These authors were excluded
because of limitations of space imposed by the publisher
and/or because of difficulties related to the translation of
their works. Since the work of authors who live in the
United States and Canada is well known in English speaking
countries, it was a natural choice to leave them out in a
work whose main purpose is to make the work of Latin
American philosophers known in the English speaking world.
The authors and papers I eft out in this edition are the
foll owing: . "On the Fregean Sol ution of Morton White to the
Paradox of Analysis," Thomas M. Simpson (Argentina);
"Political Assasination and Tyrannicide," Javier Esquivel
(Mexico); "Validity. Inference and Impl ications," Hugo
Marga:in (Mexico); "Truth and Practice," Mario H. Otero
(Mexico); "The General Theory of Law and Juridical Science."
Roberto Vernengo (Argentina and Mexico); "The Difference
Between 'to be certain' and 'to know'," Luis Villoro
(Mexico); "Ontology and Semanti cs," Luis Enrique Lopes dos
Santos (Brazil); "On the Concept of Object in the
Tractatus," Rafael Burgos (Venezuela); "Black and Tarski and
the Philosophical Problem of Truth," Juan A. Nuno
(Venezuela) j "The Difficul ty of Choosing," Augusto Salazar
Bondy (Peru); "Wittgenstein's Investigations and the
Possibility of Philosophy," Roberto Torretti (Chile-Puerto
Rico); "The Fregean Concept of 'Bedeutung'," Ignacio
Angelelli (Argentina, USA) j "Are There Propositions?" Mario
Bunge (Argentina, Canada); "Perceptual Propositions."
Hector-Neri Castaneda (Guatemala, USA); "Notes on the
Framework of Contemporary Philosophy of Science," J. Alberto
Coffa (Argentina, USA); "Individuals as Instances," Jorge J.
E. Gracia (Cuba, Canada. USA); "A Theory of Knowledge,"
Ernesto Sosa (Cuba, USA). Also it should be noted that in a
couple of cases the articles from particular authors printed
in the Spanish and English edition are not the same. The
English edition contains a single jointly authored article
by Carlos E. Alchourr6n and Eugenio Bulygin instead of the
two found in the Spanish version: "Is There a Real
Disagreement Between Strawson and Russell with Respect to
