PIAGET, BUNGE, AND THE FUTURE OF GENERAL PHILOSOPHY IN LATIN AMERICA

Abstract

The current state of Philosophy and the Humanities is widely acknowledged to be endangered. This historical essay addresses epistemological reasons and ins-titutional causes of this malaise in light of Piaget’s and Bunge’s scientistic critique of humanistic approaches. As my discussion is sensitive to concrete social reali-ties (or territorialized), I limit myself to the Latin American context, which was highly influenced by Catholicism, Positivism and Marxism. Although Piaget and Bunge are justified in claiming that Philosophy disassociated from Science is too speculative, Bunge’s proposal of reconstructing it as a holistic system is unviable because it goes way beyond a normal research program, as if it were a supersci-ence. However, a closer examination of Piaget’s and Bunge’s practice suggests a second, more modest possibility: Analytical Philosophy can focus on methodo-logical, conceptual and ethical problems within specific scientific disciplines. This prevents the outright extinction of Philosophy, which could in itself be con-ceptually incoherent besides being unwise, and instead proposes its subordina-tion, articulation, fragmentation and diaspora among the Sciences. A third option would be historical-theoretical reconstruction, which Piaget also accepted as an honorable exit. In addition, curricular and institutional changes would be needed in undergraduate education for Philosophy students to acquire at least basic scientific training that would break what Piaget described as the spell of holistic reflection (holology).