Jump to content

Francisco Romero (philosopher)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Francisco Romero (1891–1962) was a Latin American philosopher who spearheaded a reaction against positivism.

Biography

[edit]

Romero was born in Seville, Spain, but spent much of his adult life in Latin America, especially Argentina, where he emigrated in 1904.[1][2] He entered the Argentine army in 1910 and retired with the rank of major in 1931.[2] He became a friend of the Argentine philosopher Alejandro Korn, and when he left military service he took over Korn's professorships at the universities of La Plata and Buenos Aires.[2] Due to his strong disapproval of the Peronist government, he resigned his university positions in 1946, not returning until 1955.[2]

Romero began to publish on literary subjects during the First World War.[2] Known as the "dean of Ibero-American philosophers,"[2] he became an influential critic, philosopher, and translator. Romero is interested in examining the space of human culture, especially with respect to creativity and social responsibility.[2] A strongly anti-ideological humanist, he argues against Humean rationalism and all deterministic conceptions of the universe.[2] True being is identified by Romero with transcendence, spiritual and moral aspiration, and intentionality.[2] His writing is marked by a balance between philosophical rigor and literary sophistication,[1] and Theory of Man (1952; English translation in 1964) is considered his master work.[2]

Romero was also editor in charge of philosophical publications at the Losada publishing house.[2]

He died in Buenos Aires in 1962.

Selected works

[edit]
  • Old and New Concepts of Reality (1932)
  • The Problems of Philosophy of Culture (1938)
  • Program of a Philosophy (1940)
  • Man and Culture (1950, translation of El hombre y la cultura)
  • Theory of Man (1964; translation of Teoría del hombre, 1952)
  • Historia de la filosofía moderna (1959)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Romero, Francisco". The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Columbia University Press, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kilgore, William J. "An Introduction to the Philosophy of Francisco Romero". In Francisco Romero, Theory of Man, 1964, pp. xi–xxx.

Further reading

[edit]