Carlos Vaz Ferreira
Encyclopedia
Carlos Vaz Ferreira was an Uruguay
an philosopher, writer, and academic. Influenced by John Stuart Mill
and Herbert Spencer
, he is notable for introducing liberal, pluralistic political values and pragmatic philosophical concepts to South American society.
. His younger sister was the poet María Eugenia Vaz Ferreira
. His first published work, in 1897, was "Curso expositivo de Psicología elemental" ("Lecture Course on Elemental Psychology"). The same year, he began lecturing in philosophy at the University of the Republic
. His second work, published in 1898, was a book on formal logic
.
In 1903 he was licensed as an attorney.
In 1905 Vaz published "Ideas y Observaciones" ("Ideas and Observations"), a collection of both new and previously published works. The collection's length led the author to publish it in two separate volumes.
Vaz's most important works were published between 1905 and 1910. In 1907 he published "Problemas de la Libertad" ("Problems of Liberty"), in 1908 "Conocimiento y Acción" ("Knowledge and Action") and "Moral para Intelectuales" ("Morals for Intellectuals"), in 1909 "El Pragmatismo" ("Pragmatism"), and in 1910 "Lógica Viva" ("Living Logic").
In 1913 Vaz was named maestro de conferencias (a position somewhat analogous to associate professor) at the University of the Republic.
In 1918 he published "Lecciones sobre pedagogía" ("Readings on Pedagogy") and "Sobre la propiedad de la tierra" ("On the Ownership of land"), and in 1922 "Sobre los problemas sociales" ("On Social Problems"). "Sobre el feminismo" ("On Feminism"), one of the earliest treatments of feminism
in Latin American academia, appeared in 1933. "Fermentario" ("Fermentative") appeared in 1938. In 1940 he edited "La actual crisis del mundo" ("The Current World Crisis").
Vaz served as vice-chancellor of the University of the Republic between 1928 and 1931 and between 1935 and 1941. In 1931 he was forced to leave the position due to health problems, but was unanimously reelected in 1935. During this period, he was well-known for his outspoken defense of academic autonomy against the dictatorship of Gabriel Terra
.
One of Vaz's long-standing academic goals was achieved in 1945 with the foundation of the Faculty of Humanities and Sciences. He served as its dean until 1958.
, which was dominant in Uruguay as well as in Europe
during the Fin de siècle
period. He was particularly influenced by the philosophy of Herbert Spencer
and John Stuart Mill
.
Vaz transcended these early influences, integrating them with the work of other authors he encountered throughout his life, notably William James
and especially Henri Bergson
. Locally, he was to some extent influenced by José Enrique Rodó
, although their philosophies are quite divergent.
serves to organize and make it manageable, while language
allows it to be shared. From these elements we construct theories and systems, construct arguments and discourses, etc. Such tools allow us to interact with reality on a practical level, even if they deform and obscure it to a certain extent.
The disparity between reality — in all its completeness and vastness — and the intellectual tools used to simplify and reduce it into manageable terms led Vaz to identify an incompatibility between language and thought when expressing reality. He thus became convinced that "systems" are insufficient to comprehend the world around us.
Systematization, according to Vaz, is a natural and often fruitful tendency of the human spirit. Nevertheless, it often produces dogma
s that conflict with reality.
Vaz backed up these assertions with concrete examples, using these to reinforce the validity of classifications which, as abstract concepts, can only vainly resolve vague situations. In spite of this, Vaz insisted such classifications could be useful, in the sense of pragmatic rather than abstract utility.
Vaz conceived of language itself as a system of classification in which to speak of something is merely to establish its place in a simplified scheme, and therefore to detach it from the complexity of reality. This detachment allows a distinction to be made between reality and its expression, avoiding transcendentalization, shifting the burden of ontological
concerns to the linguistic level, where they need not be contemplated.
For Vaz, the difference between scientific inquiry and the world is revealed by the attribution to the former of an instrumental character, a distinction that runs against the positivism of the philosopher's formative years.
Whereas science is instrumental and limited, philosophy is a form of inclusive knowledge that recognizes the shortcomings of systematic thought; philosophy is that which establishes the limitations as well as the boldness of the sciences, and it is the role of philosophy to integrate all human knowledge.
The philosophical understanding of science corresponds not to a formal scheme but to a gradual process, in which the objects of scientific inquiry are assessed independently and inclusively. Philosophy thus parallels science in order to comprehend it. Vaz used the sea as a metaphor for understanding and abstraction: as depth increases, there is less clarity. This deepening leads to a loss of precision, according to which science, although a form of knowledge that is distributed and shared, establishes itself as an imperious necessity, the same as philosophy. In this respect, philosophy and science exist in a fraternal relationship, not as discontinuous disciplines, but as components of the same phenomenon.
Vaz recognized both good and bad forms of positivism, and saw similar dualities within skepticism and pragmatism. While bad positivism imposes scientific limitations on human understanding, good positivism encourages a love of science, which imparts numerous benefits, including to philosophy. Whereas bad skepticism presumes the impossibility of understanding, good skepticism encourages a healthy distrust of language and systematization. While bad pragmatism subjugates belief entirely to one's own will, good pragmatism regulates belief by acknowledging one's ignorance.
In Living Logic, one can detect the logicism of Stuart Mill on the one hand and the psychologicism of Bergson and William James on the other. The latter was a major feature of the spiritualist
and idealist
intellectual climate that predominated in Uruguay during the 1900s.
This exhibition of errors, fallacies, and paralogisms forms the basis of a new mode of thought, more comprehensive than the traditional variety, based on the living, concrete phenomena on which schemes are formulated.
Hence, Living Logic comprises an Ethic of Understanding, with implications relating to metaphysics
, the philosophy of religion
, and morality
.
This morality, which emphasizes nothing as much as experience, attributes to metaphysics the role not of theories and definitions, but suggestions and a vision of immense possibilities.
Ideals, for Vaz, interfere with practicality, since they admit choices which many times require needless sacrifices, both for oneself and for others. Conflict leads to conflict, and this culture of struggle gives rise to a conflictual morality that permeates and plagues the history of mankind.
, like many cultured Uruguayans of the period. Although he often criticized Catholic
and Protestant religious institutions, he was not particularly critical of religious sentiment in itself, which he considered an open and expectant spiritual attitude in the face of the transcendent unknown. Vaz understood religiosity as a field of metaphysical questions and doubts which, through sincerity and open-mindedness, can be met as they truly are.
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
an philosopher, writer, and academic. Influenced by John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
and Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era....
, he is notable for introducing liberal, pluralistic political values and pragmatic philosophical concepts to South American society.
Life
Vaz was born in MontevideoMontevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
. His younger sister was the poet María Eugenia Vaz Ferreira
María Eugenia Vaz Ferreira
Maria Eugenia Vaz Ferreira was an Uruguayan teacher and poet. She was the younger sister of philosopher Carlos Vaz Ferreira and a contemporary of Delmira Agustini and Julio Herrera y Reissig. She was born and lived in Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.She held a Chair in Literature at the...
. His first published work, in 1897, was "Curso expositivo de Psicología elemental" ("Lecture Course on Elemental Psychology"). The same year, he began lecturing in philosophy at the University of the Republic
University of the Republic, Uruguay
The University of the Republic is Uruguay's public university. It is the most important and country's largest university, with a student body of more than 80,000 students. It was founded on July 18, 1849 in Montevideo, where most of its buildings and facilities are still located. Its current...
. His second work, published in 1898, was a book on formal logic
Formal logic
Classical or traditional system of determining the validity or invalidity of a conclusion deduced from two or more statements...
.
In 1903 he was licensed as an attorney.
In 1905 Vaz published "Ideas y Observaciones" ("Ideas and Observations"), a collection of both new and previously published works. The collection's length led the author to publish it in two separate volumes.
Vaz's most important works were published between 1905 and 1910. In 1907 he published "Problemas de la Libertad" ("Problems of Liberty"), in 1908 "Conocimiento y Acción" ("Knowledge and Action") and "Moral para Intelectuales" ("Morals for Intellectuals"), in 1909 "El Pragmatismo" ("Pragmatism"), and in 1910 "Lógica Viva" ("Living Logic").
In 1913 Vaz was named maestro de conferencias (a position somewhat analogous to associate professor) at the University of the Republic.
In 1918 he published "Lecciones sobre pedagogía" ("Readings on Pedagogy") and "Sobre la propiedad de la tierra" ("On the Ownership of land"), and in 1922 "Sobre los problemas sociales" ("On Social Problems"). "Sobre el feminismo" ("On Feminism"), one of the earliest treatments of feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
in Latin American academia, appeared in 1933. "Fermentario" ("Fermentative") appeared in 1938. In 1940 he edited "La actual crisis del mundo" ("The Current World Crisis").
Vaz served as vice-chancellor of the University of the Republic between 1928 and 1931 and between 1935 and 1941. In 1931 he was forced to leave the position due to health problems, but was unanimously reelected in 1935. During this period, he was well-known for his outspoken defense of academic autonomy against the dictatorship of Gabriel Terra
Gabriel Terra
Dr. Gabriel Terra Leivas was the President of Uruguay from 1931 to 1938.- Background :Born in Montevideo to a wealthy family, he graduated from the University of Uruguay in 1895, and subsequently joined the faculty....
.
One of Vaz's long-standing academic goals was achieved in 1945 with the foundation of the Faculty of Humanities and Sciences. He served as its dean until 1958.
Influences
Vaz's philosophical views were formed under the influence of positivismPositivism
Positivism is a a view of scientific methods and a philosophical approach, theory, or system based on the view that, in the social as well as natural sciences, sensory experiences and their logical and mathematical treatment are together the exclusive source of all worthwhile information....
, which was dominant in Uruguay as well as in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
during the Fin de siècle
Fin de siècle
Fin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...
period. He was particularly influenced by the philosophy of Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era....
and John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill
John Stuart Mill was a British philosopher, economist and civil servant. An influential contributor to social theory, political theory, and political economy, his conception of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to unlimited state control. He was a proponent of...
.
Vaz transcended these early influences, integrating them with the work of other authors he encountered throughout his life, notably William James
William James
William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism...
and especially Henri Bergson
Henri Bergson
Henri-Louis Bergson was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century. Bergson convinced many thinkers that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality.He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize...
. Locally, he was to some extent influenced by José Enrique Rodó
José Enrique Rodo
José Enrique Rodó Piñeyro was a Uruguayan essayist. He called for the youth of Latin America to reject materialism, to revert back to Greco-Roman habits of free thought and self enrichment, and to develop and concentrate on their culture.He cultivated an epistolary relationship with important...
, although their philosophies are quite divergent.
Reality, science, and philosophy
Vaz understood reality as something beyond us, but which we may contact in diverse ways. LogicLogic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
serves to organize and make it manageable, while language
Language
Language may refer either to the specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication, or to a specific instance of such a system of complex communication...
allows it to be shared. From these elements we construct theories and systems, construct arguments and discourses, etc. Such tools allow us to interact with reality on a practical level, even if they deform and obscure it to a certain extent.
The disparity between reality — in all its completeness and vastness — and the intellectual tools used to simplify and reduce it into manageable terms led Vaz to identify an incompatibility between language and thought when expressing reality. He thus became convinced that "systems" are insufficient to comprehend the world around us.
Systematization, according to Vaz, is a natural and often fruitful tendency of the human spirit. Nevertheless, it often produces dogma
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
s that conflict with reality.
Vaz backed up these assertions with concrete examples, using these to reinforce the validity of classifications which, as abstract concepts, can only vainly resolve vague situations. In spite of this, Vaz insisted such classifications could be useful, in the sense of pragmatic rather than abstract utility.
Vaz conceived of language itself as a system of classification in which to speak of something is merely to establish its place in a simplified scheme, and therefore to detach it from the complexity of reality. This detachment allows a distinction to be made between reality and its expression, avoiding transcendentalization, shifting the burden of ontological
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of the nature of being, existence or reality as such, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations...
concerns to the linguistic level, where they need not be contemplated.
For Vaz, the difference between scientific inquiry and the world is revealed by the attribution to the former of an instrumental character, a distinction that runs against the positivism of the philosopher's formative years.
Whereas science is instrumental and limited, philosophy is a form of inclusive knowledge that recognizes the shortcomings of systematic thought; philosophy is that which establishes the limitations as well as the boldness of the sciences, and it is the role of philosophy to integrate all human knowledge.
The philosophical understanding of science corresponds not to a formal scheme but to a gradual process, in which the objects of scientific inquiry are assessed independently and inclusively. Philosophy thus parallels science in order to comprehend it. Vaz used the sea as a metaphor for understanding and abstraction: as depth increases, there is less clarity. This deepening leads to a loss of precision, according to which science, although a form of knowledge that is distributed and shared, establishes itself as an imperious necessity, the same as philosophy. In this respect, philosophy and science exist in a fraternal relationship, not as discontinuous disciplines, but as components of the same phenomenon.
Vaz recognized both good and bad forms of positivism, and saw similar dualities within skepticism and pragmatism. While bad positivism imposes scientific limitations on human understanding, good positivism encourages a love of science, which imparts numerous benefits, including to philosophy. Whereas bad skepticism presumes the impossibility of understanding, good skepticism encourages a healthy distrust of language and systematization. While bad pragmatism subjugates belief entirely to one's own will, good pragmatism regulates belief by acknowledging one's ignorance.
Living Logic or Psycho-Logic
One of Vaz's fundamental concepts is Living Logic (Lógica Viva) or Psycho-Logic (Psico-Lógica), which he began to develop after completing "The Problems of Liberty". The central idea of Living Logic is to uncover the way in which language and schematization not only depart from reality, but many times encounter problems that do not exist.In Living Logic, one can detect the logicism of Stuart Mill on the one hand and the psychologicism of Bergson and William James on the other. The latter was a major feature of the spiritualist
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
and idealist
Idealism
In philosophy, idealism is the family of views which assert that reality, or reality as we can know it, is fundamentally mental, mentally constructed, or otherwise immaterial. Epistemologically, idealism manifests as a skepticism about the possibility of knowing any mind-independent thing...
intellectual climate that predominated in Uruguay during the 1900s.
This exhibition of errors, fallacies, and paralogisms forms the basis of a new mode of thought, more comprehensive than the traditional variety, based on the living, concrete phenomena on which schemes are formulated.
Hence, Living Logic comprises an Ethic of Understanding, with implications relating to metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
, the philosophy of religion
Philosophy of religion
Philosophy of religion is a branch of philosophy concerned with questions regarding religion, including the nature and existence of God, the examination of religious experience, analysis of religious language and texts, and the relationship of religion and science...
, and morality
Morality
Morality is the differentiation among intentions, decisions, and actions between those that are good and bad . A moral code is a system of morality and a moral is any one practice or teaching within a moral code...
.
Morality
Vaz conceived of morality as an intent to delineate reality according to the categories imposed by schemes and language, combined with the rejection of systematic and dogmatic solutions. On the contrary, he advocated a morality that acknowledged the unique problems of each person and place, and sought to solve them accordingly.This morality, which emphasizes nothing as much as experience, attributes to metaphysics the role not of theories and definitions, but suggestions and a vision of immense possibilities.
Ideals, for Vaz, interfere with practicality, since they admit choices which many times require needless sacrifices, both for oneself and for others. Conflict leads to conflict, and this culture of struggle gives rise to a conflictual morality that permeates and plagues the history of mankind.
Religion
Carlos Vaz Ferreira was a freethinking agnosticAgnosticism
Agnosticism is the view that the truth value of certain claims—especially claims about the existence or non-existence of any deity, but also other religious and metaphysical claims—is unknown or unknowable....
, like many cultured Uruguayans of the period. Although he often criticized Catholic
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
and Protestant religious institutions, he was not particularly critical of religious sentiment in itself, which he considered an open and expectant spiritual attitude in the face of the transcendent unknown. Vaz understood religiosity as a field of metaphysical questions and doubts which, through sincerity and open-mindedness, can be met as they truly are.
Books
- Curso expositivo de Psicología elemental (1987)
- Ideas y Observaciones (1905)
- Los problemas de la libertad (1907)
- Conocimiento y acción (1908)
- Moral para los intelectuales (1908)
- El Pragmatismo (1909)
- Lógica viva (1910)
- Lecciones de pedagogía y cuestiones de enseñanza (1918)
- Sobre la propiedad de la tierra (1918)
- Sobre los problemas sociales (1922)
- Sobre feminismo (1933)
- Fermentario (1938)
- La actual crisis del mundo (1940)
Essays
- Ideas sobre la estética evolucionista (1896)
- Psicología (1897)
- Sobre la percepción métrica (1920)
- Estudios pedagógicos (1921)
- Trascendentalizaciones matemáticas ilegítimas y falacias correlacionadas (1963)
- Sobre enseñanza de la filosofía (1963)
- Enseñanza de las ciencias experimentales (1963)
- Tres filósofos de la vida (1965)
External links
- Brief biography
- The search for truth: the philosophy and science of Carlos Vaz Ferreira
- Introduction to Vaz Ferreira
- The Absent Aesthetic
- Carlos Vaz Ferreira
- Biography of Carlos Vaz Ferreira
Sources
- Ardao, Arturo. Introducción a Vaz Ferreira Montevideo, Barreiro y Ramos, (1961)
- Ardao, Arturo, Ciencia y metafísica en Vaz Ferreira, Revista de la Universidad de México, XXVII/4 (1972)
- Romero Baró, J. M. Filosofía y ciencia en Carlos Vaz Ferreira Barcelona: PPU, 1993.