Positivism in Mexico

Positivism, not just an "ivory tower" philosophy, was a major force in the social, political, and educational life of Mexico during the last half of the nineteenth century. Once colonial conservatism had been conquered, the French Intervention ended, and Maximilian of Hapsburg executed, reformers wanted to create a new national order to replace the Spanish colonial one. The victorious liberals strove to achieve "mental emancipation," a kind of second independence, which would abolish the habits and customs imposed on Mexicans by three centuries of colonialism. At this singular moment in Mexican history, positivism was offered as an extraordinary means and pathway to a new order. The next stage was the education of the Mexican people in this liberal philosophy and their incorporation into the process of development achieved by modern nations. Leopoldo Zea traces the forerunners of liberal thought and their influence during Juárez's time and shows how this ideology degenerated into an "order and progress" philosophy that served merely to maintain colonial forms of exploitation and, at the same time, to create new ones that were peculiar to the neocolonialism that the great nations of the world imposed on other peoples. Zea examines the regime of Porfirio Díaz and its justification by the positivist philosophers of the period. He concludes that the conflict between exploited social groups, on the one hand, and foreign interests and a middle class on the margin of an oligarchy, on the other, brought about the movement known as the Mexican Revolution.

Table of Contents:
Preface to the English Translation Introduction I. Philosophy and Its History 1. The Problem 2. Ideas about the History of Philosophy 3. Absolute and Circumstantial Truths 4. The Historical Method in Philosophy II. Positivism in Mexican Circumstances 5. The Mexican Interpretations of Positivism 6. The Positivist Generation 7. Mexican Positivists Defend Their Doctrine 8. The Interpretation Pursued in This Study III. The Positivism of Auguste Comte 9. Comtism as the Expression of a Social Class 10. Order and Liberty 11. The New Order According to the Philosophy of Comte 12. The Ideal of Comtian Philosophy IV. Mexican Positivism 13. Mexican Positivism as the Expression of a Social Group 14. Elements of Disorder in Mexican Society 15. The Law of the Three Phases of Mexican Positivism 16. The Plan of This Work Section One: The Birth I. The Positivist Interpretation of Mexican History 17. The Road Toward Emancipation 18. Mexico as a Link in the Mental Emancipation of Humanity 19. The Struggle between the Negative and Positive Forces in Mexico 20. Mexico, Last Bastion of the Positive Spirit or of Progress II. Historical Circumstances in Mexico, 1867 21. The Triumph of the Mexican Liberal Party 22. The Basis for the Establishment of Order 23. Application of the Positivist Doctrine to the Historical Circumstances of 1867 24. The Adaptation of the Positivist Doctrine to the Religious Policy of the Juárez Government Section Two: The Origins I. The Forces of Progress and Reaction 25. The Liberal Antecedent of Mexican Positivism 26. The Forces of Reaction 27. Clerical and Military Interests 28. Civic Interests II. Mexican Liberalism's Ideals of Education and Government 29. Education as a Class Instrument 30. Relations between the State and the Citizens 31. The State as an Instrument of a Faction and as an Instrument of Society 32. The State as the Guardian of Public Order III. The Ideology of the Mexican Bourgeoisie in Its Combative Phase 33. "Liberty," a Concept in the Service of a Social Class 34. Persuasion as an Ideological Tool of the Mexican Bourgeoisie 35. Respect for Ideas 36. The Thesis concerning the Rights of Others Section Three: The Development, "Gabino Barreda" I. Gabino Barreda and the Problem of Freedom 37. Freedom as an Individual Right 38. Freedom within the Positivist Order II. Barreda's Defense of the Interests of the Mexican Bourgeoisie 39. The Defense of Catholicism against Jacobinism 40. The Defense of Private Property 41. Noninterference of the State in Private Property 42. The Justification of Barreda's Ideas within the Mexican Reality of His Time III. Gabino Barreda's Plan of Education 43. The Plan of Education Proposed by Barreda 44. Uniformity of Thought as a Basis for the Protection of the Social Order 45. Compulsory Education 46. Education as a Means to Avoid Social Anarchy 47. Jacobinism Considered by Barreda as the Chief Enemy of His Plan of Education IV. Barreda's Defense of His Plan of Education 48. Attacks on Barreda's Plan of Education 49. The New Plan of Public Education and Its Criticisms 50. The Defense of Spiritual Power against Civil Power Section Four: The Development, "The Disciples" I. The Positivists and the Construction of the New Order 51. The Foundation of the Asociación Metodófila 52. A Feeling of Crisis in Barreda's Followers 53. The Rigor of the Positivist Method and What the Followers of Barreda Expected from Such Rigor II. The Application of the Positivist Method 54. The Application of the Positivist Method to Philosophical Problems 55. The Strict Application of the Positivist Method Independent of Emotion and Sympathy III. The Theory of Some Positivists concerning the Social Order 56. The Relationship between Superiors and Inferiors 57. The Relationship between Rich and Poor 58. The Relationship between Intellectual Superiors and Intellectual Inferiors 59. The Relationship between Sociology and Biology 60. The Application of Social Science to Social Problems 61. Positivism as the Justification for a Class Ideology IV. The Creation of the Social Order 62. The Social Consequences of Barreda's Work 63. The Meaning of Order to the Generation Educated by Barreda 64. The Social Order that Resulted from the Educational Work of Barreda 65. The Order of the Mexican Bourgeoisie Section Five: The Utopia I. Freedom of Conscience and Positivism 66. The Unconstitutionality of Positivist Education 67. Defense of the Constitutionality of Positivist Education 68. Freedom of Conscience Cannot Be Opposed to Social Order 69. The Enemies of Positivist Education II. The Ideal of a New Positivist Spiritual Power 70. Society's Ideal of Accord among All Members of Society 71. Social Enforcement of the Principles of Positivism 72. The New Spiritual Power 73. Spiritual Power Cannot Be Neutral III. The Struggle for Spiritual Power 74. National Preparatory School Education Considered as Sectarian 75. The Clergy and Freedom of Conscience 76. Defense of the Social Validity of Positivism 77. The Utopia of the Mexican Positivists Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Leopoldo Zea (1912-2004) was the director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the National University of Mexico.