Subjective and objective reflection in USP philosophy in the 1960s: Notes on our little German idealism

• Grant number: 24/04811-8
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - Brazil
• Start date: April 01, 2024
• End date: November 30, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Sérgio Repa
• Grantee: Luiz Sérgio Repa
• Visiting researcher: Vinicius Berlendis de Figueiredo
• Visiting researcher institution: Setor De Ciências Humanas, Letras E Artes/Schla/Ufpr, Brazil
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project assumes that an important part of USP philosophy, at the time of its "formation" in the 1960s and 1970s, was tributary to the reception made there of classical German philosophy (from Kant to Hegel and Marx). The aim is to identify two main lines of interpretation of the Germanic speculative legacy, which characterize the alternative between subjective reflection (based on Kant and Fichte) and objectifying reflection (of Hegelian and Marxist inspiration). We also want to point out that this reception led to its protagonists (especially J. A. Giannotti and G. Lebrun) taking positions that were closely aligned with the international philosophical debate, especially the French scene, in which structuralism (Foucault) took the place of humanism (Merleau-Ponty, Sartre). Finally, the project aims to point out that training in the exegesis of classical texts, familiarizing the specialists in the USP department with concepts taken from German philosophy, allowed them to position themselves in the public debate on culture and politics. In other words, the aim is to demonstrate that the specialized knowledge that USP philosophy became during the 1960s, forming a system, made it possible for a fruitful and lasting debate to emerge, with international interlocutions and interventions on the Brazilian public scene - but with an unquestionable speculative accent. (AU)