El universalismo crítico de Leopoldo Zea. Una epistemología dialéctica para la historia de las ideas y la filosofía de la historia

Abstract

Clarifying a set of epistemological and axiological stances and ideas of Zea (historicist realitivism, circumstantialism, perspectivism, pragmatism, political approach, rational autonomy of the theory, idea of concrete universality, dependency problem, dialectical assimilation), this paper elaborates the concept of critical universalism, which tie them up in an organized unit, and develops the structure and dynamism of this concept, describing its dialectic. The methodology is interpretative in the sense of a conceptual elaboration of the explicit and implicit contents in the work of this philosopher. Through the concept of critical universalism and its dialectics, the complementary relationship between the historicist and pragmatic-political criticism of the Mexican philosopher and his quest for universal knowledge and values are made visible, and a method is provided to study the life of knowledge and values in its concrete historicity and its political implications, without renouncing rational universality; method that, beyond the work of Zea, can be useful for the history of ideas and the philosophy of history in general.