Vicente Medina

Few philosophers and scholars in the Anglophone world have heard of or have known about the Cuban presbyter/philosopher Félix Varela y Morales. Varela. Here in the US, political exiles (like Varela) found a social milieu during the first half of the 19th century where they could freely express their iconoclastic political ideas, including criticizing and advocating against tyrannical regimes in the Americas without jeopardizing their lives or their freedom. Varela was not only a priest/philosopher who acted as vicar general for the archdiocese of New York but was also a public intellectual who championed the independence of Latin American nations from Spain. He also argued against the vicious practice of slavery and was a fervent supporter of religious toleration. In addition, he advocated educating women in the natural sciences at a time when such advocacy was considered revolutionary.