Vicente Medina

In this article, I contend that the three Cuban philosophers/pedagogues of the nineteenth century – Félix Varela y Morales, José de la Luz y Caballero, and Enrique José Varona were responsible for overcoming the teaching of late scholastic at the Royal and Pontifical University of St. Jerome of Havana. Against late scholastic philosophers and pedagogues who preferred syllogistic logic and the authority of tradition over induction, they argued in favor of the latter over the first. Since they defended liberal and republican ideas, they also argued against those who appeal to the authority of tradition rather than to our ordinary experiences. Of course, their liberal spirit challenged not only the tyrannical regime imposed by Spain at the time but any other regime whose authority depends on force rather than on the will of the people.

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.