MEXICO: PHILOSOPHY NOW!

I am in Mazatlán now. I came here for the National Congress of Philosophy. This Congress is the most important event for the Mexican philosophical community, largely because not only it congregates literally hundreds of its members but also counts with the participation of distinguished scholars of different disciplines from all over the country and overseas. In this edition, Jürgen Habermas is without any doubt the most noted guest.

As usual, as it has been the case whenever I have got the opportunity to meet any of the big guys, my encounter with Habermas was a complete disaster but so irrelevant at the same time that I would rather not talk about it. What it did turn out to be completely anecdotal was the fact that his remarks at the inauguration of the event were totally unintelligible: he, the theorist of communicative action. Somebody said that this is what happens when you don´t know German. The thing is his speech was in English!

Anyway, to be honest I am really happy. I am just looking forward to finding out what the current status of philosophy in this country is: would it live in the Temple of Artemis yet or it has already been brought down to the earth, like the real founder of the western philosophy Socrates once did, according to Cicero.