Intercultural otherness philosophy in Latin America

Abstract

Intercultural philosophy in Latin America takes it that the only way to achieve the liberation from the rationality and thinking of the hegemonic colonial culture, present in their countries from the “discovery” of America until now, would be through the recognition of the other in its identity and origin. This philosophy of ‘decolonization’ stresses that it is there where intersubjectivity comes ontologically into being where the authentic origins of their cultures in their ancestral practices emerge. Therefore, the emergence of the other is the dialectical result of a fenomenological consciousness that becomes aware of the existence of being as otherness; that is, a being that is there for another. This liberty makes possible an encounter without the kind of alienations that take place when a culture boasts of its superiority upon another. The intercultural discourse of Latin-American philosophy emphasizes the evolvement of being with others in favor of liberation for all.