Latinos in America: Philosophy and Social Identity

What is it to be Latino? What is the place of Latinos in America? And how do Latinos think about themselves and their identity? This is the first book to ask and answer these questions in a philosophical context. It rejects answers based on stereotypes that feed the fear generated in both the Latino and non–Latino population by the enormous growth of Latino numbers in the United States. And it proposes a new way of thinking about Latinos based on a familial–historical view that allows for negotiation, accommodation, and change.

The task is accomplished in three parts. The first goes to the source of misunderstandings concerning Latino identity, the problem of Latino identification, and the significance of the two general labels used to refer to Latinos, Latinos and Hispanics . The second part explores the problems encountered by Latinos in American society, paying particular attention to the marketplace, affirmative action, and language rights. The third part looks into who Latinos think they are by proposing an original conception of Latino philosophy with roots in Latin America, and by discussing the place it occupies in American and world philosophy.

Preface: The Latino Challenge.

I. Latino/a Identities.

1. Identities: General and Particular.

2. Individuation: Circularity and Demarcation.

3. Labels: Politics and Names.

II. Latinos/as in Society.

4. Marketplace: Survival and Flourishing.

5. Affirmative Action: Meaning and Justification.

6. Linguistic Rights: Language and Children.

III. Latino/a Philosophy.

7. Philosophy: Latino vs American.

8. Canon: Place and Future.

9. History: Role and Approach.

Conclusion: Latinos in America.

Bibliography.

Index

Jorge J. E. Gracia holds the Samuel P. Capen Chair in Philosophy and is SUNY Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Among his recent publications are: Surviving Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality: A Challenge for the Twenty–First Century (ed., 2005), The Classics of Western Philosophy (ed., Blackwell 2003), A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages (Blackwell 2003), and Hispanic/Latino Identity: A Philosophical Perspective (Blackwell 2000).