Ignacio Ellacuria

Ignacio Ellacuría (Portugalete, Biscay, Spain, November 9, 1930-November 16, 1989) was a Roman catholic priest, philosopher and theologian who did important work as a teacher and rector in the Jesuit university of El Salvador (Universidad Centroamericana "Jose Simeon Cañas", UCA, founded in 1965). His work was defining for the shape UCA took in its first years of existence and the years to come. Ellacuría was also responsible for the development of formation programs for priests in the Jesuit Central American province. File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Categories: Spain geography stubs | Basque | Provinces of Spain | Bizkaia ... The Kingdom of Spain or Spain (Spanish and Galician: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne dEspanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma) is a country located in the southwest of Europe. ... November 9 is the 313th day of the year (314th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 52 days remaining. ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... November 16 is the 320th day of the year (321st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 45 days remaining. ... 1989 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. ... Theology is literally rational discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, rational discourse). By extension, it also refers to the study of other religious topics. ...

He joined the Jesuits in 1947 and was commissioned to El Salvador, Central America in 1948. He lived and worked there until his death in 1989, except occasional periods when he spent studying in Ecuador, Austria and Spain. The Society of Jesus (Latin: Societas Iesu), commonly known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic religious order. ... El Salvador (Spanish for The Savior) is a republic in Central America with a population of approximately 6. ... Central America is the region of North America located between the southern border of Mexico and the northwest border of Colombia, in South America. ... The Republic of Ecuador is a country in northwestern South America, bounded by Colombia on the north, by Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean on the west. ... The Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. ... The Kingdom of Spain or Spain (Spanish and Galician: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne dEspanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma) is a country located in the southwest of Europe. ...

Ellacuría's academic work was an important contribution to "Liberation Philosophy". This sort of philosophy stems from the work of Augusto Salazar Bondy (1925-1974) and Leopoldo Zea (1912-2004). It focuses on liberating the oppressed in order "to reach the fullness of humanity". Ellacuría was also a strong supporter of Liberation Theology. Liberation theology is an important and controversial school in the theology of the Roman Catholic Church after the Second Vatican Council. ...

The political implications of Ellacuría's commitment to his ideas met strong opposition from the conservative religious and political forces in El Salvador. This opposition led to Ellacuría’s murder by the Salvadoran army in 1989 at his residence in UCA along with five other fellow Jesuit priests and two employees. Their murder marked a turning point in the Salvadoran civil war (see History of El Salvador). On the one hand it increased international pressures on the Salvadoran government to sign peace agreements with the guerrilla organization FMLN. On the other, it helped make Ellacuría's ideas (up until then only known in Latin America and Spain) get to be known worldwide. Before the Spanish conquest, the area that is now El Salvador was made up of two large indigenous states and several principalities. ... Shafik Handal Revolution or Death, We will win! El Salvador in struggle. ... Latin America consists of the countries of South America and some of North America (including Central America and some the islands of the Caribbean) whose inhabitants mostly speak Romance languages, although Native American languages are also spoken. ... The Kingdom of Spain or Spain (Spanish and Galician: Reino de España or España; Catalan: Regne dEspanya; Basque: Espainiako Erresuma) is a country located in the southwest of Europe. ...

There are at least five different schools within Latin American liberation philosophy. Ellacuría's thought represents the fifth school. (For an account of the first four schools see Horacio Cerutti’s La Filosofia de la Liberación Latinoamericana, Mexico City: FCE, 1992).

Ellacuría's philosophy

Ellacuría's philosophy takes as a starting point Xavier Zubiri's (1898-1983) critique of Western philosophy. For Zubiri, ever since Parmenides, Western thought separated sensing from intelligence. This error led to two results. The first one was what Zubiri called “the logification of intelligence” and the second one was what he called “the entification of reality”. Xavier Zubiri Xavier Zubiri (1889–1983) was a Spanish philosopher noted for his intellectual rigor. ... Parmenides of Elea (5th century BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher born in Elea, a Greek city on the Southern coast of Italy. ...

The “logification of intelligence” implied that intellect was reduced to mean: reason that limits itself to describing how things are in a logical way. This definition excludes other not so logical sensual functions of intelligence. Although Zubiri recognized descriptive logos and reason as important components of intelligence, he pointed out that intelligence did not reduce itself to them. For Zubiri intelligence was a unity with the modalities of primordial apprehension, logos and reason. Logic (from ancient Greek λόγος (logos), meaning reason) is the study of arguments. ...

For Zubiri the logificating of intelligence led to the perception of reality as a sum of identifiable entities with an essence. This is what he called the “entification of reality”. This is a perception of reality doesn't consider process when the essence of entities does not consider change.

For Zubiri recognizing that intelligence and sensing are not separate, implies recognizing intelligence as being what he called “a sentient intelligence”. This means that the operating of the senses, logic, reason, intuition and imagination are one and the same faculty, because each of these things determine one another. This faculty differences human beings from other species and has been achieved through evolution. Having a sentient intelligence implies having a conscience and the possibility to imagine new realities. Sentient intelligence haS ability to recognize the processual and structural character of reality. Therefore human beings are able to influence it and create and transcend the historical boundaries that have been reached. Senses are the physiological methods of perception. ... Logic (from ancient Greek λόγος (logos), meaning reason) is the study of arguments. ... Alternate uses: Reason (program), Reason (magazine), Reason (Asimov) In philosophy, reason (from Latin ratio, by way of French raison) is the faculty by means of which or the process through which human beings perform thought, especially abstract thought. ... Intuition has many meanings across many cultures, including: quick and ready insight seemingly independent of previous experiences and empirical knowledge immediate apprehension or cognition knowledge or conviction gained by intuition the power or faculty of attaining to direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference. ... Imagination is, in general, the power or process of producing mental images and ideas. ... This article is about biological evolution. ...

For Zubiri there is no need for a realist/anti-realist discussion on if there is or not a reality that is external and independent to human beings, or if reality is a bulk of internal illusions to human beings. It is both, but not in the sense critical realism pretends (where human beings are seen as a reality that can be separated from an objective outer reality). For Zubiri, human beings are imbeded in reality and can't exist without it. They need air, food, water and other beings. The "outer" and objective world must also come inside human beings for them to continue existing. Sentient intelligence should be able to make sense of this existence in a way that allows human beings to realize their capabilities in the world. Realism is commonly defined as a concern for fact or reality and rejection of the impractical and visionary. ... In the philosophy of perception, Critical realism is the theory that some of our sense-data (for example, those of primary qualities) can and do accurately represent external objects, properties, and events, while other of our sense-data (for example, those of secondary qualities and perceptual illusions) do not accurately...

In this line of thinking, Ellacuría said human reality is unavoidably biological, social and historical. Biology and society are elements of history, which means that they are always in movement. But this shouldn't be confused with the historical materialism that says human beings are passive instruments of the forces of history. Human beings certainly inherit constrains constructed in the past but they always have the possibility to transcend them because of their sentient intelligence. Praxis is the name Ellacuría gives to reflected human action aimed at changing reality. Unlike other animals that can only respond mechanically to stimuli from outside, through sentient intelligence and praxis, human beings have to "realize" their existence. Individuals in dialectic interaction with society, have to make out what sort of Ego to have by using their sentient intelligence and this implies transcending inherited constrains. Biology studies the variety of life (clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology is the science of life (from the Greek words bios = life and logos = word). ... The adjective social implies that the verb or noun to which it is applied is somehow more communicative, cooperative, and moderated by contact with human beings, than if it were omitted. ... History is often used as a generic term for information about the past, such as in geologic history of the Earth. When used as the name of a field of study, history refers to the study and interpretation of the record of human societies. ... In Marxism and the study of history, historical materialism (or what Marx himself called the materialist conception of history) is a method which accounts for the developments and changes in human history according to economic, technological, and more broadly, material development. ... Broadly speaking, a dialectic (Greek: διαλεκτική) is an exchange of propositions (theses) and counter-propositions (antitheses) resulting in a disagreement. ... eGO is a company that builds electric motor scooters which are becoming popular for urban transportation and vacation use. ...

This means that progress in reality happens through a combination of physical, biological and "praxical" factors. Through praxis, human beings are able to realize a wider range of possibilities for action. In other words, praxis can lead to a fuller praxis. When this is so, praxis can be said to gradually increase liberty, if liberty is defined as greater possibilities for action. Progress can refer to: The idea of a process in which societies or individuals become better or more modern (technologically and/or socially). ...

According to Ellacuría, the existence of people that are marginalized from society implies that history and practice have not delivered a wider range of possibilities for realization for every human being in the world. This situation has prevented these excluded people to realize their existence as human beings. Therefore, it is a situation that stands away from the fullness of humanity and the fullness of reality. But this situation can be changed.

According to Ellacuría, before the advent of humanity, the unfolding of reality took place only by physical and biological forces. But in our era, forces exclusive to human beings (praxis) can also help unfold reality. Since human beings have the possibility to reflect, it is philosophy’s duty to exercise this ability to reflect in order to change reality and allow greater possibilities for individual realization.

This way of thinking finds its parallels in the 1990’s in Martha Nussbaum's definition of human development as the increase in human capabilities for action (see Martha C. Nussbaum, Women and Human Development, Cambridge University Press, 2000) and Amartya Sen's notion of development as freedom (see Amartya Sen, Development as Freedom, Oxford University Press, 1999). Martha Nussbaum Martha Nussbaum (born Martha Craven on May 6, 1947) is a leading American philosopher, with a particular interest in ancient philosophy, law and ethics. ... Amartya Sen Amartya Kumar Sen (अमर्त्‍य कुमार सेन) (born November 3, 1933) is an Indian ( Bengali) economist best known for his work on famine, human development theory, welfare economics, and the underlying mechanisms of poverty. ...

References and further reading

• Ellacuría, Ignacio, Veinte Años de Historia en El Salvador: Escritos Políticos [VA], three volumes, second edition, San Salvador: UCA Editores, 1993

• Ellacuría, Ignacio, Escritos Universitarios [EU], San Salvador: UCA Editores, 1999.

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, Filosofía de la Realidad Histórica, San Salvador: UCA Editores, 1990.

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, Escritos Filosóficos [EF], three volumes San Salvador: UCA Editores, 1996-2001.

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, Escritos Teológicos [ET], four volumes, San Salvador: UCA Editores, 2000-2002

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “Filosofía y Política” [1972], VA-1, pp. 47-62

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “Liberación: Misión y Carisma de la Iglesia” [1973], ET-2, pp. 553-584

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “Diez Años Después: ¿Es Posible una Universidad Distinta?” [1975], EU, pp. 49-92

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “Hacia una Fundamentación del Método Teológico Latinoamericana” [1975], ET-1, pp. 187-218

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “Filosofía, ¿Para Qué?” [1976], EF-3, pp. 115-132

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “Fundamentación Biológica de la Ética” [1979], EF-3, pp, 251-269

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “Universidad y Política” [1980], VA-1, pp. 17-46

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “El Objeto de la Filosofía” [1981], VA-1, pp. 63-92

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “Función Liberadora de la Filosofía” [1985], VA-1, pp. 93-122

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “La Superación del Reduccionismo Idealista en Zubiri” [1988], EF-3, pp. 403-430

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “El Desafío de las Mayorías Populares” (1989), EU, pp. 297-306 (an English translation is available in TSSP, pp. 171-176)

• Ellacuria, Ignacio, “En Torno al Concepto y a la Idea de Liberación” [1989], ET-1, pp. 629-657

• Ellacuria, ignacio, “Utopía y Profetismo en América Latina” [1989], ET-2, pp. 233-294 (an English translation is available in TSSP, pp. 44-88).

• Teresa Whitfield, Paying the Price: Ignacio Ellacuría and the Murdered Jesuits of El Salvador, (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995).

• Héctor Samour, Voluntad de Liberación: El Pensamiento Filosófico de Ignacio Ellacuría, San Salvador: UCA Editores, 2002

• Horacio Cerutti, La Filosofia de la Liberación Latinoamericana, Mexico City: FCE, 1992

• Kevin Burke, The Ground Beneath the Cross: The Theology of Ignacio Ellacuría, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2000

• John Hassett and Hugh Lacey, (eds.), Towards a Society that Serves Its People: The Intellectual Contribution of El Salvador’s Murdered Jesuits [TSSP],Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1991.

External links:

• http://www.uca.edu.sv/martires/new/
• http://www.fespinal.com/espinal/llib/en86.rtf
• http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/ellacuria.htm
• http://www.bc.edu/offices/ahana/about/history/ellacuria/
• http://ensayo.rom.uga.edu/filosofos/spain/ellacuria/
• http://www.rtfcam.org/martyrs/UCA/ellacuria.htm
• http://www.scu.edu/Jesuits/ellacuria.html