Teaching Latin-American Philosophy

THERE ARE SEVERAL motives for giving a course in Latin-American philosophy. Of these, the most immediately practical in intent, and the one which directly led to the formation of the course at the University of Missouri, was a desire to furnish a relevant course in philosophy for the use of students in Spanish, history and the Latin-American studies area. This factor has turned out to be of secondary importance at Missouri, since only a small part of the students who take the course are from the fields named. The value of this motive will necessarily vary from campus to campus, and it may well be of considerable magnitude in many situations.