Manfredo de Oliveira's emancipatory philosophy in Latin America: a radical critique of domination

Abstract

This essay focuses on the philosophy of Manfredo de Oliveira (1941), seeking to identify the elements that singularize him as a Latin American thinker. The objective of this analysis is to investigate the influence of the political, cultural, and geographical context of the Global South on the shaping of his philosophical thought, exploring how his trajectory and experiences intertwine with the questions that permeate his work. Our hypothesis is that the experience of a Brazilian intellectual, with a formation that moves between the local and the global, and immersed in a reality marked by social inequalities, imprints upon his philosophy a critical perspective that seeks emancipation from the logic of domination. The justification for this investigation lies in the necessity of recognizing and valuing the original contributions of thinkers from the Global South to the field of philosophy. To this end, this essay will develop the relationship between Manfredo de Oliveira's place of origin and the genesis of his philosophical endeavor, tracing the influences of his formative trajectory and the Brazilian cultural context on his ideas. Following that, it presents the exposition of some central philosophical problems addressed by him, with the aim of identifying the marks of his Latin American perspective. Finally, it is hoped to present the originality of his thought and its relevance to philosophy in a broad sense.