1st Edition
Colonial Scholasticism Interpreting Nature, Society, and Philosophy in Spanish America
List of Figures
List of Contributors
Introduction
1. Shaping Philosophy in 16th Century New Spain: Sea Explorations, Educational Institutions, and the Case of Alonso de la Veracruz
Virginia Aspe Armella
2. Alonso de la Veracruz’s Take on the Conceivability of Prime Matter
Nicola Polloni
3. The Jesuit José de Acosta’s Epistemological Revision of Scholasticism
Francisco Castilla Urbano
4. Reconstructing Library Collections: Reading Philosophy in Mexico City and Puebla in the 16th and 17th Centuries
Lydia Deni Gamboa
5. Phlegmatic, Melancholic, and Sanguine: The Indigenous of Peru in Three ‘Indian’ Texts, 16th–17th Centuries
Germán Morong Reyes
6. Masculinities in Colonial America: Medical, Legal, and Theological Knowledge and the Construction of the Indigenous Male Body During the 16th Century
Álvaro Ojalvo Pressac
7. Dictates on Justice and Law: Classrooms and Manuscripts of the New Kingdom of Granada
Carlos Arturo Arias Sanabria
8. Academic Freedom and Tradition in Philosophy: Miguel de Viñas S.I. Philosopher in Chile in the 18th Century
Roberto Marconi
9. Heavenly Bodies and American Enlightenment: The Case of Manuel Antonio Talavera
Abel Aravena Zamora and Francisco Cordero Morales
Index
Biography
Abel Aravena Zamora is a Senior Researcher and Professor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, Chile. His research explores philosophical activity in colonial Latin America, particularly in Chile, through the study of manuscript records from educational institutions of the time. He has published articles and books on the teachings of various philosophy masters active in Chile from the 17th to the 19th century. Abel is currently the Principal Investigator of a four‑year research project funded by the Chilean agency Fondecyt‑ANID (2025–2028).
Nicola Polloni is an Associate Professor of Medieval Philosophy at the University of Messina, Italy. His research focuses on natural philosophy, hylomorphism, and, in particular, premodern theories of matter and prime matter, combining historical, systematic, and comparative perspectives. His publications include The Twelfth‑Century Renewal of Latin Metaphysics: Gundissalinus’s Ontology of Matter and Form (2020) and Hylomorphism into Pieces: Elements, Atoms, and Corpuscles in Natural Philosophy and Medicine, 1400–1600 (co‑edited, 2024).
