PHILOSOPHY AND CIRCUMSTANCES

One of the most respected philosophers of our time, Adolfo Sanchez Vázquez demonstrates the vital importance of philosophy in *PHILOSOPHY AND CIRCUMSTANCES*. *PHILOSOPHY AND CIRCUMSTANCES* is a collection of texts published in newspapers and books, now out of print, written in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. A wide variety of themes and approaches are brought together in the work, such as human history through the eyes of philosophy, Spanish-speaking philosophers, and the practice of philosophy in today's world. The book is divided into five parts: *On Philosophy*, composed of texts whose main concern is philosophy and its intricacies, how to do and use philosophy, and its relationship to ideology, society, and history; *Philosophy and Praxis*, in which the author explains his philosophical position, analyzes the concept of philosophical revolution, and the changes that have occurred in the world of philosophy since Kant's thought; Some themes address topics related to purpose and causality, structure in real history, and identity as myth and reality; the fourth part, "Of the Philosophy of Our Time," discusses some issues in philosophical practice, such as the modernity/postmodernity debate and current threats to reason; finally, in "Of Nearby Philosophers," the author offers brief biographies of eight Spanish philosophers: Joaquín Xirau, Manuel Sacristán, Carlos Pereyra, Leopoldo Zea, Eli de Gortari, Eduardo Nicol, Juliana González, and Alejandro Rossi. Throughout the book, the philosopher is clearly concerned with making philosophy not so much a rigorous form of knowledge as a vital one. As the epilogue to "PHILOSOPHY AND CIRCUMSTANCES," Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez presents a text designed precisely to reveal how philosophizing intertwines with life itself, placing it at the service of a project to transform a world that, because it is unjust, should not be accepted. PHILOSOPHY AND CIRCUMSTANCES is a compendium for those who wish to learn more about the issues raised by contemporary philosophy, how it affects individual lives, and how it can be used to serve a project of global transformation. Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez, born in Cádiz, Spain, in 1915, studied philosophy and literature at the Central University of Madrid. After the civil war ended in 1938, he went into exile in Mexico, where he continued his studies and received his doctorate in philosophy in 1966. He is a professor of Aesthetics and Political Philosophy at the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He received Doctor Honoris Causa degrees from the Mexican universities of Puebla and Nuevo León, and the Spanish universities of Cádiz and UNED. He is the author of, among other titles, Ethics, Invitation to Aesthetics, Between Reality and Utopia, Philosophy of Praxis, The Aesthetic Ideas of Marx and Science and Revolution.