La Recepción De Bentham En La Nueva Granada (The Acceptance of Bentham in the New Kingdom of Granada)

Revista Tiempo & Economia, No. 1, Second Semester, 2014

21 Pages Posted: 20 Mar 2015

Date Written: December 30, 2014

Abstract

Spanish Abstract: Tomando como punto de referencia central la disputa entre los diarios El Constitucional de Popayán y El Constitucional de Cundinamarca (1835-1836), el presente artículo intenta comprender las dificultades de la recepción neogranadina de las doctrinas utilitaristas de Jeremías Bentham. La principal de ellas residiría en la inconmensurabilidad entre los presupuestos lógicos sustancialistas subyacentes en los receptores — no importa si partidarios o impugnadores del utilitarismo, — y la lógica funcionalista que presuponen los planteamientos de Bentham.

Los conceptos de substancia y de función se explican recurriendo a un reconocido trabajo de Ernst Cassirer. En su conjunto, las élites criollas, forzadas heterónomamente a la Independencia, estarían básicamente satisfechas con la lógica sustancialista. Solo en virtud de las exigencias derivadas del intercambio con unos interlocutores europeos nuevos, parte de ellas se habría interesado en aprender los códigos utilitaristas, no obstante sin ahondar hasta sus supuestos lógicos funcionalistas.

English Abstract: Taking as a point of reference the dispute between the newspapers El Constitucional de Popayán and El Constitucional de Cundinamarca (1835-1836), this article seeks to understand the difficulties found in the reception of Bentham’s utilitarian doctrines in Nueva Granada. The main obstacle lies in the incommensurability between presuppositions of a substantialist logical nature held by the receptors — no matter whether followers or detractors of utilitarianism, — and the logical functionalism underlying Bentham’s claims.

The concepts of substance and function are explained by appealing to a well-known work by Ernst Cassirer. In general, it can be said that the “criollo” elites, forced from without to achieve their independence, were rather satisfied with their underlying substantialist logic. It was only due to exigencies derived from their exchange with new European interlocutors, that part of these elites eventually became interested in learning the utilitarian codes, not yet delving into their functionalist logical underpinnings.

Note: Downloadable document is in Spanish.

Keywords: Bentham, New Granada, substance, function, utilitarianism

JEL Classification: B12, I31, R13

Suggested Citation

Parra, Lisímaco, La Recepción De Bentham En La Nueva Granada (The Acceptance of Bentham in the New Kingdom of Granada) (December 30, 2014). Revista Tiempo & Economia, No. 1, Second Semester, 2014 , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2580221

Lisímaco Parra (Contact Author)

National University of Colombia ( email )

Carrera 30 45-03
Bogota, None
Colombia
(571)3165000 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.unal.edu.co

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