On the threshold of Leopoldo Zea. Alberto Zum Felde: ontological drama of consciousness and willingness to be in the uncertainty of the American entity

Abstract

The author proposes an interpretation of the work of the philosopher Leopoldo Zea which suggests that certain affinity can be traced between some theses developed by the Mexican master and those postulated by the Uruguayan intellectual Alberto Zum Felde, especially in his work called The Problem of the American Culture (El problema de la cultura americana) published in 1943. The author offers an intellectual biography of Zum Felde and an analysis of the most important aspects of the above mentioned book. The article is concluded with a reflection of the comment made by Zea in the journal Cuadernos Americanos in which the author notes that since then the problem of what is America turns into one of the principal themes that marked the work of Zea.