The image of the Indian and the conqueror in the Nueva Granada: The case of Bernardo de Vargas Machuca. [Spanish]

Authors

  • Felipe Castañeda Universidad de los Andes.

Keywords:

Philosophy of Colony, Philosophy of Conquest, slavery by nature, Barbarian, Vargas Machuca, Sepúlveda, Indian, indiano,

Abstract

In its Apologías y discursos de las conquistas occidentales Bernardo de Vargas Machuca pretends to justify the Spanish dominion on America taking support on Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda. In its account it is possible to note a change in the notion of a Barbarian, which can be interpreted as an extension of the concept of “slavery by nature”. From this point of view the Indian is conceived as someone who is submitted but who nevertheless tries to resist to an unwilled and imposed domination. Thus Vargas Machuca claims on this matter can be understood as a contribution to the philosophical understanding of the conception, during the Colonial time, of the Indian as well as of the indiano.

Author Biography

Felipe Castañeda, Universidad de los Andes.

Departamento de Filosofía.

Issue

Section

Articles