Aristotle and New Spain

Aspe Armella, Virginia

This book is a detailed exploration of the Hispanic intellectual context and the different Aristotelian traditions that prevailed until the 16th century. Through a review and contextualisation of Aristotelian thinkers and texts, it argues that a unique Aristotelian tradition was formed in New Spain.
The characteristic differences of Novohispanic Aristotelianism are a consequence of five factors: contact with the autochthonous cultures of America, the impact of the colonial organisation, the influence of the Salamanca humanist tradition, the presence of the Italian Aristotelianism of Renaissance translators in the university curricula and in the intellectual polemics of the time, and a peculiar assimilation of primitive and Old Testament Christianity in relation to indigenous people. This book analyses the works of Alonso de la Veracruz, Bartolomé de las Casas, Bernardino de Sahagún, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora, and Francisco Xavier Clavijero, reconsidering them in light of the history of ideas in New Spain and the contributions of Byzantine translators. It also offers a reflection on the problem of addressing Mexican colonial sources.