Jorge J. E. Gracia

Few - including director Mel Gibson - were prepared for the firestorm of controversy that followed the release of the long-awaited Passion of the Christ. Reviled by many, but so popular with others that the film has become one of the top grossers of all time, The Passion has sparked intense debate everywhere from the mainstream media to churches and synagogues to the water-cooler at work. This timely collection of essays explores the film's questions in-depth and expands on its themes. Topics covered include why Christ was killed; whether moral responsibility is possible when God knows what's going to happen; the relationship between the film, anti-Semitism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the role of women in The Passion; the influence of visionary nun Catheryne Emmerich; the meaning of Judas; and much more.

Although much has been written about Cuba after Castro, relatively little has been written about Cuba before Castro. The political reality of Castro’s Revolution has created a historical void about this period, paying insufficient attention to an important century before 1959. Cuba has become a political punching bag, between supporters and critics of Castro and the Revolution, making it difficult to understand real life in Cuba because of the disproportionate preoccupation with, and monopoly of, the political reality on the island. In spite of some attempts, it continues to be easier and perceived as more pressing, to write about politics rather than the reality that Cubans experienced in their daily lives— their sufferings and celebrations, successes and failures, lives and deaths, and beliefs and disbeliefs. Going for and against the avalanche of information about the political authenticity in and out of Cuba, most Cubans have tended to forget that Cuba is much larger than the perceived reality after Castro’s Revolution. Too many have failed to remember the Cubans who have lived and worked in Cuba in the century before an important period of Cuban history where the nation was forged. Indeed, even limited attention reveals a rich and sophisticated society that calls for study. In this book Jorge J. E. Gracia approaches this situation by telling true stories about some members of his family (Doctor Ignacio Gracia, Maruca Otero, the Marques de Arguelles, and many others) who lived during a culturally rich century before Castro. He hopes to entice historians, academics, tourists and others, to pursue a balanced exploration of the island by telling part of their stories. This enterprise is neither history nor fiction, but memories written by a Cuban who left Cuba when he was eighteen years old and has become a distinguished philosopher in the United States.

The intellectual autobiography of a leading figure in the field of Latin American philosophy. In 1961, at the age of nineteen, Jorge J. E. Gracia escaped from the island of Cuba by passing himself off as a Catholic seminarian. He arrived in the United States with just a few spare belongings and his mother's diamond ring secured in a hole in one of his shoes. With a Diamond in My Shoe tells the story of Gracia's quest for identity-from his early years in Cuba and as a refugee in Miami to his formative role in institutionalizing the field of Latin American philosophy in the US academy. Committed to integrating into Anglo America without forgetting his roots, Gracia reflects on his struggles and successes as an immigrant and academic, bringing a philosopher's eye to bear on his personal and professional development as a leading Latinx scholar.

The essayist and cultural commentator Ilan Stavans and the analytic philosopher Jorge J. E. Gracia share long-standing interests in the intersection of art and ideas. Here they take thirteen pieces of Latino art, each reproduced in color, as occasions for thematic discussions. Whether the work at the center of a particular conversation is a triptych created by the brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Andres Serrano's controversial Piss Christ, a mural by the graffiti artist BEAR_TCK, or Above All Things, a photograph by MarÍa Magdalena Campos-Pons, Stavans and Gracia's exchanges inevitably open out to literature, history, ethics, politics, religion, and visual culture more broadly. Autobiographical details pepper Stavans and Gracia's conversations, as one or the other tells what he finds meaningful in a given work. Sparkling with insight, their exchanges allow the reader to eavesdrop on two celebrated intellectuals-worldly, erudite, and unafraid to disagree-as they reflect on the pleasures of seeing.

The essayist and cultural commentator Ilan Stavans and the analytic philosopher Jorge J. E. Gracia share long-standing interests in the intersection of art and ideas. Here they take thirteen pieces of Latino art, each reproduced in color, as occasions for thematic discussions. Whether the work at the center of a particular conversation is a triptych created by the brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre, Andres Serrano's controversial Piss Christ, a mural by the graffiti artist BEAR_TCK, or Above All Things, a photograph by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Stavans and Gracia's exchanges inevitably open out to literature, history, ethics, politics, religion, and visual culture more broadly. Autobiographical details pepper Stavans and Gracia's conversations, as one or the other tells what he finds meaningful in a given work. Sparkling with insight, their exchanges allow the reader to eavesdrop on two celebrated intellectuals-worldly, erudite, and unafraid to disagree-as they reflect on the pleasures of seeing.

Explores the relationship between philosophy and art through the work of Cuban American artist Carlos Estévez. Is philosophy hopelessly opposed to art? Images of Thought answers negatively, claiming that visual images can be used effectively to grasp complex thoughts, and philosophy can be deployed to deepen our understanding of art. Jorge J. E. Gracia provides philosophical interpretations of seventeen works by the Cuban American artist Carlos Estévez that engage such topics as self-knowledge, the nature of the universe, faith and reason, permanence and change, the self and the other, women and men, freedom and determinism, providence, and predestination. The study's novelty lies both in its use of the interpretation of art to understand traditional philosophical problems and the theory it proposes concerning the nature of interpretation. The clarity of the discussion and an engaging style make it accessible to a wider audience.

A first-of-its-kind book that seriously and profoundly examines what it means philosophically to be Latino and where Latinos fit in American society. Offers a fresh perspective and clearer understanding of Latin American thought and culture, rejecting answers based on stereotypes and fearTakes an interdisciplinary approach to the philosophical, social, and political elements of Hispanic/Latino identity, touching upon anthropology, history, cultural studies and sociology, as well as philosophyWritten by Jorge J. E. Gracia, one of the most influential thinkers of Hispanic/Latino descent

This volume provides a superb introduction to the philosophical, social, and political elements of Hispanic/Latino identity. It is an indispensable tool for anyone interested in issues that concern Hispanics/Latinos, social policy, and the history of thought and culture.

This volume provides a superb introduction to the philosophical, social, and political elements of Hispanic/Latino identity. It is an indispensable tool for anyone interested in issues that concern Hispanics/Latinos, social policy, and the history of thought and culture.

Provides an ontological characterization of texts, explores the issues raised by the identity of various texts, and presents a view of the function of authors and audiences, and of their relations to texts. This book completes the theory of textuality whose logical and epistemological dimensions were presented in Gracia's book, A Theory of Textuality: The Logic and Epistemology (SUNY Press). It provides an ontological characterization of texts consistent with the conception of texts defended in the earlier book; it explores the issues raised by the identity of various texts; and it presents a view of the identity and function of authors and audiences and of their relations to texts. The discussion is systematic, comprehensive, and detailed. Gracia raises all of the important issues related to texts within the areas he explores and takes into account the pertinent literature. The style is argumentative and clear, and the position Gracia defends is based on common sense. He stays clear of the extreme views some contemporary authors have taken with respect to texts and textuality. This is the only book of its kind. It is the first to develop a comprehensive theory and to adopt an integrative approach where the issues and their solutions are seen as closely connected.

The author begins by distinguishing six fundamental issues on the metaphysics of individuality. He then proceeds to examine the relation among these issues and to demonstrate that ignorance of the interrelationships has caused confusion in philosophy. In spite of the intricacy of the subject matter, the discussion is always clear, the arguments explicitly evaluated, and the solutions original. In addition, Gracia has assembled an array of historical and contemporary information, from Plato to Strawson, that is unavailable elsewhere.