Xavier Zubiri
Xavier Zubiri (Donostia-San Sebastin, Gipuzkoa, publish a series of books and research articles.[10] Zu-
Spain, 4 December 1898 Madrid, 21 September 1983) biris work was initially not well received by established
was a Spanish philosopher. academic environments in Spain. This was mostly ex-
plained by the political context under Franco.[11] But Zu-
biris relationship to scholars like Ignacio Ellacuria made
Zubiris work widely known in Latin America, where Zu-
1 Biography biris thought has been further developed.[12]
Recently, Spanish academics have begun to recognize the
He was a member of the School of Madrid, composed importance of Zubiris life and philosophy.[13][14] For the
by philosophers Jos Ortega y Gasset, Julin Maras same reasons outlined above, Zubiris contact with the
and Pedro Lan Entralgo, among others.[1] Zubiris phi- formal academic environments of the English speaking
losophy has been categorized as a materialist open world was limited. There is all but one recorded visit by
realism,[2] which attempted to reformulate classical Zubiri to the United States, specically Princeton Uni-
metaphysics, in a language that was entirely compatible versity, on October 2, 1946. In Princeton, Zubiri lec-
with modern science.[3] This relates to Xavier Zubiris tured in French on The real and mathematics- A philo-
educational background. Zubiri rst received a philo- sophical problem (Le reel et les mathematiquesUn
sophical and theological formation in Madrid and Rome. probleme de philosophie).[15] Some of Zubiris work
Later, he deepend his studies in philosophy through his has been translated to English: On Essence (Caponi-
graduate studies in Louvain, writing his dissertation on gri, 1980),[16] Sentient Intelligence (Fowler, 1999),[17]
phenomenology.[4] In 1929, Zubiris critical interest in The Dynamic Structure of Reality (Orringer, 2003)[18]
this current of thought took him to Freiburg, when he al- and The Fundamental problems of Western Meta-
ready was a professor in Madrid. There, he studied with physics (Redondo & Fowler 2009).[19] Despite his rela-
Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. In 1930, Zubiri tive academic isolation at home in Spain, Zubiri has also
moved to Berlin, where he studied physics, philology and been recognized in other countries. In 1979, the German
biology. There, he was hosted in Harnack House, which government awarded Zubiri and Lan Entralgo the Order
enabled Zubiri to socialize with important minds of this of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Zubiri was
great period of academic activity in the Weimar republic. awarded this distinction for his work in his books Na-
For example, Albert Einstein (whom Zubiri had already ture, History, God (1954) and On Essence (1962).[20]
met in Madrid, at Universidad Central, in 1923),[5] Max Zubiris work has also been translated to French, German
Planck, Werner Jaeger, Erwin Schrdinger, among oth- and Italian.[21]
ers.
When civil war broke out in Spain in 1936, Zubiri moved
to Paris. There, he continued having an intensive in- 2 Published Books
tellectual life, attending courses with Louis de Broglie,
Frdric Joliot, Irne Curie, Elie Joseph Cartan and
This overview is taken from a more extensive list of ar-
Emile Benveniste, among others. In 1939, just before
ticles and books by and about Xavier Zubiri. This list is
France declared war to Germany, Zubiri returned to
[6][7] continuously updated by Fundacin Xavier Zubiri.[22]
Spain. Zubiris philosophy is little known outside of
Spain and Latin America, mostly because Zubiri was
compelled to resign from formal academic positions in Naturaleza, Historia, Dios (1944)
Spain, in 1942. This had to do with the lack of aca-
demic freedoms in Francisco Franco's regime.[8] How- Sobre la esencia (1 ed. 1962 en Soc.E y P; 6 edi-
ever, it was possible for Zubiri to continue his work cin ya en Alianza, 1998)
as an academic, through the sponsorship of family and
Cinco lecciones de losofa (1 ed., 1963 en Soc.E y
friends.[9] Zubiri was a prolic author in the Spanish mag-
P; 1 reimpresin en Alianza, 1997);
azines Cruz y Raya (led by Jos Bergamn) and Revista de
Occidente (led by Jos Ortega y Gasset) under the second Inteligencia sentiente. *Inteligencia y realidad
Spanish republic. However, after his resignation from (Soc.E y P, 1980; 50 ed. Alianza/F.XZ.);
Spanish universities, Zubiri did not publish much in es-
tablished peer reviewed journals. Nonetheless, he did Inteligencia y logos (Soc.E y P/Alianza, 1982)
1
2 3 REFERENCES
Inteligencia y razn (Soc.E y P/Alianza, 1983) 3 References
El hombre y Dios (1 ed. a cargo de Ignacio El-
[1] La evolucin de la escuela de Madrid (1939-1978): Zu-
lacura, 1984) biri, Maras y Lan Entralgo (PDF), Jos Luis Caas Fer-
nndez (in Spanish), 2012, retrieved 2013-10-15
Sobre el hombre (1 ed. a cargo de Ignacio Ellacura,
1986) [2] Voluntad de Liberacion (PDF), Hector Samour (in
Spanish), 2003, retrieved 2013-10-15
Estructura dinmica de la realidad (1989, ed. a
cargo de Diego Gracia) [3] La losofa natural de Zubiri (PDF), Jos Luis Gonzlez
Quirs (in Spanish), 1997, retrieved 2013-10-18
Sobre el sentimiento y la volicin (1992, ed. a cargo
de Diego Gracia) [4] Le problme de l'objectivit d'aprs Ed. Husserl, Xavier
Zubiri (in French), 19211922, retrieved 2013-10-15
El problema losco de la historia de las religiones
[5] Conologa del viaje de Einstein a Espaa (PDF), Quark,
(1993, a cargo de Antonio Gonzlez)
Ciencia, Medicina, Comunicacin y Cultura. Publicacin
Los problemas fundamentales de la Metafsica occi- del Observatorio de Comunicacin Cientca de la Uni-
dental (1994, a cargo de Antonio Pintor Ramos) versitat Pomeu Fabra (in Spanish), MayAugust 2005, re-
trieved 2013-10-18
Espacio. Tiempo. Materia (1996, Segunda edicin
[6] Xavier Zubiri: La soledad sonora (PDF), Jordi Coromi-
revisada 2008) nas and Joan Vicens (in Spanish), 2006, retrieved 2013-
10-18
El problema teologal del hombre: Cristianismo
(1997, a cargo de Antonio Gonzlez) [7] Biografa de Xavier Zubiri, Jordi Corominas and Joan
Vicens (in Spanish), 2006, retrieved 2013-10-19
El hombre y la verdad (1999, a cargo de Juan Anto-
nio Nicols) [8] Zubiri, vasco universal, Ignacio Ellacura (in Spanish),
1980-10-10, retrieved 2013-10-19
Primeros escritos (1921-1926), ed. de 2000, por An-
tonio Pintor Ramos [9] Xavier Zubiri: La soledad sonora, Jordi Corominas and
Joan Vicens (in Spanish), 2006, retrieved 2013-10-15
Sobre la realidad (2001, a cargo de Jos Antonio
Martnez) [10] Xavier Zubiri: La soledad sonora, Chapter 14, 15 and 39
on La Repblica (The Republic) (pp. 245-265), Cruz
Sobre el problema de la losofa y otros escritos y Raya (the magazine) (pp. 265 - 287) and El duro o-
(1932-1944), 1 ed. de 2002, a cargo de Germn cio de escribir (The hard task of writing) (pp. 589-606),
respectively, Jordi Corominas and Joan Vicens (in Span-
Marqunez Argote
ish), 2006, retrieved 2014-12-12
El hombre: lo real y lo irreal (1 ed. 2005, a cargo
[11] Zubiri tras el problema de toma de posicin tras el
de Jess Conill) comienzo de la guerra civil, Javier Borrego Gutierrez (in
Spanish), 2003, archived from the original on October 22,
Tres dimensiones del ser humano: individual, social,
2013, retrieved 2013-10-18
histrica (1 ed. 2006, a cargo de Jordi Corominas)
[12] Actualidad de Zubiri en Amrica Latina, Germn Mar-
Escritos menores (1953-1983) (1 ed. de 2007, a qunez Argote (in Spanish), 2006, retrieved 2013-10-18
cargo de Germn Marqunez Argote)
[13] Amigos y discpulos de Zubiri reivindican su gigantesca
Cursos universitarios I (1 ed. 2007, a cargo de talla intelectual en su centenario, El Pas (in Spanish),
Manuel Mazn) 1998-12-02, retrieved 2013-10-18
Cinco lecciones de losofa. Con un nuevo curso [14] Zubiri, hombre, lsofo y fenomenlogo (PDF), Javier
indito (2009, a cargo de Antonio Pintor Ramos) San Martin (in Spanish), 2006, retrieved 2013-10-18
Cursos Universitarios, vol. II (2010 a cargo de [15] Daily Princetonian, Volume 70, Number 105, 2 October
Manuel Mazn) 1946, Ocial Notices, 1946-10-02, retrieved 2013-10-
18
Acerca del mundo (2010, a cargo de Antonio
[16] On Essence, Xavier Zubiri, translated by A. Robert
Gonzlez) Caponigri, 1980, retrieved 2013-10-18
Cursos Universitarios. Volumen III (1933-1934). [17] Sentient Intelligence (PDF), Xavier Zubiri, translated by
2012. A cargo de Manuel Mazn Thomas B. Fowler, Sc.D., 1999, retrieved 2013-10-18
Fascculo editado por la propia Fundacin: Sobre el [18] The Dynamic Structure of Reality, Xavier Zubiri, trans-
problema de la losofa (Madrid, 1996) lated by Nelson Orringer, 2003, retrieved 2013-10-18
3
[19] The Fundamental Problems of Western Metaphysics,
Xavier Zubiri, translated by Joaqun Redondo and Thomas
Fowler, 2009, retrieved 2013-10-19
[20] El Gobierno alemn condecora a Zubiri y a Lan (in Span-
ish), 1979-12-04, retrieved 2013-10-18
[21] Traducciones de las obras de Zubiri a otros idiomas, Fu-
nacin Xavier Zubiri (in Spanish), retrieved 2013-10-18
[22] Lista de las obras de Zubiri, Fundacin Xavier Zubiri (in
Spanish), retrieved 2013-10-19
4 External links
(English) Xavier Zubiri Foundation of North Amer-
ica
(Spanish) Fundacin Xavier Zubiri (Madrid)
(Spanish) Materials on Xavier Zubiri
(Spanish) Collection of news about Xavier Zubiri in
the Spanish newspaper El Pas, 1976-2013
4 5 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES
5 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
5.1 Text
Xavier Zubiri Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Zubiri?oldid=760548452 Contributors: Sj, Albtho, Bender235, Zscout370,
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5.2 Images
File:Xavier_Zubiri.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/77/Xavier_Zubiri.jpg License: Fair use Contributors:
Original publication: Xavier Zubiri Foundation
Immediate source: Antonio Gonzlez. Fundacin Xavier Zubiri, Madrid, Spain. E-mail: antoniogonzalez@zubiri.net
Original artist: Most likely Xavier Zubiris wife, Carmen Castro, who passed away in 1989. The Xavier Zubiri foundation has the rights to
this picture since then. Antonio Gonzlez, e-mail: antoniogonzalez@zubiri.net has authorized its use.
5.3 Content license
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
