Freedom without foundations: Huxley, Arendt, and a pragmatist defense against ideology.
This paper offers a pragmatist defense of freedom in a post-realist world. Taking as its starting point the challenge posed to normative anti-realism—if there are no moral truths, what prevents politics from devolving into ideological domination?—it argues that freedom must be sustained not by metap...
| Published in: | Revista Estudios de Filosofía no. 74; pp. 318 - 336 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Universidad de Antioquia, Instituto de Filosofia
Jul-Dec2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=195382875&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 195382875 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 01213628 8WTD jtl: Revista Estudios de Filosofía issn: 01213628 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul-Dec2026 iid: 74 pid: 62552 pub: Universidad de Antioquia, Instituto de Filosofia artinfo: ui: 195382875 10.17533/udea.ef.362046 ppf: 318 ppct: 18 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 1.6MB tig: atl: Freedom without foundations: Huxley, Arendt, and a pragmatist defense against ideology. aug: au: Yumbe, Patricia affil: University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, United States. su: Ideology Pragmatism James (Book : Everett) Philosophers Liberty Critical thinking James, William, 1842-1910 Brave New World (Book : Huxley) Addams, Jane, 1860-1935 Metaethics Arendt, Hannah, 1906-1975 Dewey, John, 1859-1952 Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963 Participatory democracy sug: subj: Ideology Pragmatism James (Book : Everett) Philosophers Liberty Critical thinking James, William, 1842-1910 Brave New World (Book : Huxley) Addams, Jane, 1860-1935 Metaethics Arendt, Hannah, 1906-1975 Dewey, John, 1859-1952 Huxley, Aldous, 1894-1963 Participatory democracy keyword: anti-realism Arendt education freedom Huxley ideology pragmatism antirrealismo educación ideología libertad pragmatismo ab: This paper offers a pragmatist defense of freedom in a post-realist world. Taking as its starting point the challenge posed to normative anti-realism—if there are no moral truths, what prevents politics from devolving into ideological domination?—it argues that freedom must be sustained not by metaphysical guarantees but by practices of critical thinking. To develop this claim, the paper reads Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited alongside Hannah Arendt’s reflections on ideology and thinking, situating both within the pragmatist tradition of William James, John Dewey, and Jane Addams. Huxley exposes the dangers of ideological conformity through pleasure and manipulation, while Arendt shows that freedom depends on the fragile space of appearance sustained by thought and dialogue. Drawing on Dewey’s democracy as inquiry, Addams’s ethics of community, and James’s pluralism, the paper argues that freedom is a practice of resisting closure and keeping the world open. Este artículo propone una defensa pragmatista de la libertad en un mundo posrealista. Partiendo del desafío planteado al antirrealismo normativo —si no existen verdades morales, ¿qué impide que la política degenere en dominación ideológica?—, sostiene que la libertad depende de prácticas de pensamiento crítico y no de garantías metafísicas. Para desarrollar este argumento, analiza Un mundo feliz y Retorno al mundo feliz de Aldous Huxley junto con las reflexiones de Hannah Arendt sobre ideología y pensamiento, situando a ambos autores en diálogo con la tradición pragmatista de William James, John Dewey y Jane Addams. Huxley muestra los peligros de la conformidad ideológica basada en el placer y la manipulación, mientras que Arendt destaca la importancia del pensamiento y el diálogo para sostener la libertad. Desde una perspectiva pragmatista, la democracia como investigación, el pluralismo y la vida comunitaria ofrecen recursos para resistir el cierre ideológico y preservar una esfera pública abierta. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Revista Estudios de Filosofía is the property of Universidad de Antioquia, Instituto de Filosofia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Revista Estudios de Filosofía holder: Universidad de Antioquia, Instituto de Filosofia dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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