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Date of Birth: July 18, 1942
Location of Birth: Cuba

Date of Death:  July 13, 2021
Location of Death: United States of America

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At the young age of 19, Jorge J.E. Garcia fled to the United States after the Cuban Revolution.

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Bachelor’s at Wheaton College

Master’s in Philosophy at the University of Chicago

M.S.L. in Philosophy at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies

Ph.D. in Medieval Philosophy at the University of Toronto

Faculty at the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1971

SUNY Distinguished Professor and Samuel P. Capen Chair in the departments of Philosophy and Comparative Literature

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Metaphysics/Ontology

Philosophical Historiography

Philosophy of Language/Hermeneutics, Ethnicity/Race/Nationality

Medieval/Scholastic Philosophy

Hispanic/Latino/Latin-American Philosophy

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According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "ontology is a branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being."

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Cuba Before Castro: A Century of Family Memoirs

With a Diamond in My Shoe: A Philosopher’s Search for Identity in America

Images of Thought: Philosophical Interpretations of Carlos Estévez's Art

How Can We Know What God Means? The Interpretation of Revelation

Metaphysics and Its Task: The Search for the Categorial Foundation of Knowledge

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"A View from Somewhere: The Philosophical Hermeneutics of a Hispanic Philosopher: An Interview with Jorge J. E. Garcia, Samuel P. Capen, Chair and SUNY Distinguished Professor of Philosopher, SUNY-Buffalo"

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Jorge J.E. Garcia touches on a few things in his interview, which will be discussed later with quotes. However, the main point being discussed is philosophy in comparison to thought, and that in relation to the Hispanic/Latino culture.

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A Quote From the Interview that Most Depicts What is Discussed in it:

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A Quote From the Interview that Most Depicts What is Discussed in it:

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"Latino philosophers can gain much by looking outside. Of course, some might respond that we have been doing too much of that, and in the process have become intellectual slaves of others. And this is true to some extent. Even the work of those Latin-American philosophers who constantly harp about an authentic Latin-American philosophy are filled with views borrowed from Karl Marx, Levinas, Martin Heidegger, and other European philosophers. So, the right attitude has to be developed: A critical attitude toward ourselves and others. We certainly do not want to become, or continue to be, if that is actually what we have been and are, philosophical colonies of Europe, the United States, or any other place."

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"Someone has to tell the emperor that he wears no clothes, and it is our job to do it, and also to tell the young men and women of this country, and elsewhere, how to do it. But certainly, we cannot expect to be loved for it." (talking about the role of a philosopher)

"After all, the primary job of the philosopher is to develop conceptual schemes that serve to understand ourselves and the world."

"Philosophy is the only discipline that tries to put all our learning together. It is also the only discipline that includes metaphysics, logic, epistemology, and ethics—to mention just four important subdisciplines of it."

"Meaningless rhetoric is always effective with those who are not used to thinking for themselves."

"Knowledge and understanding are always to be preferred to ignorance and misunderstanding. To choose blindness for the sake of some practical goal is nothing other than dogmatism and obscurantism."

"Because it is clear that I am a philosopher, and as such concerned with philosophical problems of every kind; a philosopher who happens to be Hispanic, and as such must begin to philosophize from the place in which I find myself; and a Hispanic philosopher in that part of my philosophizing—both in the questions and the answers to them—is rooted in my experience as a Hispanic."

"For in order to philosophize one must not just live a certain kind of life but even perhaps become a certain kind of person."

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All in all, the interview was very insightful on how a Hispanic/Latino philosopher may think. Jorge J.E. Garcia brings up aspects as to what enables and disables an aspiring Hispanic/Latino philosopher. The primary aspect being culture. It's not only important to discover and discuss philosophical diversity outside of your culture, but maybe even more importantly, discover and discuss philosophical diversity inside of your culture as well. He ends the interview by saying that this should be applied to any philosopher in any culture, though.