{"id":1756,"date":"2025-12-03T15:00:54","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T18:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humanas.blog.scielo.org\/en\/?p=1756"},"modified":"2025-12-03T10:50:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T13:50:35","slug":"an-invitation-to-the-debate-on-the-amazonian-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humanas.blog.scielo.org\/en\/2025\/12\/03\/an-invitation-to-the-debate-on-the-amazonian-philosophy\/","title":{"rendered":"An invitation to the debate on the amazonian philosophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Theo Machado Fellows, Professor in the Department and Graduate Program in Philosophy, Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus, AM, Brazil.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Logo<\/a>The article On the possibility of an Amazonian philosophy<\/a> published in the journal Trans\/Form\/A\u00e7\u00e3o<\/em> (vol. 48, No. 6, 2025), arises from the need to discuss the inclusion of non-Western forms of thought, in this case, traditional Amazonian wisdom, in Brazilian philosophical research. Given the scarcity of discussions on indigenous thought in our philosophical universe, we seek to evaluate possible approaches for a dialogue with these forms of wisdom, whose systematisation has increasingly been undertaken by indigenous researchers, especially in northern Brazil.<\/p>\n

To this end, we propose a reflection on the ethnophilosophical model, the subject of intense debate in African philosophy since the mid-20th century and present, albeit in a veiled form, in some Brazilian approaches to non-Western thought. We point out the problems with this approach, which, in defending a valorisation of Non-Western forms of thought, ends up promoting, on the one hand, a vulgarisation of the word \u2018philosophy\u2019, as Paulin Hountondji suggests, and, on the other, the forced subsumption of singular forms of thought in Western categories, as Bruno Latour shows us.<\/p>\n

As an alternative to the ethnophilosophical model, we draw on the Amerindian perspectivism of Brazilian anthropologist Eduardo Viveiros de Castro. This model for understanding the ways of thinking of Brazil’s indigenous peoples identifies a multinaturalist ontology that recognises the subjectivity of non-human entities: animals, humans and spirits are seen as individuals endowed with a common epistemology, which nevertheless produces variable ontologies.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Painting<\/a>

Image: Feliciano Lana.<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

We understand that the perspectivism identified by Viveiros de Castro differs from the ethnophilosophical approaches observed in authors such as Placide Tempels due to the Brazilian anthropologist’s intense work of observation and listening to ancestral knowledge. However, the application of Amerindian perspectivism to the formulation of an Amazonian philosophy can only be justified through readings and reflections based on indigenous authors.<\/p>\n

The last part of the article therefore proposes a philosophical approach to the work of two indigenous anthropologists and their expositions of the thinking of the Yepamahs\u00e3 people, also known as Tukano, from the Amazonian region of the Upper Rio Negro. In the works of Jo\u00e3o Paulo Barreto and Gabriel Maia, we find the systematisation of Yepamahs\u00e3 wisdom around the conceptual tripod formed by the kihti ukuse<\/em>, the bahsese<\/em> and the bahsamori<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Our aim is to show how these concepts and practices of Yepamahs\u00e3 thought offer new tools for philosophical research, excluding the need to associate them with the consolidated sub-areas of Western philosophy. In indigenous thought, we find new cartographies of knowledge that can aid in the task of decolonising Amazonian and Brazilian philosophy.<\/p>\n

To read the article, access<\/h3>\n

FELLOWS, T. M. On the possibility of an Amazonian philosophy. Trans\/Form\/A\u00e7\u00e3o <\/em>[online]. vol. 48, no. 6, p. 1-17 [viewed 03 December 2025]. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1590\/0101-3173.2025.v48.n6.e025153<\/a>. Available from: https:\/\/www.scielo.br\/j\/trans\/a\/ywsnVqTx9x8jMw4GczGrPpr\/<\/a><\/p>\n

References<\/h3>\n

BARRETO,\u00a0J. P.\u00a0O mundo em mim:\u00a0uma teoria ind\u00edgena e os cuidados sobre o corpo no Alto Rio Negro. Bras\u00edlia: Mil Folhas, 2022.<\/p>\n

BARRETO,\u00a0J. P.\u00a0et al<\/em>.\u00a0Omer\u00f5.\u00a0Constitui\u00e7\u00e3o e circula\u00e7\u00e3o dos conhecimentos Yepamahs\u00e3 (Tukano). Manaus: EDUA, 2018.<\/p>\n

HOUNTONDJI, P. Sobre a \u201cfilosofia africana\u201d. Rio de Janeiro: Jorge Zahar, 2024.<\/p>\n

MAIA, G. S.\u00a0Bahsamori:\u00a0o tempo, as esta\u00e7\u00f5es e as etiquetas sociais dos Yepamahs\u00e3 (Tukano). Manaus: EDUA, 2018.<\/p>\n

External Links<\/h3>\n

Programa de P\u00f3s-Gradua\u00e7\u00e3o em Filosofia da UFAM\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Programa de P\u00f3s-Gradua\u00e7\u00e3o em Filosofia da UFAM\u00a0– Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n

Trans\/Form\/A\u00e7\u00e3o journal: Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Academia.edu<\/a><\/p>\n

Trans\/Form\/A\u00e7\u00e3o \u2013 TRANS<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About Theo Machado Fellows<\/h3>\n

He has a doctorate in philosophy from the Technische Universit\u00e4t Berlin, in Germany, and is an associate professor at the department and Postgraduate Program in Philosophy at the Federal University of Amazonas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An analysis of the perspectives of dialogue between the wisdom of the indigenous peoples of the Amazon and the Western philosophical tradition discussing the problems of the ethnophilosophical approach, and proposing a philosophical approach to Yepamahs\u00e3 wisdom through the Amerindian perspectivism of Viveiros de Castro. …<\/span> Read More →<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":792,"featured_media":1757,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,110],"tags":[163,111],"class_list":["post-1756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","category-trans","tag-filosofia","tag-trans-form-acao"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t