The Teaching of Natural Philosophy in the last Chilean Colonial Era: The Treatise on the elements and the Institutiones Physicae by Manuel Antonio Talavera

Abstract

This paper examines the general content of the Treatise on the elements (1792) by Manuel Antonio Talavera. This treatise is a part of his work Institutiones Physicae, and is dedicated to the study of Physica particularis. In this work, the doctrine of natural philosophy is combined with new empirical data as well as the authority of the Holy Scriptures. The article analyses how aspects of both modernity and scholasticism coexisted in the teachings of the discipline in the last part of the colonial era. It presents a brief biographical note on the author and from a general perspective examines the principal aspects of the treatise. By examining the principal aspects of the treatise, the article constructs a profile of the educational work of Talavera and highlights legacy of Latin American philosophy.