IN THE days of revolution-so the story goes-a Mexican customs official was checking some high-powered machinery from the United States when suddenly his eyes caught these words on one of the flywheels: "1,000 revolutions per minute." "We can't let this get into Mexico," he exclaimed, "we've already got too many revolutions!" This apocryphal tale, probably invented by some North American, aptly illustrates the attitude prevalent for so long north of the Rio Grande. When we were thinking of perpetual revolution and bullfights, we dismissed Latin America as the land of mariana. There was also prevalent what a distinguished visitor from Brazil has called "a warped romantic view": the vision of a beautiful sefiorita, with a big comb in her hair, sitting by a window in the moonlight, listening to the music of a young gallant in the street below. Today, however, amid world-shaking events which have led to a more realistic attitude, these illusions have all but vanished. Something very important is happening: we are beginning to discover Latin America and Latin America is also beginning to discover us. Philosophically speaking, this process of mutual discovery has been greatly enhanced by the series of Inter-American congresses, the first of which met at Yale in 1943.1 Nor will those who attended soon forget the Fifth Interamerican Congress which met at Washington, D.C., during the summer of 1957.2 Many of us were greatly impressed by the performance of the Latin American philosophers, chief and foremost among whom was Mexico's Jose Vasconcelos. Suffice it to say that the purpose of this paper is to add a bit to the process of mutual understanding. Perhaps it is best to begin with the four chief periods of Latin American philosophy. The first was the scholastic, a legacy from Spain. Alonso Gutierrez, who was born in Toledo in 1504, was the first philosopher to land in the western hemisphere, while Pedro Lopez de Parra, who is supposed to have delivered his first lecture on October 19, 1575, was the first appointed professor of philosophy.3 For the most part philosophy throughout Latin America followed the traditional scholastic pattern;4 and, as the official philosophy of the Roman Catholic church, scholasticism remained dominant until the nineteenth century. Although today this system finds few if any staunch supporters outside of the Catholic church, it is still alive and productive, numbering among its champions the famous Peruvian philosopher, Victor Andres Belauinde. Moreover, the great modern scholastic, Jacques Maritain, is greatly admired, especially in Mexico.5 Finally, in their intense interest in the problems of personality and of axiology, even the foes of scholasticism manifest their indebtedness to this great system that has stood the test of time. As the United States gained its independence from England during the eighteenth century, so the Latin American countries broke their political ties with Spain during the nineteenth. Consequently there was a revolt against scholasticism, and the final result was the appearance of the "predominantly naturalistic and positivistic period." The influence of Comte was strong, especially in Brazil whose flag bears the motto, "Order and Progress."6 Besides Comte, many other French thinkers, such as the Encyclopedists, Descartes, Cousin, Janet, and Rousseau, also exerted a vast influence. One teacher, indeed, was so carried away with Rousseau's attacks on civilization and praise of the simple life that he actually disrobed before his class.7