An approach to the philosophical thought of Martí, Martínez Villena and Fidel.

For Martí: «Experience is the firmest basis of knowledge (…) I have no right to establish a metaphysical system on imaginations».

For Martí: «Experience is the firmest basis of knowledge (…) I have no right to base a metaphysical system on imaginations» (Martí, 1963. T. VI. P. 333). (Martí, 1963. T. VI. P. 333),

The deep knowledge of the reality of man and Latin American society of his time, and his interest in transforming them, led him to the search for a theoretical-original thought, in opposition to the strange philosophical tendencies that tried to interpret and «solve» the problems of our America. That is why his thought has a very objective sense: «the first duty of a man of these days is to be a man of his time. Not to apply other people’s theories, but to discover his own. Not to hinder his country with abstractions, but to find out how to make the useful ones practical». (Martí, 1963, T. VII. P. 98).

He took from different philosophical systems the most significant ideas and reworked them in his own way. He aspired to a philosophical conception «proper to the man of his world». He did not allow himself to be trapped by any system. He created his own conception of the world. He chose the best of each and reinvented it anew in a coherent theory.

The Apostle placed himself neither in the position of philosophical materialism nor in that of idealism-spiritualism. In this sense, he said: «All philosophical schools can be summed up in two (…) [materialism and idealism]. The two united are the truth: each one isolated is only a part of the truth, which falls when it is not supported by the other». Martí, 1963, p. 361).

Martí clearly stated his position: «I am between materialism, which is the exaggeration of matter, and spiritualism, which is the exaggeration of the spirit». (Martí, 1963, p. 326, T. XXVIII).

Written by Dr Osvaldo Manuel Álvarez Torres.