Alejandro Korn facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alejandro Korn
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| Born | 3 May 1860 San Vicente, Buenos Aires, Argentina
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| Died | October 9, 1936 (aged 76) La Plata, Argentina
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| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western Philosophy |
| School | Antipositivism 1918 University Reform |
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Main interests
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Axiology, freedom, history of Argentine philosophy |
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Notable ideas
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Creative freedom, Latin American philosophy, Value as the ideal answer to real disvalue |
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Influenced
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Alejandro Korn (born May 3, 1860 – died October 9, 1936) was an important person from Argentina. He was a psychiatrist (a doctor who helps people with mental health), a philosopher (someone who thinks deeply about life), a reformist (someone who wants to make things better), and a politician.
For 18 years, he led a special hospital for mental health in Melchor Romero, near La Plata, Argentina. He was the first university leader in Latin America chosen by students. Many people see him as the founder of Argentine philosophy. He is also known as one of the five wise men of La Plata, along with other famous thinkers like Florentino Ameghino and Juan Vucetich.
Contents
Biography
Early Life and Family
Alejandro Korn was born in San Vicente, Buenos Aires. His father, Carlos Adolfo Korn, was a German doctor and soldier. He had to leave Germany because he refused to harm workers during a revolution. He moved to Switzerland, studied medicine, and met Alejandro's mother, María Verena Meyer. They later moved to Argentina and got married.
Alejandro's father became a doctor and a judge in San Vicente. He helped build the first flour mill and extend the railroad. He was also praised for fighting cholera outbreaks.
Alejandro was the oldest of eight children. His brother, Mauricio, also became a doctor. As a young person, Alejandro loved culture and sports. In 1877, he moved to Buenos Aires to study. He first went to the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires and then studied medicine at the Universidad de Buenos Aires.
Later, Alejandro married María Villafañe, and they lived in La Plata. They had seven children, but only four lived past childhood. One son, Alejandro Korn Villafañe, helped with university changes and taught about Catholic ideas. Another son, Guillermo Korn, was a student leader, journalist, and politician. He also started a theater group.
Doctor's Work
Alejandro Korn finished his medical studies in 1882. His main project was about "Insanity and crime." He worked as a doctor in small towns.
In 1897, he became the director of the Hospital Provincial de Melchor Romero. This was a large hospital, covering 80 hectares (about 200 acres). It was the first hospital of its kind in Argentina, and maybe in Latin America, that focused on mental health. Korn led this hospital until 1916. He then left to spend all his time on philosophy. His brother Mauricio also worked there from 1900.
In 1910, he started the Medical Association of La Plata and was its first president.
Freemason
Alejandro Korn joined the Argentine Freemasonry group in 1881 when he was 21. His father was also a member of the same group in Germany. His father helped set up the group in Argentina.
When Alejandro was 23, he became a leader in his group. He later joined another group in La Plata that included other important people like Carlos Spegazzini.
Politician
Alejandro Korn was a member of the Unión Cívica Radical political party from 1891. In 1893, he became the mayor of La Plata for a few days during a revolution. In 1894, he was elected as a deputy (a type of representative). He quit in 1897 because he disagreed with some corruption in a bank.
In 1917, he was elected as a deputy again. In 1918, he became a national deputy. That same year, he left his party and became a socialist. He wrote about his ideas, saying that a new way of thinking would give people back their freedom and control over their lives. He believed that if people wanted a better world, they could build it. He also felt that socialism was about people helping each other.
In 1931, he joined the Socialist Party. In 1934, he gave popular talks about thinkers like Jean Jaurés and Karl Marx. These talks were published in a magazine.
He was chosen in 1934 to help rewrite the Constitution of Buenos Aires Province. However, he resigned to protest against unfair elections. His son Guillermo Korn also resigned for the same reason.
University Reformer
Alejandro Korn was a teacher and a high-ranking official at the National University of La Plata and the University of Buenos Aires. He was also very involved in the student movement that wanted to change universities. Both of his sons were student leaders.
In 1903, he joined the National University of La Plata as a counselor and vice-rector. He became a professor of the History of Philosophy. He also helped create the Obstetrics School.
In 1919, students chose him to help lead the university during a time of big changes. In 1906, he started teaching History of Philosophy at Buenos Aires University. In 1912, he was elected as a faculty counselor. In 1918, students elected him as the dean (head) of the Philosophy Faculty, a role he held until 1921.
In 1918, Korn was seen as a role model by students who wanted to reform universities across Latin America. In La Plata, this reform focused on moving away from old ways of thinking. Alejandro Korn led this change. From 1919 to 1922, he wrote many articles about how university reform was changing culture in Latin America.
His most famous work, La Libertad creadora ("The Creative Freedom"), was written for a student group. It was meant to help guide the changes that young reformers wanted to make. He believed in "ethical socialism," which means building a fair society based on good values. Juan José Arévalo, who later became president of Guatemala and was Korn's student, called him "the professor par excellence."
Silvia Augsburger, a deputy, said that Korn was the main thinker behind the University Reform. He pushed for new courses and modern teaching methods. He believed that students should be active and creative in their learning. In 1919, he wrote that the reform was about creating a new university spirit. He said that students must be part of running the university because they bring new energy and prevent things from staying the same. He believed that free teaching and responsible students would help build the national character better than old-fashioned rules.
Sportsman
Korn enjoyed sports, especially fencing. He helped make fencing popular in Argentina when it was not well known.
In 1891, he became the President of Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, a sports club. He held this position until 1894. He helped the club get land to build its first sports field.
Philosopher
Alejandro Korn is considered one of the first important philosophers in Argentina. He is also part of a group of thinkers who started Latin American philosophy. This group includes people from Cuba, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Brazil, and Chile.
Alejandro Korn's ideas helped change philosophy in Latin America. This happened during a time when Argentina was moving from an old, unfair system to a more democratic one. His readers were mostly young students and people who wanted social change. His main ideas were about values and freedom. Two of his important books are La libertad creadora (1922) and Axiología (1930).
A key part of Korn's philosophy was criticizing old ideas that people just accepted as true. He believed that philosophy should be connected to the culture and problems of the time. He thought that thinking should come from people's actions and their desire to solve problems in their communities.
The Five Wise Men of La Plata
La Plata was planned in 1882 to be a center of culture and learning, especially for Latin America. From its unique city design to its university and famous Natural Sciences Museum, La Plata became an important place for education and science. It was often called one of the Latin American cultural beacons.
Korn was a central part of this group, along with four other famous citizens of La Plata. They were known as the five wise men: the poet Almafuerte, the scientist Florentino Ameghino, the philosopher Alejandro Korn, the biologist Carlos Luis Spegazzini, and the criminologist Juan Vucetich.
These five wise men were all born around the same time. Ameghino and Almafuerte were born in 1854, and Korn was born in 1860. Korn was the last of them to pass away, in 1936.
Works
The Creative Freedom (1920)
The Creative Freedom is a paper first published in 1920. It was printed in a magazine by law students at the University of Buenos Aires. This was during the time of the University Reform, which started in 1918 and spread across Latin America. This reform aimed to give universities more independence and allow students to help run them. Korn played a big part in this reform. He was the first dean chosen by students, and he was also a key thinker for the movement.
The Creative Freedom is a deep philosophical look at what freedom means. It aimed to encourage ordinary people to actively change the world.
Eugenio Pucciarelli wrote that freedom feels like being set free from being controlled, like overcoming a challenge. Korn himself said that our freedom needs challenges to lean on.
Korn believed that opposites are important in understanding things. For example, he said that perfect justice doesn't exist. Instead, there is only injustice and the constant fight against it to reach the ideal of justice.
To understand freedom, Alejandro Korn thought about the "I" or "subject" as active beings who can start things. He said that people are not just watching the world; they are involved in it. Our minds are where our feelings, judgments, and desires meet the world around us.
Korn thought that the idea of "present time" was more important than "reality." He saw reality as something still and unchanging. But he saw "present time" as active and always changing, shaped by human choices. He even joked that a philosophy book should use only verbs, not nouns, because language often makes things seem still when they are always moving.
Korn looked at "creative freedom" by thinking about the objective world (things that follow rules) and the subjective world (our inner world, which is free). He said that the famous philosopher Kant also talked about how necessity (rules) and freedom can exist together.
From this idea of conflict between freedom and rules, Korn saw a constant process of scientific and technical growth. This growth helps us gain power over the world. He also saw an ethical self-control that helps us make freedom stronger than rules. This links power and desire.
Korn called this kind of freedom, which involves action, change, and making ethical choices, creative freedom.
Homage
Many things are named after Alejandro Korn:
- The town where he was born, previously called Empalme San Vicente, was renamed Alejandro Korn in 1964.
- The Melchor Romero Neuropsychiatry Hospital, which he led, was named Alejandro Korn in 1954.
- The Alejandro Korn's People's University, started in the year he died, is still active today.
- A special teaching program (a "free cathedra") at the National University of La Plata was created in 1997. It aims to share his ideas and explore new things in art, science, and philosophy.
- A student group at the National University of Rosario is named after him.
In La Plata, across from the Natural Sciences Museum, there is a monument called Monument to the Five Wise Men. It was made by the sculptor Máximo Maldonado.
List of works
- Socialismo ético (1918) (Ethical socialism)
- Inscript vita nova (1918)
- La Reforma Universitaria (1919) (The University's Reform)
- La libertad creadora (1920) (The creative freedom)
- Esquema gnoseológico (1924)
- El concepto de ciencia (1926) (The concept of science)
- Axiología (1930)
- Apuntes filosóficos (1935) (Philosophical notes)
- Influencias filosóficas en la evolución nacional (1936)
- Filósofos y sistemas (1936) (Philosophers and systems)
- Ensayos críticos (1936)
- Obras completas (1949)
- Juan Pérez (1963)
- Estudios de filosofía contemporánea (1963)
See also
In Spanish: Alejandro Korn para niños
