The Notion of the “Teacher of Youth”: Another Intellectual Artifice. Aníbal Ponce’s José Ingenieros

Abstract

This perspective critically examines the construction of José Ingenieros as a “teacher of youth”, a notion widely disseminated within Argentine intellectual circles throughout the twentieth century. Drawing on the interpretations of Aníbal Ponce and the criticisms formulated by Arturo Jauretche, the text analyzes the artifices and symbolic operations that shaped a particular image of the Italian-Argentine thinker. It also questions historiographical readings that justified Ingenieros’ positivism and evolutionism as mere expressions of the “spirit of the age”. Finally, Alberto Buela’s notion of metapolitics is incorporated in order to reflect on the ideological effects of these intellectual constructions within the Argentine tradition.