CAPPE Visiting Scholars Programme: From Presocratics to Podemos: Reflections on the Work of Agustín García Calvo by Vicente Ordóñez 

The talk seeks to introduce the English-speaking reader to the philosophical thought of Agustín García Calvo and, specifically, to illustrate the reception that his interpretation of Presocratic thinkers has had on Spanish political life. The research is structured around three moments: first, I will study his hermeneutical work on Presocratic thinkers and the logic that grounds their discourse. Next, and following from the analysis of certain key concepts in the thought of García Calvo, I will show the influence that the Presocratic thinkers had on his political thought. Finally, I will investigate the impact that certain of these Presocratically inspired ideas have had on political parties, trade unions and social movements situated to the left on the Spanish political spectrum.     

Dr Vicente Ordóñez completed his Ph.D. in Political Philosophy at the University of Valencia. He is currently Lecturer in Social and Political Philosophy at Jaume I University, Castelló de la Plana, Spain. His book, El ridículo como instrumento político [The political uses of ridicule] (2015) has won the Complutense University of Madrid's  National Essay Prize.

The broad area of interest of his research focuses on the interconnection between politics, ethics and philosophy, focusing on whether and to what extent philosophical and metaphysical thinking permeates political theory and praxis. Part of this line of research has been carried out in collaboration with a multidisciplinary group of researchers from the Ethics and Democracy Research Group, University of Valencia, Spain and the Science and Technology Social Studies Research Group (GESCTP), Rosario University, Colombia, as well as with political parties (Castelló in Movement) and political activists and social movements (PAH-Platform of Those Affected by Mortgages [Spain] and BZV-Platform Impeding Evictions [Germany]).