Metaphysics and portugality

The integrative anthropology of António Quadros

Abstract

As the postmodern vision of man dilutes identities and “reasons to be” through its anti-metaphysical lenses, the existential and social crisis grows rampant. In countries with a strong historical heritage and a lost sense of purpose, such as Portugal, intellectuals may find it harder to see the progressive deconstruction of cultural identities as beneficial to both individual consciousness and social order. In fact, a great number of Portuguese thinkers oppose postmodern versions of multiculturalism as misguided by the premise that reason is nothing but a discursive construct of cultural evolution. António Quadros, in particular, masterfully exposes the logical consequences of such a lack of objective references in the ground of individual and collective identities, advocating the need for a return to a robust metaphysical view of cultures.