A History of Philosophy in Colombia through Topic Modelling

TL;DR

This study applies dynamic topic modelling to analyze the evolution of philosophical discourse in Colombia's influential journal, revealing key themes, trends, and the persistence of historical focus over time.

Contribution

It extends previous research by applying topic modelling to Latin American philosophy, specifically analyzing a major Colombian journal's thematic evolution over decades.

Findings

Value theory, epistemology, and philosophy of science are prominent topics.

No significant decline in historical articles over time.

German philosophers like Kant, Husserl, and Hegel are frequently discussed.

Abstract

Data-driven approaches to philosophy have emerged as a valuable tool for studying the history of the discipline. However, most studies in this area have focused on a limited number of journals from specific regions and subfields. We expand the scope of this research by applying dynamic topic modelling techniques to explore the history of philosophy in Colombia and Latin America. Our study examines the Colombian philosophy journal Ideas y Valores, founded in 1951 and currently one of the most influential academic philosophy journals in the region. By analyzing the evolution of topics across the journal's history, we identify various trends and specific dynamics in philosophical discourse within the Colombian and Latin American context. Our findings reveal that the most prominent topics are value theory (including ethics, political philosophy, and aesthetics), epistemology, and the philosophy of science. We also trace the evolution of articles focusing on the historical and interpretive aspects of philosophical texts, and we note a notable emphasis on German philosophers such as Kant, Husserl, and Hegel on various topics throughout the journal's lifetime. Additionally, we investigate whether articles with a historical focus have decreased over time due to editorial pressures. Our analysis suggests no significant decline in such articles. Finally, we propose ideas for extending this research to other Latin American journals and suggest improvements for natural language processing workflows in non-English languages.