Epistemic engineering: interview with Murilo Seabra, part 2

Abstract

To understand Murilo Seabra’s trajectory and ideas, we need to revisit those of Oswaldo Porchat Pereira, a recently deceased professor from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, as found in Porchat’s polemic “Student Discourse on Philosophy Research.” Porchat’s central thesis is that there is an inescapable difference between sitting down to write a philosophical work and sitting down to write a work on the history of philosophy. In this interview, conducted by e-mail between September 23 and December 22, 2018, Murilo Seabra talks about his experiences as a student, defends the radicalization of Porchat’s discourse, points out the importance of fighting racism and sexism in academia, discusses the rise of poststructuralism and the collapse of Marxism during the Cold War, and analyzes the role of philosophy in the current Brazilian political situation. Although it was carried out before the inauguration of the new head of state, Jair Bolsonaro, the interview shows remarkable foresight. “We already had a philosophy without Brazil,” wrote Murilo Seabra. “Now we run the risk of having a Brazil without philosophy.” At the request of the editors, some aggressive moments were suppressed and criticisms of President Jair Bolsonaro were moderated. Due to its length, the interview was divided into two parts.