Miguel Reale: The "Brazilian Croce"?

Abstract

Analogously to the role of the philosopher Benedetto Croce in Italy, the jurist Miguel Reale played an important part among Brazilian intellectuals: he moved from revisionist socialism to liberal conservatism, organized intellectual groups from academic and complementary environments, and, after his integralist experience between 1932 and 1938, broke with historical fascism – all of these being manifestations of the former's importance over the latter. On the other hand, his adherence to authoritarianism, his broad participation in institutionalized politics and mass parties, and his particular condition as a "jurist" make Reale diverge from the Crocean attitude. This research revisits these relations as a translation and refraction of a political thought, exploring comparative limits and Reale's originality as a traditional intellectual with organic functions. It is argued that the Brazilian Institute of Philosophy, founded by him in 1949, fulfilled the function of a
cultural apparatus of hegemony in the political struggle, recruiting adversaries and preparing intellectual cadres for the emergence of new conservatisms. The research is based on an empirical analysis of documentation from the period that includes his first works in the integralist phase (1933-1938), his academic production and political activities during the Estado Novo (1937-1945) and in the state government of São Paulo under Adhemar de Barros (1947-1951), his first term as rector of the University of São Paulo (USP) (1949), the annals of the I Brazilian Congress of Philosophy (1950), and the Revista Brasileira de Filosofia (1951-2021).