ABSTRACT
Eugenio Maria de Hostos has been thought of as the John Dewey of the Spanish-speaking world.2 While there are remarkable similarities between these two educator-philosopher-political scientist-humanists, the fact remains that Hostos preceded Dewey by twenty years and died several years before Dewey published his influential works, How We Think (1910) and Democracy and Education (1916). Hostos was an educator and writer who wrote more than fifty books (published and unpublished) as well as essays and treatises on social-science topics from moral development to education to the political sciences. Several editions of his works have been published since his death including the recent University of Puerto Rico's 'critical edition' of his Complete Works. In addition to being a central figure in education, law, politics, sociology, ethics and other fields in his native Puerto Rico, Hostos travelled extensively making similar contributions in several countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Peru, Spain, Venezuela), often playing a major part in the reconstruction of their educational systems.
