THE ENLIGHTENMENT SURFACES IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY MEXICO: SCIENTIFIC THINKING ATTEMPTS TO DELIVER ORDER AND PROGRESS.

The article discusses the nineteenth-century intellectual history of Mexico, focusing particularly on the period from 1876 to 1911 when President Porfirio Díaz was in power. The influence of positivism, as espoused by French philosopher August Comte as well as other philosophers including John Stuart Mill, Alexander Bain, and Herbert Spencer, on Mexican social and education policies is explored. Topics considered include physician Gabino Barreda, Mexican President Benito Juárez, secularism, and intellectual José María Luis Mora.