The death of his father when he was 15 prompted a transition from an early career as a goldsmith to a life of intellectual inquiry for Delfim Santos. Born in Porto in 1907, he moved from managing the family business to establishing himself as a significant Portuguese academic, pedagogue, and philosopher throughout the mid-twentieth century.
Academic Formation and Early Travels
After graduating from the University of Porto in 1931, where he studied under Leonardo Coimbra and Teixeira Rego, he began a career in secondary education. He spent the 1930s and early 1940s travelling across Europe on academic fellowships. He studied in Vienna, where he interacted with the Vienna Circle and analyzed Logical Positivism. In the UK, he engaged with scholars at University College London and Trinity College, Cambridge. His time in Berlin allowed him to study phenomenology and attend seminars by Nicolai Hartmann, deeply influencing his later anti-systematic philosophical approach.
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In 1940, he earned his PhD from the University of Coimbra with a thesis titled Knowledge and Reality. He joined the University of Lisbon in 1947 as an Assistant Professor of Pedagogy. By 1950, he achieved the distinction of becoming the first Chair Professor of Pedagogy in Portugal. His most influential work, The Existential Foundations of Pedagogy, published in 1946, became a cornerstone for educators in Portugal and Brazil. He also taught subjects ranging from ethics to school administration and psychology at the Portuguese Military Academy.
International Contributions and Legacy
Throughout his career, he participated in numerous international forums, including the 1937 Descartes Congress in Paris and the 1948 International Congress of Philosophy in Amsterdam. He served as the Director of the Center for Pedagogic Studies at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation from 1962 until his death in 1966. His writings, which span philosophical and educational themes, were eventually compiled into four volumes. He maintained professional correspondence with figures such as Mircea Eliade and Hermann Hesse, and his intellectual reach remains recognized in the streets and schools named after him in Portugal.
Fast facts
- Born: 1907, Porto
- Died: 1966, Cascais
- Education: University of Porto, University of Coimbra, University College London, Trinity College
- Primary Occupation: Philosopher and Educator
- Key Publication: The Existential Foundations of Pedagogy
- Languages: Portuguese, German, French, Spanish, English
Questions readers ask
What was his approach to philosophy?
He adopted an aporetic and anti-systematic approach, heavily influenced by the phenomenology of Nicolai Hartmann.
Did he have interests outside of traditional philosophy?
Yes, he was a prolific critic who wrote movie reviews for films such as The Third Man and Umberto D.
Achievements
- Held posts at University of Lisbon
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