Modernity, capitalism, and university. Contention between the four historical ethos in Bolivar Echeverria

As a method of reading the university, the four historical ethos of capitalist modernity are presented, in the perspective of the Ecuadorian-Mexican philosopher Bolivar Echeverria. This article problematizes the thesis that the different configurations of the university-including the critical configurations-inherit the problems of modernity regarding the substitution of the value of use for the value of exchange, a substitution from which the spiritual goods of culture do not escape. To address this thesis, five sections are presented: The problem of modernity; Modernity and capitalism; The method: a reading of the university from the four historical ethos; Approaches to a reading of the university from the four historical ethos; and Final considerations, which raise the possibility of a re-reading of the whole history of modernity, of the university, and of capitalism, based on the contention between the four historical ethos.