Disertaciones

Editorial Note: Writing and Publishing as Philosophical Artifacts

Anamaria Rozo Martínez — 2025-10-24

Every writing practice arises from a need for meaning. In the face of the disorder of facts and the inadequacy of explanations, writing allows us to organize experience, establish connections, and open spaces for understanding. In this process, words do not merely represent the world: they construct it and connect it with others. In this construction, writing and editing are presented as philosophical artifacts insofar as they are material forms of thought, in which reflection becomes an object. From the first signs drawn on stone to contemporary books, the act of inscribing words has been a way of extending consciousness, of fixing the flow of thought in a shareable form. Each edited text, in this sense, is an artifact that condenses a relationship between idea, matter, and collectivity: thinking, writing, and circulating thought are inseparable dimensions of the same philosophical practice. This issue of Dissertations brings together research and reflections that share this concern with words as a critical practice. The articles address writing from its philosophical power, its pedagogical dimensions, and its editorial scope. They question the modes of knowledge circulation and the place of creative practices in academic and cultural contexts. Together, they shape a perspective on publishing in philosophy as a space for reflection, community, and intellectual independence.

Between Pages and Mountains

Nathalia Gómez Raigosa — 2025-10-24

Publishing projects can be the subject of discussion and academic research. For this reason, the dossier "Writing and Editing as Philosophical Artifacts" takes advantage of the occasion of celebrating 15 years of the journal Disertaciones to foster inquiry and reflection, shifting the focus to the ways of editing, publishing, and disseminating training and research exercises associated with philosophy, the humanities, education, literature, and other areas related to the journal's editorial line. This is also an opportunity for an exchange with researcher Nathalia Gómez Raigosa, who has been investigating the processes surrounding the book and reading ecosystem in the Coffee Region. This issue is addressed during her postdoctoral fellowship at the Vivero creativo del Eje, a project led by the University of Caldas and funded by the Sistema General de Regalias (SGR), which aims to strengthen the value chains of the cultural and creative industries in the region. Given the importance of his research to the topic of this dossier and to encourage future research, we proposed an interview that engages with the perspectives expressed in the articles in this issue.

Criticism and Independence

Alfredo Abad — 2025-10-24

Editing philosophy implies a conception of editing as a philosophical project. This criterion involves a sense of the craft as an ethos from which commitment is guided by the independence that underlies the idea of philosophy as a critical faculty. From this perspective, an anarchic conception of philosophy in relation to writing, style, method, commerce, and its hierarchy is essential to consolidate an editorial project grounded in the symbolic value it projects. The text attempts to define some editing guidelines related to a broad sense of philosophy itself. In this sense, it stipulates the editorial project as a representation of the uses of reason that make philosophy a plural testimony.

Writing to Transform

Rosselys Carolina Rodríguez — 2025-10-24

This paper develops a proposal centered on writing, editing, and reading as acts that shape knowledge. From this premise, it asks: How do these three elements constitute an epistemic unity that transforms both hermeneutical understanding and the conditions of knowledge production? The answer is trans-hermeneutic episteme, a framework that integrates hermeneutics, complex thought, and liberatory ethics in five stages: epistemic positioning, comprehensive openness, integration of knowledge, meaning-making, and transformative projection. In this process, reading, writing, and editing intertwine in a generative circular dynamic, forging a reflective practice that shapes meaning and calls for transformation. From this perspective, the text is recognized as a philosophical artifact that links language, history, and action, opening spaces for the creation of shared realities.

Between Lines and Mirrors

Miguel Camilo Pineda Casas — 2025-10-24

This article explores writing as a philosophical practice that enhances philosophical self-counseling, distinguishing it from conventional therapeutic approaches. Through a theoretical review that integrates the ideas of authors like Mónica Cavallé and Ran Lahav, along with the systematization of lived experiences, the text analyzes how writing facilitates the clarification of thought, structured internal dialogue, and the cultivation of self-awareness. It is argued that, by writing, the subject positions themselves as the author and editor of their own existence, transforming experience into an object of reflection. The study concludes that writing is not a mere record, but a praxis that activates the critical and creative dimensions of thought, returning to the individual the power to think ethically and construct meaning for their life.

Teaching Written Communication

Dairon Alfonso Rodríguez — 2025-10-24

The present article conducts an analysis of the way written communication is taught in three Colombian universities, with a view to ascertaining the extent to which the respective institutional objectives of these universities are being met. The article’s objectives are twofold: firstly, to examine the institutional frameworks that underpin writing instruction strategies, and secondly, to evaluate the coherence between these approaches and the practices implemented at each university. The methodology comprised a comparative study of institutional documents, curricular and extracurricular strategies, and an evaluation of interventions for the development of writing skills. The results indicate that each university adopts a differentiated approach that is consistent with its institutionally declared vision. The article is structured as follows: Firstly, a review of the institutional documents is conducted, with the aim of ascertaining the extent to which each university is committed to specific visions on academic writing. In the following section, the pedagogical actions and strategies employed by the three universities to train students in written communication are presented. These strategies are then examined to determine their degree of coherence with the respective institutional frameworks. The article concludes with the presentation of its findings.

The Margins of Publishing

Edwin Alonso Vargas Bonilla — 2025-10-25

Publishing projects mobilize ideas and resources to create, preserve, and circulate knowledge, culture, and wisdom; they also involve diverse academic and cultural actors. The Biblioteca de Autores Quindianos (BAQ) represents a hybrid project, comprised of diverse university, independent, and institutional agents; due to its public ties, it has no commercial purpose. Between 2010 and 2025, 65 books were published, which encourages critical work for their understanding and dissemination. To contribute to this, in the context of publishing culture, books, and reading in the humanities in Colombia, we review some positions on publishing processes, the production, and circulation of theoretical and artistic creation that allow us to characterize the BAQ. We then present some theoretical perspectives to assess it in the context of Quindio criticism and literature, giving rise to some questions based on the understandings of writing, books, and publishing presented above. Finally, we identified the need to review some guidelines and work on the collection, in light of the changing environment, to address other readers and reading styles, since these are necessary conditions for the future viability of the BAQ project.