The Connecting Points of Nicolas Gómez Davila's Oeuvre to Mihály Polányi's Concepts and Views in Polányi's Scientific Theory

Abstract

Historical continuity and tradition are essential notions in the thought of Nicolás Gómez Dávila (1913–1994). His argumentation on the nature of law – conceptualised in his essay De iure, the Hungarian translation of which was published recently – could essentially be considered as an apology of the primacy of customary law. In one of his maxims, the author presents this to his reader in a few short words: „There is no barrier to despotism other than customary law”. Gómez Dávila is reknowned mainly for his aphoristic maxims, the escolios, whereby he reflected on a wide array of topics and the origins of which are to be found in his magnificient, thirty thousand volume-strong private library. In the present paper, my intention is to outline the basic links of the thought of this unique-profiled Colombian author to the works and concepts of authors of scientific theory and sociology of knowledge – with a focus on Michael Polanyi – and to propose the thesis that in the debate between logical positivism and sociology of knowledge, Gómez Dávila can be clearly classified on the side of the latter.