Profile

Acílio da Silva Estanqueiro Rocha, Professor Emeritus at the University of Minho (since 2014), was a full professor (since 1995). He holds a degree in Philosophy (1973, Faculty of Philosophy of Braga, UCP, with a final exam “De Universa” and dissertation), a diploma in Political Science (Paris, Sorbonne, 1975), a postgraduate degree in “Histoire des Systèmes de Pensée” (Paris, Sorbonne, 1976), a PhD in Philosophy (Paris, Sorbonne, 1982), a PhD in Letters (University of Minho, 1984), and aggregation in Philosophy (University of Minho, 1994).
He was Director of the Philosophy Department (1984-1992) and of the International Relations Degree (1992-1996), Vice-President (1990-1994) and President (1994-2000) of the Institute of Letters and Human Sciences, and Vice-Rector of the University of Minho (2002-2009). He was a member of the ‘Ethics Council’ (2018-2023), chairing the ‘Ethics Committee for Research in Social Sciences and Humanities’.
He collaborated on the Encyclopedia of Luso-Brazilian Culture, LOGOS Encyclopedia, POLIS Encyclopedia, by Editorial Verbo; on Dicionário dos Antis: a cultura portuguesa em negativo; on Dignipédia Global: Dicionário dos Direitos Humanos. In addition to the books Problemática do Estruturalismo: língua, estrutura e conhecimento (1988), Justiça e Direitos Humanos (coord., 2001), Europa, Cidadania e Multiculturalismo (coord. 2004), he is the author of publications on ‘structuralism’, ‘post-structuralism’, on ‘ethics’ and ‘political philosophy’, ‘human rights’, ‘democracy’, ‘European studies’, and ‘philosophy in Portugal’ (partly included in the RepositoriUM, 140 references). As a researcher, he is member of the “Centro de Ética, Política e Sociedade” (CEPS).
He has been awarded the following prizes: “Science and Education” Award (“Our Land” Awards, Braga, Gala 8th edition (2005); “Sapientia” Award (from the Interuniversity Society of Philosophy, based in Santiago de Compostela, 2019). The following works were dedicated to him: Pensar radicalmente a Humanidade: ensaios em homenagem a Acílio da Silva Estanqueiro Rocha, João Rosas and Vítor Moura (eds.), (Edições Húmus, 2011) and Acílio da Silva Estanqueiro Rocha: Filosofia e Utopia, coordinated by Marcelino Agís Villaverde et al. (Santiago de Compostela, 2021).