Degree in Philosophy from the National University of Colombia. Master of Philosophy from the New School for Social Research in New York. Doctor of Philosophy from Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Germany, with the dissertation Die Kritik des Wertbegriffes, directed by Hans-Georg Gadamer. Holder of the Goethe Medal of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1989. Scholar of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Deutscher Akademischer Austausch-Dienst (DAAD). Member of the Scientific Council of the Marx-Engels International Foundation (Amsterdam). Visiting professor at the National Autonomous Universities of Mexico, Ankara, Heidelberg, Morelia and Santa María. President of the Colombian Society of Philosophy (1979-1983, 1993-2000) and of the Inter-American Society of Philosophy (1994-1999). Professor emeritus at the National University of Colombia. He is currently a full professor at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá.