ABSTRACT In this article, we shall reread Bartolomé de las Casas. We know that de las Casas was an enigmatic figure in the history of the Spanish empire in the New World. The enigma is essentially portrayed in his defense of the rights of the natives. He experienced cognitive dissonance between his Christian beliefs and his colonial encounters. He was first an ally and beneficiary of the empire and then turned into a critic of it. He became a prophet of the New World, criticizing the empire and supporting the Indians. He was torn between his loyalty to his nation and his advocacy for the natives. Despite this defense, he fell short in his advocacy. He remained caught up in his colonial worldview of Christian humanism, combining scholasticism and humanism, believing in the universality of humanity but with gradation or hierarchy. He remained Spanish by being culturally and linguistically alienated from the natives. He epistemically represented the natives using his hegemonic worldview, thereby reducing them to objects and silencing their voices. He believed in the supremacy of Renaissance humanism and the superiority of the Christian culture.
Delfo C. Canceran (Thu,) studied this question.