From the moment Enrique Dussel began developing the ideas of what later would be called Philosophy of Liberation –around the year 1969– to the publication of The Theological Metaphors of Marx in 1993, at least two moments in his intellectual trajectory can be identified. The shift between them is signalled by a change of attitude towards Karl Marx. In both periods, such shift is defined in terms of the presence or absence of the exteriority concept, the most important category in Dusselian thought. This inflection point regarding the author of Capital is paradigmatic. Marx moves from being a philosopher of Totality, modern and incompatible with Latin American tradition to being regarded as critical of Modernity, essential for understanding and liberating the subcontinent, whose mature work is based on the exteriority of the living labour. Focusing on those two phases to undertake the task of deepening and defining the conditions under which such shift occurs –conditions, mainly of an archeological nature, as Dussel himself outlines – has not been a well-explored area of study.

In this context, this research aims to analize the category of exteriority in Enrique Dussel’s philosophy in the period between the constitution of The Philosophy of Liberation (1969 – 1975) and the publication of The Theological Metaphors of Marx, the fourth and final volume Dussel devotes to the work of Karl Marx. It will be attempted to determine whether the stage that begins with the systematic and chronological reading of the Man from Trier – undertaken by Dussel during the early years of his exile in Mexico – and the change of attitude regarding the presence or absence in Marx of such category implied, in turn, a rupture in the very assumptions of Dusselian Philosophy existing until then.