Borges and philosophy is a complex topic, as Borges himself often downplayed his philosophical intentions, yet his work is deeply intertwined with philosophical ideas. Many literary scholars and even some philosophers have debated the extent to which Borges was genuinely engaged in philosophical inquiry versus using philosophy as a source of literary inspiration. Borges often stated that he was not a philosopher but a man of letters who utilized philosophical perplexities as material for his literary creations. He remarked that he turned his own intellectual uncertainties and the established system of philosophical questions into literary forms. In response to the idea that he explored different philosophical directions without truly committing to any, Borges said he was neither a philosopher nor a metaphysician, but rather he exploited or explored the literary possibilities of philosophy. Regarding idealism, he claimed his engagement with it was specific to the needs of a particular story during its writing. Some scholars, like Carla Cordua, argue that Borges's disavowals of being a philosopher are convincing and that his work confirms he did not engage in philosophy proper. They suggest that Borges took philosophical elements out of context, treating them as objects or singular situations, thus removing them from their original function as concepts. However, this perspective is not universally accepted. Some argue that by exploring and even "exploding" the literary possibilities of philosophy, Borges was, in fact, engaging in a form of philosophical inquiry. The question arises: how does exploiting the literary possibilities of philosophy differ from doing philosophy?. It has been suggested that Borges's work straddles the closely related but often distinct activities of literature and philosophy. Carolyn Korsmeyer notes that philosophical discourse often aims for a detachability of content from its textual form. Jorge J. E. Gracia distinguishes literature from philosophy based on the inseparability of literary works from their expressing texts, suggesting Borges's texts, as literature, do not enter the realm of philosophy. However, Borges himself ironically critiqued philosophy, suggesting that Kant's _Critique of Pure Reason_ might even have perplexed Kant himself and implying that philosophical language (like German, considered the language of philosophy) might paradoxically obscure philosophical understanding. This highlights Borges's playful and often subversive approach to philosophical traditions. Despite his disclaimers, Borges consistently engaged with fundamental philosophical problems in his work. Time is a central obsession, which he considered the fundamental problem of metaphysics. He viewed consciousness as a continuous passing from one state to another, which he defined as time. He even argued that it is possible to conceive of a world without space but not without time. The problem of identity, intertwined with the passage of time, also deeply concerned him. He questioned how identity can endure if our substance is time and time ceaselessly passes. Borges frequently explored the philosophical implications of idealism, particularly the ideas of Plato and Berkeley. In his early work _History of Eternity_, he engaged with Platonic philosophy. He reread idealism, from Plato to Berkeley, through a "conspiratorial key," suggesting that our perceived reality might be a deceit engineered by a higher power, thus linking theology to politics. He even used the concept of the fatherland to illustrate how the generic (an idea rooted in Platonic formalism) can be more intense than the concrete. His story "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" is a profound exploration of Berkeleyan idealism, where things come into being through perception. The world of Tlön, created intellectually, eventually becomes a tangible reality. Borges also engaged with skepticism, noting his tendency to value religious and philosophical ideas for their aesthetic worth and marvelousness, which he saw as an indication of an "essential skepticism". Borges found in Hume's philosophy, particularly his theory of causality based on temporal succession, a framework for understanding translation's relation to the original, implicitly challenging notions of originality and authority. He also critiqued Hume and Berkeley in "A New Refutation of Time," though he admitted his disbelief in this refutation, attributing it to his immersion in belles-lettres and metaphysical perplexities. Kant's philosophy also served as a point of reference. Borges's "Funes the Memorious" can be read as an oblique reference to Kant's description of the synthesis of time, offering a challenge to transcendentalism by highlighting the role of the empirically determined imagination. He explored the limits of both empiricism (as seen in Hume and "Pierre Menard") and transcendentalism (as seen in Kant and "Funes") through his literary works. Borges's engagement with philosophy was not limited to Western traditions. He was interested in pantheistic ideas of identity from India, rationalized by Spinoza, noting how fantastic literature could intersect with philosophy through such concepts. He also explored Judeo-Islamic-Christian ideas related to the name of God and its creative potential. The imagination plays a crucial role in Borges's understanding of the relationship between literature and philosophy. He saw the imagination as a mediator, the condition of possibility for life, making life fundamentally aesthetic. The "fantastic" genre, for Borges, was not only literary but also a mode of thought and life, dependent on the mediating power of the imagination. Moreover, Borges's metaphysical concerns often had political undertones. His "games with time and infinitude," often perceived as abstract, actually question the stability of our perceived reality and the mechanisms by which it is administered, which is inherently political as political power involves the imposition of a reality. His exploration of idealism in a conspiratorial light directly links metaphysical ideas to political control. The concept of a "god behind the god" in his chess sonnets, implying hierarchy and power structures, serves as a blueprint for ethical and political systems. Borges's use of framed narratives, where realities are nested within other realities, is not only a literary technique but also reflects his understanding of power as being defined by the believability of the fictions it imposes. A perfectly believable fiction superimposed on reality signifies total power, akin to a divine creation. In conclusion, while Borges often disavowed being a philosopher, his literary work is deeply saturated with philosophical inquiries. He engaged with a wide range of philosophical concepts and thinkers, not merely to illustrate them but to explore their limits, paradoxes, and literary potential. His unique approach blurred the lines between literature and philosophy, using fiction as a means to examine fundamental questions about reality, time, identity, and power, often with a critical and skeptical eye. His works continue to be a rich ground for philosophical discussion, even if Borges himself preferred to be seen as "simply a man of letters".