Spain doesn’t have an imposing roll-call of philosophers.
Not like the French with Voltaire and Sartre, or the
Germans with Kant and Leibniz. A colourful intellectual
scene existed in medieval Moorish Spain, but only José
Ortega y Gasset, working a hundred years ago, has
found genuine international acclaim in the centuries
since.The power of the Catholic Church in Spain no
doubt played a part in stifling progressive, questioning
lines of thought.You get what you give with Seneca
Hit the history books looking for Spain’s cerebral talent
of yore and you find foreign names, settling in Iberia
after their conquering armies. Seneca theYounger
was the most famous of the ancient thinkers. Born in
Hispania in 4BC but unmistakably Roman, he took up
Stoic philosophy, pushing the practical mantra that
simplicity, virtue and reason held the key to a fuller,
freer existence irrespective of whatever awfulness
life might throw at you. His personalised version of
stoicism became known asSenequismo, with its call
to respect human liberty, avoid vice and vengeance,
and generally to be very nice to everyone.Senequismo
made an impact in the Renaissance before resurfacing
in 17thcentury Spain when writers like Francisco de
Quevedo (see section 2.1.3.) attempted to reconcile
new reasoning with Christianity.98- Identity: the
building blocks of
2. Literature
and philosophy
3. Art and
architecture
4. Performing
arts
5. Cinema
and fashion
6. Media and
communications
7. Food and drink 8. Living culture:
the details of
“IF YOU WISHED TO
BE LOVED, LOVE.”
Seneca the Younger
2.2.1 Think tank: the big names of Spanish philosophy