The Spanish Counter-Enlightenment: an Overview, 1774–1814

Abstract

At once neglected and deeply controversial, the Spanish Counter- Enlightenment is crucial to understanding the development of Spanish politics and social thought until at least the mid-twentieth century. From Marcelino Menéndez Pelayo’s praise to Javier Herrero’s denigration to the more balanced assessments of present-day scholars, the movement continues to be a source of debate and varying evaluations. Still, key aspects of it remain to be known, including its anthropology, its approach to Enlightened political concepts, its inheritance from Salamanca scholastics and its ideas on interiority and the relationship between the individual and the state. This paper defines these aspects by examining the works of five of the Spanish Counter-Enlightenment’s major representatives: Fernando de Ceballos y Mier, (1732–1802), Vicente Fernández de Valcarce (1723–98), Lorenzo Hervás y Panduro (1735–1809), Francisco Alvarado (1756–1814) and Rafael de Vélez (1777–1850). The first aim is to identify what made the Spanish Counter- Enlightenment unique yet related to the French Counter-Enlightenment that nurtured and preceded it. The second aim is to provide a general overview of the movement even while introducing it to an Englishspeaking audience for the first time.

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