(MUSIC)
The School of Salamanca: Miguel Martel.
Arcadio García, professor of Philosophy, invites us to revisit the Enlightenment
a time when Salamanca was the City of Ideas in Spain
through his book "La escuela ilustrada salmantina"
and one of its protagonists, philosopher and cleric Miguel Martel.
A journey for the reader to meet a thinker who opened new intellectual pathways.
Readers will find a setting of Salamanca in the 18th and early 19th centuries
and the movement that took shape almost unnoticeably
and resulted in such important characters
as Diego Muñoz Torrero in the Cádiz Cortes
just to mention a representative of this great movement.
Miguel Martel is a very versatile man
who joins this group, already established in part
when he arrives at the University of Salamanca
and would later immerse himself completely
since he internalises Enlightenment philosophy
which is coming in from Europe, specially Salamanca
and will signify an overhaul of universities
not only in Salamanca but also of the rest of the kingdom.
No other Spanish city is as related to the Enlightenment as Salamanca
for many experts, the main gateway Enlightened ideas came through.
A place full of tradition and modernity.
It represents the primary focus of the expansion of the Enlightenment
to the rest of Spain.
The School of Salamanca, which Professor Arcadio García studies
is the first and most important source, perhaps even more than Seville
of study and expansion of the Enlightenment in Spain.
I find the thesis he defends very interesting
which posits both Spanish traditions should be joined
the Catholic or religious tradition, and the Enlightened tradition.
That concurrence could solve the conundrum of the "Two Spains"
and he makes an excellent case
the origin of the "Two Spains" and the Constitution of Cádiz.
The book is published by UNED and the University of Salamanca
in their role as promoters of rigorous in-depth research work.
What this collaboration means
is to be able to publish works of great scientific interest
that wouldn't see the light otherwise
not to mention the opportunities for dissemination.
This book is published both in paperback and ebook format
and for university publishers
it helps to widen and consolidate quality publications
since these works are supervised
by external reviewers who are experts in the discipline
using a double-blind process.
Script: Daniel Plaza. Voice-over: Miguel Minaya.