Carlos Paladines Escudero, director of the Department of Philosophy at the Catholic University of Quito, presents an excellent collection of essays discussing the Ecuadorian precursor to Independence, Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo. The volume is a thoughtful addition to the study of this Ecuadorian luminary.
In “El siglo XVIII en la real audiencia de Quito,” Carlos Ereile Granizo constructs a panoramic view of the social, political, and economic environments within which Espejo lived and worked. A concise and masterful analysis, it is one of the strengths of the collection. Jaime Peña Novoa’s “Biografía de Eugenio Espejo” competently narrates the precursor’s life and intellectual endeavors. A careful review of the historiography about Espejo is presented by Samuel Guerra Bravo in “Apuntes para una crítica a los estudios sobre Eugenio Espejo: 1796–1976.”
Bravo’s second contribution, “El itinerario filosófico de Eugenio Espejo: 1747–1795,” and Paladines’s essay, “El pensamiento económico, político y social de Espejo,” are the highlights of the volume. Both of these emphasize the empirical aspects of Espejo’s philosophy and his transitional role in Ecuador’s history. Paladines places Espejo in the middle of the crosscurrents of scholasticism and Enlightenment thought. He concludes that the precursor began his intellectual journey as an empiricist who initially remained loyal to mercantilism, social hierarchy, and monarchism, and only gradually shifted to embrace a limited concept of free trade, republican government, and independence. Examining Espejo’s philosophy, Bravo supports this assessment, noting that Espejo was pragmatic in his views and grounded in a sociohistorical approach to ideas. Rather than dwelling upon the traditional philosophic problems of the soul, the universe, and God, he was preoccupied with the practical application of empirical knowledge to the political and economic problems of the audiencia.
The value of this anthology lies not only in its analysis of Espejo, but in its presentation of a concise picture of the colonial ambiente at the eve of Independence.
