This is a definitive study of a major intellectual movement of
nineteenth-century Spain. The 'harmonic rationalism' of the German Karl
Christian Friedrich Krause (1781-1832), a philosophy dedicated to an
ideal of universal brotherhood, had an unexpectedly powerful influence
upon Spanish history, politics, education and literature in the late
nineteenth century and beyond. Concerned primarily with the phase in
which this all-embracing movement appears most homogeneous - between the
revolution of 1854 and the early days of the Restoration - Professor
López-Morillas clearly outlines the Krausist doctrine and its relevance
to Spain, particularly in the contexts of attitudes towards Germany and
France. Because of the failure of the Enlightenment to establish any
real roots in Spain and the political repression that delayed and
weakened the Romantic revolt, the Spanish intellectual and political
climate of the time was receptive to a philosophy that combined
rationalism and idealism with social reform.