The Basque Philosophy of Aniceto Olano (1896-1966), Alias Miguel de Alzo. An Example of Nationalist Historiography of Philosophy

Abstract

In 1934, Aniceto Olano (1896-1966), alias Miguel de Alzo, published a book titled Basque Philosophy, where he defends the existence of a national philosophy for Euskal Herria. This book should be understood as an example of nationalist historiography of philosophy. In the Iberian Peninsula, there are several precedents, such as the national philosophy of Spain (Menéndez y Pelayo), the national philosophy of Andalusia (Federico de Castro), and the national philosophy of Catalonia (Torras i Bages, Bové, Pujols, etc.). This last one had a direct influence on Olano, who studied at the University of Barcelona between 1920-1922 with some of the greatest representatives of the national historiography of philosophy in Catalonia: Tomàs Carreras i Artau and Jaume Serra Hunter. In his Basque Philosophy, Olano describes the characteristics that define and distinguish Basque thinkers. He identifies their origins in Quintilian, elaborates the first history of philosophy in Euskal Herria, and concludes that Francisco de Vitoria embodied those characteristics.