Emilio Lledó Íñigo (

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

, 5 November 1927) is a Spanish philosopher. He has been a professor at several universities and is a member of the

Royal Spanish Academy The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

Career

He took his bachelor's degree at the Instituto de Bachillerato Cervantes and, in 1952, his degree in philosophy at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university loca ...

. He went to Germany to continue his studies in classical philosophy with

Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 ''magnum opus'', '' Truth and Method'' (''Wahrheit und Methode''), on hermeneutics. Life Family an ...

, who helped him to finish his doctoral thesis by securing him a scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 1955, he obtained a position at the Complutense University of Madrid, but returned to Germany after his marriage in 1958 because Gadamer, who was then a Dean of the faculty at the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, had offered him a position there. In 1962, he again returned to Spain, taking a job as an instructor at the Instituto Núñez de Arce in

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

. After two years, he obtained a chair at the University of La Laguna. Shortly thereafter, in 1967, he moved to the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...

, where he had been given the chair in Philosophy. In 1978, he moved again, to the National University of Distance Education (UNED), where he remained until his retirement.Proyecto Filosofía: Biography
/ref> Lledó was elected to Seat l of the

Real Academia Española The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

on 11 November 1993, he took up his seat on 27 November 1994.

Philosophical thought

According to Lledó, the history of philosophy should be understood as a form of "collective memory", embracing mankind's total development, that can be structured through three main elements: #

Classical Greek philosophy Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empire ...

, with special attention to the

Platonic dialogues Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

and

Aristotelian ethics Aristotle first used the term ''ethics'' to name a field of study developed by his predecessors Socrates and Plato. In philosophy, ethics is the attempt to offer a rational response to the question of how humans should best live. Aristotle regarded ...

as well as

Epicureanism Epicureanism is a system of philosophy founded around 307 BC based upon the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Epicureanism was originally a challenge to Platonism. Later its main opponent became Stoicism. Few writings by Epi ...

. # Attention to language as the principal object of philosophical analysis; which clearly converges in the development of the main currents of post-war European thought. # Elaborating fully a consideration of temporality and writing that will lead to a "philosophy of memory" and a textual anthropology, from

hermeneutic Hermeneutics () is the theory and methodology of interpretation, especially the interpretation of biblical texts, wisdom literature, and philosophical texts. Hermeneutics is more than interpretative principles or methods used when immediate c ...

roots.

Selected works

* ''Filosofía y Lenguaje'', Ariel (1970) *''La Memoria del Logos'', Taurus (1984) * ''Memoria de la Ética'', Taurus (1994) * ''El Silencio de la Escritura'', Espasa (1998) * ''El Surco del Tiempo: Meditaciones Sobre el Mito Platónico de la Escritura y la Memoria'', Crítica (2000) * ''Elogio de la infelicidad'', Cuatro (2005) *''Ser Quien Eres: Ensayos para una Educación Democrática '', University of Zaragoza (2009) * ''Lenguaje e Historia'', Dykinson (2011) * ''El Epicureísmo'', Taurus (2011) *''La Filosofía, Hoy'', RBA (2012) * ''Los Libros y la Libertad'', RBA (2013) . * ''Palabra y humanidad'', KRK (2015). * ''Pensar es conversar. Diálogo entre filósofos'', with Manuel Cruz, RBA (2015). * ''Fidelidad a Grecia'', Cuatro (2015) .

Honors and awards

* Life member of the Institute for Advanced Study, Berlin (1988) * Elected to the

(1993) *

Menéndez Pelayo International Prize The Menéndez Pelayo International Prize has been awarded since 1987 by the Menéndez Pelayo International University (UIMP) with the objective of honoring those persons whose literary or scientific work has a humanistic orientation and application, ...

(2004) *

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(2005) * Lázaro Carreter Prize, from the Germán Sánchez Ruipérez Foundation (2007) * A library has been named after him in

Salteras Salteras is a city in the Province of Seville, Spain. It has a population of 11,854 inhabitants (2018 INE). It borders Olivares to the west, Gerena to the northwest, Guillena to the north, La Algaba to the northeast, Valencina to the east an ...

, his parents' hometown.

References

External links