page_title: Eugenio Espejo
section_title: Views on education
hierarchical_section_title: Eugenio Espejo / Thought / Views on education
caption_attribution_description: Retrato de Benito Jerónimo Feijoo
context_page_description: Francisco Javier Eugenio de Santa Cruz y Espejo was a medical pioneer, writer and lawyer of mestizo origin in colonial Ecuador. Although he was a notable scientist and writer, he stands out as a polemicist who inspired the separatist movement in Quito. He is regarded as one of the most important figures in colonial Ecuador. He was Quito's first journalist and hygienist.
  As a journalist he spread enlightened ideas in the Royal Audiencia, and as a hygienist he composed an important treatise about sanitary conditions in colonial Ecuador that included interesting remarks about microorganisms and the spreading of disease.
  Espejo was noted in his time for being a satirist. His satirical works, inspired by the philosophy of the Age of Enlightenment, were critical of the lack of education of the Audiencia of Quito, the way the economy was being handled in the Audiencia, the corruption of its authorities, and aspects of its culture in general. Because of these works he was persecuted and finally imprisoned shortly before his death.
context_section_description: The goal of Espejo's first three works was the intellectual improvement of Quito. El Nuevo Luciano de Quito ridiculed the outdated educational system maintained by the clergy. Espejo argued that the people of Quito were accustomed to adulation and that they admired any preacher who could quote the Bible in a pompous and insubstantial way. Marco Porcio Catón exposed the ignorance of the pseudointellectuals of Quito. La ciencia blancardina, in which Espejo claimed to be the author of the previous two works, condemned the results of the clergy's educational system: ignorance and affectation. All three works caused polemic.
  Through these three books, Espejo advanced the ideas of European and American scholars such as Feijoo and the Jesuits Verney and Guevara, among others.  As a result, many religious orders modified their educational programs. Espejo resented the pseudointellectuals who misled the thought of the city of Quito, disregarding people who were actually knowledgeable.
  Espejo particularly criticized the Jesuits for, among other things, teaching ethics not as a science but as a guide to good manners and for their adoption of Probabilism as a moral guide. He complained about the lax system for educating priests in Quito and said it instilled slothful habits in students. As a result, the priests had no real idea of their duties towards society and God and had little inclination to study. In El Nuevo Luciano de Quito, he lamented the large number of quacks who pretended to be doctors. In La ciencia blancardina he continued his attack on these quacks while attacking clerics who worked as physicians without adequate medical education.
caption: Espejo was influenced by European scholars, such as Benito Jerónimo Feijóo.
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