page_title: Spain
section_title: Philosophy
hierarchical_section_title: Spain / Culture / Philosophy
context_page_description: Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southwestern Europe with some pockets of territory across the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean. Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula. Its territory also includes two archipelagos: the Canary Islands off the coast of North Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta, Melilla, and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera, makes Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country. Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean respectively.
  With an area of 505,990 km², Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe, the second-largest country in Western Europe and the European Union, and the fourth-largest country by area on the European continent.
context_section_description: Seneca was a philosopher residing in Spain during the time of the Roman Empire.
  During the period of Muslim rule in Al-Andalus, Muslim, Jewish and Christian philosophies flourished, including the works of such philosophers such as Ibn Arabi, Averroes and Maimonides.
  In the Middle Ages Ramon Llull flourished in Spain.
  Humanist Luis Vives worked in Spain during the Renaissance, as did Francisco de Vitoria (creator of the School of Salamanca and scholar on international law) and Bartolomé de las Casas.
  The Enlightenment in Spain arrived later and was less strong than in other European countries, but during the XIX century liberal ideas arrived in Spanish society. At the end of the century, socialist and libertarian ideas also flourished, with thinkers such as Francisco Pi i Margall, Ricardo Mella and Francisco Ferrer Guardia.
  In the first half of the 20th century among the most prominent philosophers were Maria Zambrano and José Ortega y Gasset.
  Contemporary philosophers include Fernando Savater and Adela Cortina, creator of the term aporophobia.
caption: Averroes, founder of the Averroism school of philosophy, was influential in the rise of secular thought in Western Europe. Detail from Triunfo de Santo Tomás by Andrea Bonaiuto, 14th century
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