Sense of Decline and Spirit of Regegeneration in Spanish Political Philosophy of XVII Century: Álamos de Barrientos

Abstract

Following the guidelines of tacitism, Baltasar Álamos de Barrientos represented, as few others did, the regenerative spirit of Spanish politics. The article attempts to highlight the importance of this historical figure at a critical time of crisis in the empire. To regenerate politics, Álamos adapts forms of Machiavellianism —that certain sectors has rejected— to his own ends, in order to ward off difficult situations at that time by making continual use of lessons learned from past experience (history as “magister vitae”). In this manner, the traditional “ancilla moralis teologiae” politics is superseded by “know in order to prevent, prevent in order to defeat,” thanks to the influence of the irreligious Machiavelli filtered through the rational tacitism of Álamos. In his wake, many in Spain have taken the regenerationist baton from Álamos with equal success: the “novatores,” the nineteenth-century regenerationists… This has continued up to the present, a time in which many want to play a similar role, calling for “a second transition,” “a tide of change” (marea de cambio), “a possible and better world” …But who is actually putting forward technical/rational solutions for the concrete problems?