Spanish Krausism was a cultural movement that was rooted in the publication in the 19th century of Krause's personal version of the dominant idealism, which was largely overshadowed in his native Germany by the prestige of its leading figures: Fichte, Schelling and especially Hegel. Around 1840, a group of Spanish jurists, notably Julián Sanz del Río were seeking a political doctrine within the liberal tradition to initiate a regenerative process that they felt was necessary to modify and extend the philosophical concepts then in vogue. Coincidentally, Ruperto Navarro Zamorano, a member of the Friends of Sanz del Rio, had in 1841 translated the Course Natural Law, or Philosophy of Law, by Heinrich Ahrens, which had previously been published in Paris in 1837. Ahrens affirmed that the foundation of law is the "compliance": the set of external conditions upon which the fate of the rational man and humanity could be developed systematically as a universal order of piety, devotion and altruism. Ahrens philosophy was developed and summarized by Kraus in the formula of "harmonious rationalism" or "panentheism" published in 1811 as The Ideal of Humanity and Universal Federation.
Latin American Krausism
The common language made some Latin Americans who visited or were exiled to Spain come into contact with Krause's doctrines. The most outstanding case was that of a Puerto RicanEugenio María de Hostos, who studied philosophy with Sanz del Rio. De Hostos' novel The Inner Pilgrimage of Eugenio Mara de Hostos as Seen Through Bayón is a romantic novel in the form of a diary outlining his dream of a unified social philosophy. Hostos supports the liberation of women not as a human right, rather as a practical mechanism for greater good for the community and for the social organization. The Cuban writer and national heroJosé Martí, suffered a brutal political imprisonment with forced labor, but, despite his youth, he escaped prison for exile in Spain. There he write letters against transatlantic military brutality of the colonial regime. He also studied law and thus encountered the philosophy and doctrines of Krause. These two proponents, Martí and de Hostos, although with a very different personal discourses, greatly influenced the evolution of Krausism in which the individual takes personal responsibility to act for the betterment of society. These discourses led to the so-called "Anti-Imperialist-Nationalism". This term was first developed by Dr. Rafael Cuevas, and referred to the analysis of the rebellion of Augusto C. Sandino, then fighting against the United States occupation of Nicaragua. Hostos and Martí became heroes and allies in their anti-colonial struggle for independence for both Cuba and Puerto Rico from Spain. Both men were initiated into Freemasonry, thus confirming the influence of Freemasonry in the promotion of Krausism and vice versa. These links promoted a kind of social network to support the migration of Krausists liberal educators who reached out to Latin Americas' liberal leaders who were seeking autonomy from colonial Spain. Later Krausism figures included Hipólito Yrigoyen, José Batlle y Ordóñez, Alfonso Reyes, Jose Enrique Rodo, Alejandro Deustua, Arturo Umberto Illia and Alejandro Korn. Reyes, for example, gave lectures at the Residencia de Estudiantes in Madrid, whilst Rodo promoted esthetic concern through Krausism in his extensive correspondence with Leopoldo Alas.
