Personhood in El Criticón by Baltasar Gracián: How to Become a Complete Man

Abstract

El Criticon by Baltasar Gracian is more than just the literary venture of a philosopher; it is the result of the reflections and ideas presented in his prior works. This essay analyses El Criticon in accordance with the theoretical reflections on language and ingenium made in Agudeza y arte de ingenio and shows how the concept of persona emerges from the pages of El Criticon and moves from being the particular story of Andrenio and Critilo to becoming a universal theory of personhood. It studies Gracian's concept of persona in a philosophical perspective and compares it to the Cartesian cogito and Locke's idea of personal identity.