Surprised by Polo

Abstract

How does one who is not an academic or a philosopher—worse, still: a financial journalist—discover Leonardo Polo? Not only are his works notoriously difficult, but most of his writings have appeared only in Spain. Very little has been translated into other languages. Although there is an institute named after him, academic interest in Polo is still rather limited to Spanish-language academic environments. In this reflective essay, the writer seeks to uncover the reasons for his fascination with Polo, and provide a summary of some of the basic concepts and ideas to which he has been introduced in the course of his haphazard involvement with Polo’s works.