Abstract
This study defends the thesis that the early though of Ignacio Ellacuría -which has a particular emphasis on developing the anthropological, metaphysical and epistemological theses of his teacher Xavier Zubiri-, is the basis for understanding fundamental elements of his philosophical thinking related to a liberating project. To that purpose, it deepens his vision around the biological fundamentals of intelligence, and then shows its implications in main ideas of his mature thinking, such as deideologization and historization.