Summary of the book the revolt of the masses by jose ortega y gasset chapter 1 the coming of the masses in this chapter, jose. This article is a sidebar to this issues feature story, unarmed but. Ortega y gasset, as did geoffrey clive, that it is hard to think of a book written in the last. No other uptodate books explore this thinker and his great work. Jose ortega y gasset the spanish philosopher who saw life as an intellectual adventure. There is one fact which, whether for good or ill, is of utmost importance in the public life of europe at the present moment. Were art to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness.
For ortega, phenomenology meant giving up positivism, natualism and realism to discover the world of things which i must be personally conscious. Jose ortega y gasset stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. The revolt of the masses 1930 log in to see the full document and commentary. At milestone documents, we believe that engaging with historys original voices is exciting for students and liberating.
The revolt of the masses by jose ortega y gasset, jose. And i have to admit the first couple of times i read it, i didnt really understand what ortega was trying to get at. One does not hunt in order to kill high country news. Curated by ortega y gasset projects codirector lauren frances adams and jennifer coates. The revolt of the masses paperback january 1, 1961 by ortega y. As today, his surroundings do not so force him, the everlasting massman, true to his character, ceases to appeal to other authority and feels himself lord of his own existence. Mention of horizonal thinking in one of the essays. Most importantly, the author demonstrates the relevance and importance of ortega y gassets thought and his the revolt of the masses for todays world, showing, for instance, how ortegas categories like mass. Review of jose ortega y gassets the revolt of the masses. A demographic explosion is a sign of vitality, but it has an evil sideeffect. Ortega y gasset, remains anonymous at the translators request.
The revolt of the masses had its seeds in an earlier book by jose ortega y gasset, espana invertebrada 1922. See all 31 formats and editions hide other formats and editions. How liberalism has undermined the middle class duration. One must go back to the first half for a thinker of comparable range and power. Organized by ortega y gasset projects codirector eleanna anagnos. Ortega y gasset, jose 18831955 spanish philosopher, essayist, and critic. Full text of the revolt of the masses jose ortega y. Click here to request a free trial account only available to college instructors primary source readers. Ortega y gasset 18831955 read philosophy in germany, most notably at. Ortega y gasset talks about the environment and the hero in his meditations on don quixote. This little book, written in 1942 by spanish philosopher. The massman would never have accepted authority external to himself had not his surroundings violently forced him to do so. Greg johnson, ayn rand and ortega y gasset counter. The revolt of the masses was a seminal work in the early 20th century.
He rode out to encounter giants, but instead of giants, his environment produced windmills. Ortega y gassets critique of the system proceeds not from the fear that it will necessarily fail in economic terms but from the observation that it is a system that was created by the cultural elite of western civilization, which it was increasingly falling to the undifferentiated masses to maintain. Ortega y gasset is popular again in some circlesit makes sense that he, and the revolt of the masses in particular, is since his analysis of the social and political order in 1930 seems so incisive today. He had made vivid contributions to subjects like psychology, metaphysics and philosophy. Mostly, though, the margins would be crammed with question marks, exclamation points, and words of protest. Sydneytrads is the web page of the sydney traditionalist forum. Introduction the revolt of the masses is undoubtedly the best known and most popular of the writings of jose ortega y gasset 1883 1955. This paper is also available in pdfformat at cfes web site. The revolt of the masses, in which he characterized 20thcentury society as dominated by masses of mediocre and indistinguishable individuals, who he proposed should surrender social leadership to minorities of cultivated and intellectually independent men. Pdf this is the first study that systematically describes ortega y gasset. Ortega means by revolt a moral and ethical evolution. Vertical barbarism threatens western civilization within. The revolt of the masses jose ortegay gassett ortega y gasset, jose 18831955 spanish philosopher, essayist, and critic. Ortegas the revolt of the masses and the triumph of the.
The revolt of the masses, by gasset, is a paradoxical essay in an era of runs and falls and calm in the storm, proud but not pretentious exploration of the problem of modern man according to ortega y gasset, man mass through some of its characteristics as in the first place, forgetting or rather the concealment of the past. In ortegas the revolt of the masses disciple, julian marias. The revolt of the masses, by gasset, is a paradoxical essay in an era of runs and falls and calm in the storm, proud but not pretentious exploration of the problem of modern man according to ortega y gasset, manmass through some of its characteristics as in the first place, forgetting or rather the concealment of the past. He was, along with kant, schopenhauer, and nietzsche, a proponent of the idea of perspectivism. The revolt of the masses by jose ortega y gasset is a classic in the old rightlibertarianpaleoconservative tradition. The revolt of the masses by jose ortega y gasset, 9780393310955, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. His philosophy has been characterized as a philosophy of life that comprised a longhidden beginning in a pragmatist metaphysics. Invertebrate spain, 1937, in an article titled masas 1926, and several.
The masses, suddenly, have made themselves visible, and have installed themselves in the preferred places of society. To revolt against the idea is to rebel against the very nation that we are limited by. Jose ortega y gasset, the revolt of the masses new york. It is an understatement to say of the revolt of the masses by jose. Everything in the world is strange and marvelous to wellopen eyes. Week 6 supplemental ortega y gasset the revolt of the masses. The revolt of the masses and the massman ortega y gasset was a complex and eclectic scholar, not only because of the variety of his writings, which ranged from philosophy to sociology, to theatre and art including a study on goya, but above all because of his political positions and theses, often severely criticised. Pdf the aristocratic interpretation of human existence in ortegas. Jose ortega y gasset was born on may 9, 1883, in madrid, the. Week 6 ortega y gasset the revolt of the masses youtube. Ortega y gasset, phenomenology and quixote springerlink. Most of his writings now collected in 12 thick volumes were originally published. If my pristine hardcover copy of meditations on hunting was a paperback, it would be heavily marked up.
Ortega y gassets meditations on quixote is important for the transmission of phenomenology into literary criticism. We do not know what is happening to us, and this is precisely what is happening to us, not to know what is happening to us. Sydneytrads is the internet portal and communication page of the sydney traditionalist forum. Soon, i intend to write more reflectively on what i have read, but for now, here are my favorite quotations from this exceptional book. The activity of living is a synthesis of self and the world. This led ortega y gasset to pronounce his famous maxim yo soy yo y mi circunstancia i am i and my circumstance meditaciones del quijote14 which he always put at the core of his philosophy. He worked during the first half of the 20th century, while spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship.
Revolt of the masses he does not only speak about sociology and, as he writes. Revolt of the masses 1930 he urges that countries should be ruled by the intellectual elite to avoid the decaying influence of mob control on the arts and government. This fact is the accession of the masses to complete social power. Continuously in print since 1932, ortegas vision of western culture as sinking to its lowest common denominator and drifting toward chaos brought its author international fame and has remained one of. The revolt of the masses 1957 edition open library. This book is first and foremost a detailed and meticulous study of ortega y gassets the revolt of the masses 1930. Why the masses intervene in everything, and why their intervention is solely by violence. Theres a reason ortega is remembered for his 1929 book, the revolt of the masses. Yet, he held back from joining a socialist party, because of what he. The revolt of the masses paperback january 1, 1952 by jos.