Ortega y Gasset: Life, Philosophy, and Historical Context
Ortega y Gasset
Historical Context
José Ortega y Gasset was born in Madrid and graduated in philosophy from the University of Madrid. He furthered his studies in Germany. His early works include Meditations on Don Quixote, Invertebrate Spain, and Truth and Perspective. He wrote The Revolt of the Masses during the Second Republic, a period in which he served as a deputy. At the start of the Spanish Civil War, he went into exile, returning to Spain during the Franco regime, which did not welcome him. He devoted years to writing What is Philosophy?
Spain had lost its last overseas colonies, and its intellectual world became aware of the economic, moral, and political misery. With the start of World War I, the world was divided between Germanophiles and Aliadophiles in Madrid. General Primo de Rivera’s military coup ended the Restoration and established a military dictatorship, crushing hopes for constitutional reform. Post-war Germany suffered under the harsh conditions of the Treaty of Versailles, which was not only politically humiliating but also economically devastating. Spain experienced a banking collapse, increasing instability in employment and living standards.
In the philosophical landscape of the late 19th century, influenced by life sciences and human sciences, the human species was seen as part of the animal kingdom, and human history was located within nature. Ortega’s philosophical revolution emphasized that “the philosopher is a man of a single theory, rather than several. And in this theory stands, it is the root and center.”
Comparison of Authors
Ortega was knowledgeable in Greek philosophy, and his ideals often contrasted with Plato’s idealism. Ortega’s philosophy is highly critical of Descartes, whom he accused of treating idealistic ideas as if they were actual realities. For Ortega, Descartes’ philosophy contains a fundamental contradiction: it posits the thinking self as the primary reality but then attempts to prove the existence of the external world. Ortega rejects Descartes’ method of seeking an indubitable first truth. Instead, he asserts that the primary certainty is not thinking consciousness but life itself; thinking is just one activity within human life.
Nietzsche, a key figure in vitalism, significantly influenced Ortega. Both philosophers critiqued traditional morality and rationalistic scientific knowledge. They agreed that being is not fixed and immutable but rather transforms throughout life. Furthermore, Ortega’s What is Philosophy? is indebted to Heidegger’s Being and Time. Ortega’s philosophical system incorporates several key concepts from Heidegger’s existentialism. Javier Zubiri and José Gaos, among other philosophers, were influenced by Husserl’s phenomenology and, along with Ortega, explored Heidegger’s fundamental ontology. The exile of many of these authors helped disseminate Ortega’s thought in Latin America, where his work was studied in universities. In Spain, Zubiri developed a biographical interpretation of ratiovitalism, adopting a position of Catholic discipleship in relation to his mentor.
Author’s Philosophy
Ortega y Gasset’s philosophy has three stages: Objectivism, Perspectivism, and Ratiovitalism. His work What is Philosophy? belongs to the third stage. In this book, Ortega presents a highly elaborate philosophical style. The work is not an investigative essay but a series of lessons that present consolidated academic findings. The discourse on “what is philosophy?” proceeds from the exterior to the interior, revolving around three questions to reach its core.
In the first three lessons, Ortega examines the outer boundaries of philosophy, addressing the metaphilosophical question and rejecting positivism to conclude that: Philosophy is the knowledge of the universe. From the second part of lesson VIII, he explores the question, “What is certain, undoubtedly?” concluding that the fundamental data define a philosophy of time. This involves several key issues:
- The overcoming of idealism: Ortega believed himself part of an elite generation of Europeans. Descartes, he argued, had provided a fresh start for Western thought by establishing the thinking subject through rational evidence. However, daily life is more fundamental than thinking; we think because we live.
- Life as radical reality: Idealism is overcome by radicalizing the understanding of intentional activity as characteristic of human life. Life, manifested in the events that constitute our existence, is inherently problematic.
- Life categories and the exposure method: This involves describing phenomena to reveal the essential elements of life’s fundamental constitution. One essential attribute of life is its evidential character, its presence in each of our actions.
- The accidental nature of life: The world affects us; we experience happiness or sadness because we exist within it, and our emotions and feelings inform us of our state of being.
- Life as decision: We continually make choices and anticipate our actions; to live is to decide. Reason is historical because life is historical. Constructing a robust concept of historical reason becomes the primary task of philosophy. Ortega intended to write a book titled Dawn of Historical Reason.