Ortega y Gasset’s Philosophy: Relevance in Modern Times
The existence of a thinker is always present and patent. Given that José Ortega y Gasset died in 1955, we can say that his thinking is still fully relevant today. The late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have been distinguished, among other things, by a concern for the vital or existential, and hence the influence of Ortega is crucial. Just walk through a bookstore or view catalogs specializing in publications to check how there is a huge interest in the issues of daily life, from self-help books to new life philosophies. In this regard, Ortega’s ratio-vitalism is still valid. Ortega made apparent what we all knew or suspected philosophically speaking. He made explicit in philosophical discourse categories of life, and those categories are now fully relevant.
Ortega’s Perspectivism and its Influence
Other central themes of Ortega’s philosophy remain valid. His interest in linking culture and life has a decisive influence on the current valuation of culture. In a world that is increasingly globalized and where intercultural dialogue is more necessary, Ortega’s perspectivism is established as a strong anchor to avoid Manichean positions and a clear reference to combat cultural relativism. Ortega’s perspectivism allows an integration of cultural forms without falling into contempt or childish overvaluation for understanding other ways of understanding culture, and ultimately, life.
Educational Reforms and Ortega’s Thought
The educational reforms that have occurred in our country also highlight the importance given in our educational system to vital interest. Such reforms have removed content that is not significant to the educational process, replacing it with a comprehension and self-understanding of man and the world around us and in which we live.
Ortega’s Social and Political Relevance
Other aspects of Ortega’s thought remain in full force, both socially and politically. Simply take a look at Spanish society, with its botellones, the passion for football, macro-concerts, etc., to see how his “Revolt of the Masses” remains fully in force. Or consider the political situation and regional disputes over current statutes of the “Invertebrate Spain”. The majority of his countrymen do not understand him. However, consider how nice it would be if the great advances that are occurring in recent years in our country came from where Ortega demanded. It seems clear that our entry into the EU is producing profound changes in Spanish society. Spain in the last decades, a Europeanized Spain, is unrecognizable. Also, another great revolution, which proposed education, but not the results desired by the many forces that offset it (trash TV, indiscipline, etc.), is also providing major change, such as the universalization of compulsory education to 16 years or the increasing international recognition of Spanish research projects.
Ortega’s Conception of Reason
The concept of reason is not unique, as the history of philosophy shows. There are different conceptions of it which have been historically: Pure Reason, mathematics, physics (positivist), instrumental, historical, critical, poetic, etc. Ortega rejected previous ideas, claiming only vital reason and historical reason.
Pure Reason vs. Vital Reason
The conception of reason that has prevailed historically is that of pure reason (in its broadest sense, it would include thinkers such as Plato, Descartes, and Kant). Man has made of pure reason the place which once made myths or God, that is, he has professed great faith in it, considering it self-sufficient for knowledge (although in the case of Kant, we must not forget that sensitivity and understanding are critical faculties). The result we saw in the 19th century was an irrational burst, especially with Nietzsche, against a stifling and untenable conception of reason: pure reason. Ortega, meanwhile, attempts to synthesize both exclusive ends. Neither irrationalism (Nietzsche) nor pure reason (Plato or Descartes), but vital and historical reason (Ortega). There is, therefore, not a stance against reason, as Nietzsche took, but against rationalism.
Vital Reason as the First Attribute of Human Beings
Pure reason has to be replaced by vital reason, as the first attribute of human beings is to live, to feel alive, to make your life, which is not done. Life is a continuous action with others in the world; it is to live, to coexist. There is, therefore, no man in the abstract, nor is there reason in the abstract, since “man has no nature but history…”
Ortega’s Critique of Traditional Philosophy
Traditional philosophy, therefore, has erred. Take an example of modern philosophy: a wary and cautious attitude leads Descartes to attempt to doubt everything. Unsure of all the contents of thought, he realizes that there is a reality we cannot doubt: I was wondering, I was thinking, and thus, his philosophy of the act of thinking. The ultimate reality in his case was thought, consciousness, subjectivity, as manifested in the first clear and evident truth that comes with the methodical doubt: “I think therefore I am.” In the case of Ortega, however, it will be life itself – radical reality so that we could say, “I live, therefore I think, I feel, I think, I work, I co-exist…”