Ratiovitalism: Ortega y Gasset’s Philosophy of Life
Ratiovitalism
Ortega’s Approach to Philosophy
José Ortega y Gasset prioritized the assessment of ideas and things over men and people. He rejected traditional personal subjectivism and Spanish culture. Ortega developed his philosophy through essays, a literary genre he considered a less explicit form of scientific investigation.
Balancing Rationalism and Vitalism
Ortega’s Ratiovitalism sought to balance the rationalism of Descartes and Kant, which emphasized pure or scientific reason, with vitalism. Vitalism, embraced by various authors, celebrates the vital and expresses concern about excessive rationality, as seen in Hegel’s idealism or Comte’s scientific positivism. Ratiovitalism aims to place reason within the context of life, not as a mere biological reality but as a radical reality: the life of each individual subject.
Life as the Foundation of Philosophy
Ortega understood life as individual life. Life is the primary fact, the basis of absolute presence and evidence, upon which all philosophy must be built. Life occupies an even deeper and more central plane than Descartes’ and Kant’s Cogito, which Ortega believed they tried to suppress. He advocated for a method of knowing one’s own reality based on this fundamental and radical life: vital reason. Pure reason must give way to vital reason, which places reason within the context of life. Every life is a unique perspective on the universe. In contrast to the absolute and universal truth of rationalism, Ortega defended the truth of the here and now, tied to a particular place and time, making it rooted in reality. Ratiovitalism is neither relativism nor skepticism. Truth is inherently linked to a perspective.
Reality as a Relationship
Ortega’s view of reality suggests that the self is not defined by isolation but by its openness to the world. This correlation of self and world is life. Ortega’s new ontology is an ontology of life, where the question of being is connected to the problem of one’s existence. Philosophy’s rational task is to question our life, a meditation required by life itself, hence the term “rational-vital.” Life is self-present; living is found in the world. The world, or universe, for Ortega, is that which concerns me. This implies an excess over the ideal: the being of things is not intended for a subject; the being of things is reduced to being the subject of my occupation. Ortega’s famous statement, “I am I and my circumstances,” refers to the idea of a subject tied to their life here and now. Relativism asserts that all knowledge is subject to an individual’s perspective and historical determinism, thus applying a deformation that constitutes truth. Reality is provided through complementary individual perspectives and is, therefore, not mutually exclusive.
Life as a Project
Life is about doing, but before that, every individual must decide, at their own risk, what to do. Two features define life: it is a project, and this necessitates imagination and freedom. Freedom is not an individual’s decision but a defining feature of their essence.