Ortega y Gasset’s Philosophy: Context and Key Concepts
Socio-Cultural Context
19th-century Spain witnessed a struggle between tradition and liberalism, culminating in the First Republic. The monarchy’s restoration led to political shifts between Liberals and Conservatives until the Second Republic in 1931. Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship (1923) preceded the unstable Second Republic and the Civil War, followed by Franco’s repressive regime.
Economically, Spain industrialized, with the textile and steel sectors gaining prominence. The population grew, and labor movements like the Socialist Party, UGT, and CNT emerged.
Culturally, the “Silver Age” saw remarkable development. Positivism influenced social criticism (Regenerationism), expressed through naturalism. Modernism emerged, advocating radical change. The Free Institution of Education was founded.
Philosophical Context
Analytic philosophy arose in the UK, Austria, and Germany, influencing the US. It emphasized empirical observation, rejected metaphysics, and focused on language analysis. Philosophy shifted from systematic understanding to clarifying language’s limits.
Edmund Husserl aimed to establish philosophy with mathematical rigor, critiquing positivism’s reduction of reality to facts and causal laws.
1. Meaning of Life (Ortega y Gasset)
A. Description of His Philosophy
Ortega’s philosophy is vitalist, emphasizing life as the key to understanding reality. Philosophy is open, flexible, and reflects life itself.
B. Object of Philosophy
The object is the universe, the totality of all things, including those unknown or uncertain.
C. Philosophical Methodology
Ortega’s method involves approaching problems from diverse perspectives. Key imperatives include:
- Autonomy: Rejecting preconceived notions.
- Pantonomy: Understanding concepts in relation to everything.
- Essentiality: Finding the root of things.
2. Perspectivism: 1st Period (1919-1923)
Perspectivism critiques idealism/subjectivism and realism/objectivism. Ratiovitalism forms the basis, analyzing previous philosophies.
Against idealism: The subject is not the center of reality.
Against realism: The subject is not merely a part of reality but actively experiences it.
1. Objectivism/Realism
Reality exists independently of thought. Things are tangible and substantial.
Criticism: Realism overlooks the subject’s role in experiencing reality.
2. Idealism/Subjectivism
Doubt leads to true knowledge. Thought is the starting point, and external reality is inferred from inner experience.
Criticism: Thought is not independent of things; it’s a relationship between subject and object.
3. Ratiovitalism: 2nd Period (1923-1955)
Combines critical rationalism (Descartes) and vitalism (Nietzsche). Human beings possess reason and live a specific historical life.
A. Vital Reason
Rejects pure reason for vital reason, which engages with reality in a historical context.
B. Life as a Radical Figure
Life (self with things) is the fundamental object of philosophy. It involves:
- Radical reality.
- Encountering the world.
- Making decisions.
- An ongoing task.
- A problem to be solved.
- Self-realization.
- Coexistence.
C. The Vital Reason
Connects reason, life, and history. Captures life through these elements. “I am myself and my circumstances” reflects the human-world relationship.
4. The Issue of Our Time
4.1. Historicism
Human life is historical. Each generation has a task. Society is a historical endeavor.
4.2. Perspectivism
Reality is understood through multiple perspectives. Truth arises from the union of individual visions.