José Ortega y Gasset

Quote by José Ortega y Gasset.

Quote by José Ortega y Gasset.

José Ortega y Gasset is one of the most transcendental philosophers since modernism. In addition, is considered one of the most influential Spanish-speaking voices of the XNUMXth century and probably the most important "thinker" in the history of Spain. For its postulates are always omnipresent to some extent within the lines of thought of the nineteen hundred.

One of the most recognized merits of his work was to bring philosophical reading closer to the "common public". Far from the convoluted forms, his writings have a literary fluency that allows any reader to enter without problem within the world of ideas. For this reason, it is a style compared by many academics with the balance between beauty and simplicity achieved by Miguel de Cervantes.

Biography

José Ortega y Gasset was born in Madrid on May 9, 1883, into a cultured and well-off family. A good part of his childhood was spent in Malaga, Andalusia. On the Costa del Sol he attended primary and secondary school. Later, the University of Deusto, in Bilbao, together with the Central University of Madrid, became their houses of study.

Young José was a very virtuous student, to such an extent that At just 21 years old, he had already received a Ph.D. in Philosophy. Your PhD thesis, The terrors of the year thousand, was a critique of a legend elaborated in a very lofty way. Similarly, Ortega scholars often cite this work as the first of his works.

Always linked to journalism

In general terms, the family of José Ortega y Gasset has always been strongly linked to journalistic work and politics. It was an "inheritance" started by his paternal grandfather, Eduardo Gasset and Artime, founder of the newspaper The Impartial. Later, this medium was run by his father, José Ortega Munilla. The history of this newspaper is not minor within Spanish journalism.

Openly liberal, The Impartial It was one of the first private companies to venture into the "information business." This was a novelty within a field once monopolized by political parties. Equally, the “family tradition” continued with one of Ortega y Gasset's sons, José Ortega Spottoro, founder of El País.

Academic life

Between 1905 and 1910, José Ortega y Gasset toured Germany to continue his training; thus received a strong influence of neo-Kantian thought. Upon returning to Spain, he began to teach classes in psychology, logic and ethics at the Escuela Superior del Magisterio in Madrid. He also returned to his alma mater in Madrid, this time to assume the chair of metaphysics.

Along with his teaching obligations - while he was maturing the jobs that would appear shortly as his first postulates - he assumed journalistic responsibilities of greater magnitude. In fact, in 1915 he assumed the direction of the weekly Spain. This publication demonstrated a clear pro-Allied stance during the Great War.

Claim to fame

At that time he was also a contributor to the Madrid newspaper The Sun. Precisely there they would “debut”, in the form of serials, two of his most representative works: Invertebrate Spain y the Rebelion of the mass. The latter (published as a book in 1929), It has been the most successful in the José Ortega y Gasset catalog in terms of diffusion and sales.

The Rebelion of the mass.

The Rebelion of the mass.

You can buy the book here:No products found.

the Rebelion of the mass It has been translated into more than 20 languages ​​and is considered a vital work within contemporary anthropology and philosophy. Because in this essay the author would bequeath to humanity one of the most discussed concepts of the recent century: that of "man - mass". Another emblematic work was The man and the people.

Political life

Once the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera was over and after the installation of the Second Republic, José Ortega y Gasset began a brief but brilliant political career. In 1931 he was elected deputy in the Republican Courts for the Province of León.

That same year, with the purpose of participating in the refounding of the nation, Ortega y Gasset, together with a large group of intellectuals, formed the Grouping at the Service of the Republic. It was a political party (although they refused to use this distinction) backed by republican and progressive ideas.

Civil war and exile

The following years were disappointing for Ortega y Gasset due to the direction of the discussions about a new legal framework for Spain. He also ended up upset with the same government management. In consecuense, predicted the implosion of the entire project because of the utopian claims of many. Similarly, he criticized the enormous influence (still) granted to the clergy.

Finally, his predictions gained strength in the shadow of the Civil War. In a heroic way, he managed to leave the country just as the violence between the parties in dispute reached its zenith. In the following decade he was between France, the Netherlands and Argentina, until he managed to settle in Lisbon. From Portugal he managed to return to Spain, with Franco already well established in power.

Reconciled to the church?

José Ortega y Gasset died on October 18, 1955. Shortly after, Some figures close to him claimed that the philosopher had become close to the Catholic Church towards the end of his life. But their relatives categorically refuted these versions ... They branded them propaganda hoaxes by biased media, controlled by the ecclesiastical spheres of power.

The philosophy of Ortega y Gasset

The philosophical postulates of Ortega y Gasset —with variants in the different stages of his life— they can be summed up under a single umbrella: that of perspectivism. In general terms, this concept states that there are no eternal and immovable truths, but rather an accumulation of different individual truths.

The "truths" of Ortega y Gasset

Perspectivism is that each person is the owner of their own truths, which are inevitably conditioned by individual circumstances. In this way, one of his most famous phrases emerged: "I am me and my circumstances, and if I don't save her, I won't save myself." (Don Quixote Meditations.

The man and the people.

The man and the people.

You can buy the book here: Man and people

Likewise, he proposed a break with the most famous of Descartian ideas, "I think, therefore I am." In contrast, José Ortega y Gasset places life as the genesis of everything. Therefore, without the presence of a living being, the generation of a thought is impossible.

The vital reason

This concept supposes an "evolution" of the definition of reason in its purest form, promoted during the Modern Age. At that moment, the accepted statement delimited the obtaining of knowledge only through the natural sciences. On the other hand, for Ortega y Gasset the human sciences have a similar relevance to that of other sciences.


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  1.   Gustavo Woltmann said

    Ortega y Gasset was an illustrious man, he left a mark on the history of the philosophy of Spain, and also of the world. I remember that one of his first books that I had the opportunity to read was Lecciones de Metafísica, simply wonderful.

    -Gustavo Woltmann.