Ortega y Gasset's Philosophy: Life as Radical Reality

Ortega y Gasset: Life as Radical Reality

Early Life and Career

O., born into a bourgeois family in Madrid with ties to journalism, pursued a doctorate at the University of Madrid and furthered his studies in Germany. He became a full professor of metaphysics at the Central University in 1919. During the following years, he alternated his university teachings with the publication of numerous books and articles. He also engaged in publishing initiatives, conferences in America, and political intervention, becoming one of the most important Spanish social and intellectual figures. O.'s thought is always open to the world and its problems. In his writings, he blends the intellectual depth of a philosopher with a treatment of the most current issues. All agree that his works show an original thought, knowledge of the major intellectual trends of his time, and attention to the circumstances in which he lived.

What is Philosophy?

The text belongs to the book "What is Philosophy?", a lecture series or "lessons" for all interested audiences (in fact, it took place in a theater). It is therefore an attempt to publicly expose Ortega's fundamental principles of his thought, as he was convinced that philosophy must grow from life and be part of it. In Lesson X, he addresses the problem of "radical reality" and provides a description through successive deepening of what this "ultimate reality" or human life is.

Guiding Principles of Ortega's Thought

The entire chapter can be taken as guidance for Ortega's thought in two ways: by the thesis he defends (the principle of philosophy from life as "radical reality") and the philosophical reflection method used (enlargement of perspective, or passing a previous position, true but not sufficient).

History of Philosophy and Radical Reality

The very history of philosophy can be seen as a work in which problems lead to the need for a change of perspective, so as to conserve the truths discovered but integrated into a broader perspective. This process appears clearly in the philosophical search for "radical reality". O. raises the discovery of a new reality different from that presented by realism (of old, reality is things) and idealism (the modern: reality is ideas). This new reality is radical, that is, it is a new idea of being, a new conception that exceeds philosophy, integrating the two previous ones. To be is to live, a relation between self and things. The dynamism of living things subordinates both thought.

Ortega's Concept of Life and Ratio-Vitalism

Ortega's concept of life has a biological sense, but it is something much more primal: life is that of which we are aware. It is to feel alive in a world, this being and I being complementary. Not a mere coexistence of two realities but mutually dependent, or better yet, an interface: a "being busy" with a world that, on the other hand, acts on me, touches me. In this "deal" in a world of life, one needs to understand oneself and understand the world we live in: the rational dimension, the need to know, is an essential dimension of life. Neither reason outside life (rationalism) nor life against reason (vitalism) emphasize the essential unity of life and reason. This is what makes Ortega's thought able to be called ratio-vitalism. This reason is a part of life and takes life itself as its priority theme of reflection, called vital reason.

Life as a Task and Futurition

When one reflects on one's own condition, one's life is in a dimension of fatality. It is an imposed task: to decide, to select one of the possibilities that the fact offers me and, thus, to project my life into the future. To live is this: to decide to be what one is not yet (Ortega's language of futurition).

Knowledge, Beliefs, Ideas, and Perspective

Knowledge is part of life, either as an unconsciously assumed pre-understanding within a group (socially) from where we live and perform all acts (belief, "in which we are"), or as an intellectual product developed rationally (idea, "we are"). It is always limited, incomplete, subject to the same spatial and temporal circumstances in which life develops: it is a product of history and never reaches the full reality, but a perspective of that reality.

The Mass Man vs. The Aristocratic Man

From an anthropological (sociological) perspective, in the play "The Revolt of the Masses", he will say that the "mass man" is one who tends to stick to what is already given (beliefs, the "doxa") without considering initiatives to understand the complex reality of life (through ideas), as the "aristocratic man" will.