Jose Ortega y Gasset. "What is philosophy?": The analysis and meaning of the work

One of the most outstanding representatives of the Spanish thought of the twentieth century is Jose Ortega y Gasset. "What is philosophy?" Is a work in which he waves at the analysis of the very way that a person can think of himself in the world. In his lectures, he made it clear that scientists should not disdain to treat ordinary people. The latter can also be engaged in philosophizing. But is every thinking possible to be called such? If not, what are the rules of philosophy? José Ortega y Gasset tried to answer these questions, as well as many others. "What is philosophy?" - a software product of the thinker.

short biography

The philosopher had a noble origin. He was born into a family that made him a true intellectual. Many celebrities went to the house, and from childhood the future Spanish philosopher met with famous people and listened to their speeches. He traditionally graduated from the Jesuit College, which in this country gave the most extensive education, and then entered the University of Madrid. As a doctor of science, he continued his studies in the Heine and Hegel regions. But on his biography a serious imprint imposed a civil war in Spain. The young philosopher became a fierce opponent of the Franco regime. He was forced to emigrate. Returning to his homeland only after the Second World War, he continued to be in opposition to the ruling party. Such was he, Jose Ortega y Gasset.

"What is philosophy?". Analysis of the original meaning

This work is a series of lectures, which the author read in 1928. But as a book it came out only in 1964. Lectures do not look like introductory remarks, which are usually made by teachers before the introduction to the course. This is also not a brief analysis of how the predecessors interpreted the main questions that occupied the philosophers for thousands of years. Moreover, he is a little provocateur, this Ortega y Gasset. "What is philosophy?" Is a name more masking the meaning of a work than revealing it. In fact, the thinker is not entirely interested in what this discipline is. He concentrates on a completely different problem. What should be the philosophy for modern man and whether it is practical for ordinary people - these are the main questions that torment him.

Existentialism and its influence

This approach is not unusual for the first half of the twentieth century. At that time existentialism was extremely popular, a trend that is difficult to characterize unambiguously. But its main feature, uniting all directions, probably can be called the question of what is being and how it correlates with a person's life. For a Spanish thinker, this is practically the same thing. Let's see how Ortega-i-Gasset answers his own question. What is philosophy? This is a way of life. That is, it is a kind of human being. Therefore, philosophical truth is not an abstract thought. It must directly come from life experience, including from everyday life.

Understanding the world

What else did Ortega y Gasset want to say in his lectures? "What is philosophy?" Is a book that establishes the rules of thinking that a person must adhere to. First of all, it is sincerity, openness and independence. History and society imposed many problems, tendencies and questions on many different meanings. The point is not whether they are true or not, but that under their layers the original object is almost completely invisible. Therefore, a real thinker must break through all these layers to dig down to the original object, to the world in its primitive state, as the philosopher expresses. And only after studying it yourself, you can consider whether or not traditional meanings are true or not.

Subjective truth

This problem is also raised by Ortega y Gasset. "What is philosophy?" Is a work that contains an interesting thesis that the question of authenticity or error does not really matter if we do not take into account the position of the thinker himself. How true is he, how much they are manipulated? After all, it also depends on which conclusion he will come to. And the reliability of his work can not be verified without first determining whether the thinker had a desire to reach the truth, or simply to play along with the general trends, to what was then believed to be true. Perhaps, if we look at the history of philosophy from this point of view, then it will turn out to be not the one to which we are accustomed.

This difference between the philosophical comprehension and the accuracy of the sciences is devoted to a special section in the course that Ortega-i-Gasset read ("What is philosophy?", Lecture 3). That is why a very important moment in determining the truth or falsity of the teaching is the biography of its author. After all, in the life path of any philosopher reflected his spiritual wanderings, doubts, the path to truth or from it. At the same time, it allows the works of any real thinker to stand over time and conduct a dialogue with modern people. That is why we are able to read and understand the works of the past.

Modern and classical philosophy

Like most representatives of existentialism, Ortega y Gasset was very critical of traditional Western European schools of thought. Of course, he did not deny the connection between modern and classical philosophy. But his analysis of such celebrities as Leibniz and Descartes is very critical. He believes these philosophers to be the "fathers of idealism", because of which instead of the real world, the humanities began to engage in abstract ideas. Real things were replaced by fantasies about them, on which other ideas were superimposed. According to the original expression of the philosopher, from the era of Descartes, the West European world "was left without light." So believed Ortega-i-Gasset. "What is philosophy?" (A brief summary of this work we discussed above) proposes to return to modern man a real world. This is precisely the task of philosophy, and its success depends on how much it will cope with it.