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José Ortega y Gasset

Spanish liberal philosopher and essayist (1883-1955) · Spain · Academics · Died at 72

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The Spanish philosopher who built a "philosophy of life" while his country lurched from monarchy to republic to dictatorship - blending American pragmatism, German phenomenology, and a proto-existentialism that predated Heidegger.

AcademicsAcademicPhilosophyLiteraturePoliticsSpainEurope20th Century

A life in dates

1955Died18 October 19551949Goethe Plaque of the City of FrankfurtAward1932Goethe Medal for Art and ScienceAward1925“Similarly a work of art vanishes from sight for a beholder who seeks in it nothing but the moving fate of John and Mary or Tristan and Isolde and adjusts his vision to this.”In their words"The Dehumanization of Art"

“Were art to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness.”In their words"Art a Thing of No Consequence"

1921“It must be emphasized that the warrior spirit is one thing and the military spirit quite another. Militarism was unknown in the Middle Ages.”In their wordsInvertebrate Spain (1921)

“Now, apparently, many men are again feeling homesick for the herd. They devote themselves passionately to whatever there is left in them of the sheep.”In their wordsp. 170

1914“Yo soy yo y mi circumstancia, y si no la salvo a ella no me salvo yo.”In their wordsI am I and my circumstance, and if I don't save it I don't save myself.

“When shall we open our minds to the conviction that the ultimate reality of the world is neither matter nor spirit, is no definite thing, but a perspective?”In their wordsMeditaciones del Quijote (1914) in Obras Completas, vol. 1 (1946), p. 322

1883Born9 May 1883

Also in Deutsch

Photos 8

José Ortega y Gasset (cropped)José Ortega y Gasset (cropped)1927-03-19, La Esfera, En el Salón Nancy. Una exposición de dibujos1927-03-19, La Esfera, En el Salón Nancy. Una exposición de dibujos1928-02-15, La Gaceta Literaria, José Ortega y Gasset1928-02-15, La Gaceta Literaria, José Ortega y Gasset1928-08-05, El Sol, Ortega y Gasset sale para la Argentina, Bagaría1928-08-05, El Sol, Ortega y Gasset sale para la Argentina, BagaríaBiblioteca Básica Salvat 004. El espectador. José Ortega y GassetBiblioteca Básica Salvat 004. El espectador. José Ortega y GassetBundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F000074-3582, Darmstadt, Darmstädter Gespräch-ColorizedBundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F000074-3582, Darmstadt, Darmstädter Gespräch-ColorizedBundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F000074-3582, Darmstadt, Darmstädter GesprächBundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F000074-3582, Darmstadt, Darmstädter GesprächCasa natal de Ortega y Gasset en Madrid 02Casa natal de Ortega y Gasset en Madrid 02

In their own words 10

,
José Ortega y Gasset
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. Similarly a work of art vanishes from sight for a beholder who seeks in it nothing but the moving fate of John and Mary or Tristan and Isolde and adjusts his vision to this.

    1925, "The Dehumanization of Art", Own words

  2. Were art to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness.

    1925, "Art a Thing of No Consequence", Own words

  3. It must be emphasized that the warrior spirit is one thing and the military spirit quite another. Militarism was unknown in the Middle Ages.

    1921, Invertebrate Spain (1921), Own words

Wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0

Awards

Goethe Plaque of the City of Frankfurt1949
Goethe Medal for Art and Science1932

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About this person

José Ortega y Gasset worked through the first half of the 20th century as Spain oscillated between monarchy, republicanism, and dictatorship. He drew from William James's pragmatist metaphysics and Edmund Husserl's realist phenomenology, forging a method that served twin ends: a proto-existentialism that came before Martin Heidegger's, and a realist historicism compared to Wilhelm Dilthey and Benedetto Croce. The result was what scholars have called a "philosophy of life" - a long-hidden beginning that only later revealed its full architecture. He died in 1955, leaving a body of essays and philosophy that captured the intellectual currents of a convulsive era.

Country
Spain
Category
Academics
Type
Academic
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1883 to 1955 · aged 72

Academics from Spain 6

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