Radical reality

This review is from: An Introduction to the Politics and Philosophy of José Ortega y Gasset (Cambridge Iberian and Latin American Studies) (Paperback)

I admit that I didn't find Jose Ortega y Gasset's political ideas and philosophy particulary interesting after reading this study, but perhaps I'm doing the man an injustice. I haven't reread his magnum opus “The Revolt of the Masses” for years. Maybe I should have? That being said, I'm not suggesting that this book is bad. Quite the contrary, it does give an accessible introduction to the life and writings of this Spanish philosopher.

The author, Andrew Dobson, argues that Ortega y Gasset wasn't a fascist, apparently a common accusation. After all, Falange founder Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera claimed to have been inspired by his writings. Ortega *did* support the Nationalist side during the Civil War, and had also briefly flirted with the earlier authoritarian regime of Miguel Primo de Rivera (Jose Antonio's father). Dobson argues that Ortega was really a “liberal”, although a particularly aristocratic and elitist one. For whatever reason, he sometimes referred to his political ideology as “socialist”, but it was a “socialism” which incorporated the productive sectors of the bourgeoisie and called for national unity. As for Ortega's philosophy, it sounds like an eclectic combination of existentialism, vitalism and relativism (although Dobson believes the latter impression is unfair). Ortega searched for “radical reality” and in the process rejected both rationalism and empiricism in favor of something he called “life” or “vital reason”.

I admit that I didn't entirely get it, but then, the point seems to be that only a few chosen ones get it anyway…