The Two Perspectives on the Phenomenon of “Massification” in “The Rebellion of the Masses”

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.63487/reo.232

Keywords:

Ortega y Gasset, mass, mass man, minority, overcrowding, revolt, ethics, philosophy, politics

Abstract

The following pages deal with The Revolt of the Masses (1930), taking into account the two perspectives in relation to the fact of overcrowding. On the one hand, we are referring what Ortega calls the fact of the multitudes or the agglomeration (quantitative perspective), but, on the other hand, we are focusing on the dissection of the mass man (qualitative perspective) and his different dimensions. We justify this work in the fact that it is very important to study in a global sense the problematic about the masses in The Revolt of the Masses, that s to say, paying attention to the different readings we can find in this work. Our hypothesis is that for Ortega the most important danger for culture and civilization comes from both the fact of the masses and the irruption of the mass man –we have to make a special mention of the specialist mass man–. This situation can lead to a new form of barbarism. The results/conclusions show that Ortega is full of hope about the masses give up their claim of sovereign and he also hopes the new mass man gives up his mediocrity and tries to rescue the dimension of nobility that is part of him.

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Author Biography

Alejandro de Haro Honrubia, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha

Professor at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Doctor of Philosophy (2007) and Doctor of Social Anthropology (2016). He is currently a member-researcher of the research project “Intellectual Networks in Europe and America through the Correspondence of José Ortega y Gasset.” His lines of research focus on the political, anthropological, and philosophical thought of Ortega y Gasset; social anthropology (popular traditions and customs); and the anthropology of globalization and cultural diversity in the world. He has published numerous works related to Ortega's thought, including the book Élites y masas. Filosofía y política en la obra de Ortega y Gasset (Elites and Masses: Philosophy and Politics in the Work of Ortega y Gasset) (2008), and the articles “El pensamiento político de José Ortega y Gasset” (The Political Thought of José Ortega y Gasset) (2015) and "La antropología social en la obra de Ortega. His contribution to modern ethnography“ (2012) and ”An evolutionary analysis of the idea of progress: current projection of José Ortega y Gasset's Meditation on Technology" (2004).

References

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Published

2018-11-01 — Updated on 2018-11-01

How to Cite

de Haro Honrubia, A. (2018). The Two Perspectives on the Phenomenon of “Massification” in “The Rebellion of the Masses”. Revista De Estudios Orteguianos (Journal of Orteguian Studies), (37), 143–162. https://doi.org/10.63487/reo.232

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