Ortega: Fragments of Europe

Abstract

On the present paper there’s the intention to expose the main aspects defining Ortega y Gasset’s thoughts about Europe. Considering his written works as a whole, concrete contents, mainly extracted from his conference De Europa meditation quaedam, have been located identifying them as the definition of Ortega’s idea on Europe. Thus, we can find a wide consideration of Ancien History in the Orteguian conception of Europe. A certain statist theory has also been found in almost all of his written works in the field. An original and constant element in his thoughts is the one consisting in socializing the figure of the peoples and the relations among them, what is a demonstration of the fully philosophical approach of the author in his meditations about Europe. Apart from the wonder of his prose and the brilliant philosophical thinking, the relevance and importance of Ortega’s meditations on Europe reside in being one of the first Spanish thinkers on Europe and its integration. Considering Europe as a whole, as a civilization which has been and survived along a historical process consisting in the genesis and development of nations, and approaching Europe as a potentiality, Ortega does have an idea of Europe, a conception defined and coherent with his philosophy and his entire and captivating intellectual production.