Status
Available
Call number
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Publication
H.P.Leopold (1954)
Description
Social upheaval in early 20th-century Europe is the historical setting for this seminal study by the Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gasset. Continuously in print since 1932, Ortega's vision of Western culture as sinking to its lowest common denominator and drifting toward chaos brought its author international fame and has remained one of the influential books of the 20th century.
User reviews
LibraryThing member keylawk
Surprisingly, and causing disappointment among ideologues of political parties, OyG does not spend much time analyzing "liberal" and "conservative" conflicts, but perceives a rising lay and expert divide. In fact, this 1929 work flatly states that the masses hate experts.
OyG predicts what we see
This short book contains many speculations and there is repetition of the points he is making -- perhaps to make certain of the "historicity" he teaches. But I find that OyG addresses issues that still resonate today. For example, the rise of consumerism; the possibility for barbarism to flourish among the wealthy or in tandem with technology; specialization which favors science over the humanities; “the loss of prestige of legislative assemblies.” Disrespect for academic achievement.
OyG looks at and describes dysfunctional society, not from Left and Right, or even rich and poor, but from the perspective of the uninformed social "mass" and the informed scientific elite. A kind of ‘up’ versus ‘down’, individual reasoning vs herd instinct.
OyG predicts what we see
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now in the world -- opera companies going bankrupt but pop stars who cannot compose (can you even say Bieber with a straight face) making millions (Beiber made $80 million in 2013). Consumers look at Yelp reviews rather than journalist specialists or experts. Popular Science turned off "comments" because they added so little to the science.This short book contains many speculations and there is repetition of the points he is making -- perhaps to make certain of the "historicity" he teaches. But I find that OyG addresses issues that still resonate today. For example, the rise of consumerism; the possibility for barbarism to flourish among the wealthy or in tandem with technology; specialization which favors science over the humanities; “the loss of prestige of legislative assemblies.” Disrespect for academic achievement.
OyG looks at and describes dysfunctional society, not from Left and Right, or even rich and poor, but from the perspective of the uninformed social "mass" and the informed scientific elite. A kind of ‘up’ versus ‘down’, individual reasoning vs herd instinct.
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LibraryThing member scottcholstad
I first heard about and read Ortega in a college Existentialism class and I quickly found out that while he didn't possess the household name power of Kierkegaard or Sartre, he did some quality work, is highly respected among philosophical circles leaning in that position, and for some reason has
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never really gotten the recognition some of his peers did. Nonetheless, I think this is one of his best works and encourage you to pick this up if such an area interests you... Show Less
LibraryThing member kukulaj
I recently read Jonathan Haidt's The Righteous Mind. Ortega y Gasset's book is delightful on its own, but the contrast with Haidt's book really brings out its excellence. Of course Ortega y Gasset is as profound as Haidt is shallow, but it goes much further. A cornerstone of Ortega y Gasset's book
Along the way there are just wonderful insights. An authentic person will face the chaos and uncertainty of life, while an unauthentic person will paper over all that with platitudes.
Here around 1930, Ortega y Gasset is proposing the European Union as the proper next step in the European project. The struggles between the European nations were part of the process of negotiation, accommodation, etc. It's looking like nowadays the big conflict brewing might be the USA versus China. Certainly since 1930, China has continued to wrestle with Western ways, adopting and integrating and transforming. Are Europe and the USA incorporating Chinese values and practices? I don't have the perspective to be able to see any answer. Hmmm, how much is the current Trump mania a produce of the red scare of the 1950s, driven by Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Well then too, look at the influence of the newspaper The Epoch Times, controlled by the Falun Gong cult out of China.
Anyway, Revolt of the Masses is a jewel!
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is the notion of civilization, in contrast with natural man. Civilized man conceives the project of living with strangers in order to pursue some greater mission. Haidt's book is essential an apology for natural man. Haidt views civilization as a fraud. Here, Ortega y Gasset is an eloquent champion of civilization. Along the way there are just wonderful insights. An authentic person will face the chaos and uncertainty of life, while an unauthentic person will paper over all that with platitudes.
Here around 1930, Ortega y Gasset is proposing the European Union as the proper next step in the European project. The struggles between the European nations were part of the process of negotiation, accommodation, etc. It's looking like nowadays the big conflict brewing might be the USA versus China. Certainly since 1930, China has continued to wrestle with Western ways, adopting and integrating and transforming. Are Europe and the USA incorporating Chinese values and practices? I don't have the perspective to be able to see any answer. Hmmm, how much is the current Trump mania a produce of the red scare of the 1950s, driven by Madame Chiang Kai-shek. Well then too, look at the influence of the newspaper The Epoch Times, controlled by the Falun Gong cult out of China.
Anyway, Revolt of the Masses is a jewel!
Show Less
LibraryThing member donhazelwood
"As regards to dictatorships, we have seen only too well how they flatter the mass-man, by trampling on everything that appeared to be above the common level."
Although penned in the early XXth century, very appropriate to those with an open mind on what is happening politically today.
Although penned in the early XXth century, very appropriate to those with an open mind on what is happening politically today.
LibraryThing member jwhenderson
In my reading of The Revolt of the Masses I would emphasize Ortega y Gasset's discussion of the new world (circa 1930) as one of "practically limitless possibilities".(p 61) This is a view that he contrasts with the past where the masses felt themselves limited, and rightly so. If anything, eighty
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years after the first publication of this book there are even larger groups of people that have the possibility of fewer limits on the progress of their lives. However he does not see any guarantee that progress will be the result and later in his book he discusses the danger of the modern state as a limiting factor. Even in western democracies we have seen the power of the state grow over the past eighty years since Ortega y Gasset's observations. I wonder if the nobility within mankind will be able to continue to move forward and not be limited by the masses of average men. Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original publication date
1930
1932 (English)
Other editions
The revolt of the masses by José Ortega y Gasset (Paper Book)