ePub Man and Crisis (Norton Library) by José Ortega y Gasset in History

Review

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. What happens when man no longer understands the world he's inherited?By Michael M."Man and Crisis" should be of interest to any serious student of History; Sociology and Political Philosophy. Ortega asks: What is a generation? How do people with age differences experience the same period of time in different ways? What are the causes of crisis? How do different generations respond to crisis? What are the causes of extremism? In what way were Protestant reformers similar to their Catholic adversaries? How is an understanding of the past relevant for those living today? Any reader that would like to find answers to these kinds of questions will probably enjoy this book.1 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy hau p. nguyengreat4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. THE SPANISH PHILOSOPHER STARTS WITH GALILEO; AND MOVES ON…By Steven H ProppJosé Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955) was a Spanish philosopher; who also wrote books like An Interpretation of Universal History; History as a System and Other Essays Toward a Philosophy of History; etc.He wrote; “to live is to find oneself forced to interpret life. Always; irresistibly; moment by moment we find ourselves with definite and fundamental convictions about what things are and what we ourselves are in the midst of them; this articulation of final convictions is what molds our chaotic surroundings into the unity of a world or a universe.” (Pg. 24)He states; “So at any given moment historic reality is composed of the lives of men between thirty and sixty. And here comes the most important part of my doctrine. That stage between thirty and sixty; that period of man’s full historic activity; has always been considered as a single generation; as a type of life which is homogeneous. This idea stems from the distorted point of view which makes one see in the series of generations only the elements of succession and substitution.” (Pg. 57)He notes; “It is not obligatory for a generation to have great men. Human life is not more nor less real; it does not cease to have its own exclusive character merely because it happens to be illustrious or mediocre.” (Pg. 63)He asks; “what is it to be a Christian? What structure of life does the Christian way represent as opposed to the rationalist way of the modern age? We cannot understand it if we do not first interpret a few; a very few; words about the situation in which may found himself in the first century before Christ. Greek man; Roman man; Jewish man; all of them found themselves in the same essential situation. What was this? Strictly speaking; one word describes it---desperation. One cannot understand Christianity unless one starts with this basic life of desperation.” (Pg. 118) Later; he says; “He observes; “Man makes history because; faced with a future which is not in his hands; he finds that the only thing he has; that he possesses; is his past. Of this alone can he make use; this is the small ship in which he sets said toward the unquiet future that lies ahead.” (Pg. 120)He recalls; “There was a time when the refusal of any form of extremism carried with it the inevitable assumption that one was a conservative. But not it is becoming obvious that this is not so; because people have seen that extremism may be either radical or reactionary. My own refusal of extremism was due not to the fact that I am a conservative; which I am not; but to the fact that in it I discovered a vital and substantive fraud.” (Pg. 152)He predicts; “The Renaissance crisis is coming into being. Nature is again going to be separating man from God. And when Galileo and Descartes discover a new type of science; of human reason; which makes it possible to predict cosmic events with a high degree of exactitude; man recovers his confidence and his faith in himself. He goes back to living on and from himself; more than ever before in history. That was the modern age---humanism.” (Pg. 158)He suggests; “It [this] not also the religious situation of modern man? God---but in the background.” (Pg. 197) He continues; “This is the fundamental thing in man’s Christian life: to discover that life; in the last analysis; consists in having to be dedicated to something; not in busying oneself with this; that ; or the other… but in picking up one’s entire life and surrendering it to something; dedicating it… this is Christianity’s basic discovery; the thing which put it indelibly into history; which is to say; into man.” (Pg. 203)This book will interest anyone studying Ortega’s thought.