Masters Theses

Date of Award

5-1990

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Philosophy

Major Professor

James Bennett

Committee Members

Roy Cebik, Shelly Cohen, David Linge

Abstract

Due primarily to the literary nature of Ortega y Gasset's writing, his work is often dismissed as being of little philosophic consequence. A close examination of Ortega's thought, however, reveals that his literary method of expression, most especially his use of metaphor, is a direct reflection of his philosophical investigations and metaphysical conclusions. According to Ortega, all human activity, including the activity of philosophy, is based on a "vital belief". This belief is a basic orientation, a meaningful set of possibilities, which allows consciousness to choose and to realize a particular kind of existence in relationship to circumstance. Human activity, both collectively and individually, is necessarily expressive of the vital belief which founds it. As an expression of such paradigmatic belief, all human living reflects this vital action of consciousness that creates and maintains a human order of possibilies. The challenge for philosophy, as Ortega conceives it, is to become fully transparent human activity. By so doing, philosophy will succeed not only in realizing its own vision of "presuppositionless thought," but also in disclosing the basic structure of human life. The means for such disclosure includes metaphoric speech which can illuminate the structures of relationship between consciousness and circumstance that constitutes human life. Accepting this challenge does not just require philosophy to adopt a new method of explication. It requires philosophy to commit itself to a whole new agenda. This new agenda is the achievement of human freedom, which will replace the classical goal of human certainty. The reason for this change is that the truth of human life--which is philosophy's only legitimate quest--can only be found in conscious creative activity, not in the completed expressions of that activity. For Ortega truth is a quality of human life, not a property of logical propositions. By giving up the elusive dream of eternal truth, philosophy can become a means to realize the human destiny of freedom through achieving a fully transparent form of reason.

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