ABSTRACT

This book, first published in 1930 and reissued in 1961, examines the Western phenomenon of the rise of the ‘mass-man’. Analysing the state of society before the Second World War, acclaimed philosopher Ortega y Gasset lays bare the problems that faced the countries of Europe in a book that resonates today in the imposition of direct action over discussion.

chapter Chapter I|6 pages

The Coming of the Masses

chapter Chapter II|7 pages

The Rise of the Historic Level

chapter Chapter III|7 pages

The Height of the Times

chapter Chapter IV|7 pages

The Increase of Life

chapter Chapter V|5 pages

A Statistical Fact

chapter Chapter IV|5 pages

The Dissection of the Mass-Man Begins

chapter Chapter VII|6 pages

Noble Life and Common Life, or Effort and Inertia

chapter Chapter IX|8 pages

The Primitive and the Technical

chapter Chapter X|7 pages

Primitivism and History

chapter Chapter XI|8 pages

The Self-Satisfied Age

chapter Chapter XII|6 pages

The Barbarism of ‘Specialization’

chapter Chapter XIII|8 pages

The Greatest Danger, the State

chapter Chapter XIV|46 pages

Who Rules in the World?

chapter Chapter XV|3 pages

We Arrive at the Real Question