Ortega on liberalism and democracy: revisiting an old discussion

In this paper I address the problem of Ortega’s liberalism. I try to characterize Ortega’s liberal creed considering his well-known statemen, in The Revolt of the Masses, that the 20th century needs a liberalism different from the 19th century one. I argue that some traits of Ortega’s liberalism, n...

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Main Author: Carlos Morujão
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Centro de Estudos de Filosofia 2025-01-01
Series:International Journal of Philosophy and Social Values
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Online Access:https://journals.ucp.pt/index.php/philosophyandsocialvalues/article/view/17328
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author Carlos Morujão
author_facet Carlos Morujão
author_sort Carlos Morujão
collection DOAJ
description In this paper I address the problem of Ortega’s liberalism. I try to characterize Ortega’s liberal creed considering his well-known statemen, in The Revolt of the Masses, that the 20th century needs a liberalism different from the 19th century one. I argue that some traits of Ortega’s liberalism, namely, Ortega’s concern with social rights, can also be found in some liberal authors of the Weimar Republic. However, my central claim in this paper is that the kind of liberalism Ortega proposes is only understandable in the light of its philosophical groundwork. I also try to highlight the changes in Ortega’s concept of liberalism, from his early liberal socialism (under the influence of Paul Natorp) to the mature liberalism that follows Ortega’s acceptance of phenomenology, of which we find a document in Meditations on Quixote of 1914 and in “New and old politics”, published in the same year. On the basis of this phenomenological turn, Ortega will propose a distinction between liberalism and democracy, as two different answers to two different problems. Finaly, I discuss the hypotheses of the existence of a third phase in Ortega’s liberalism, more pessimistic and conservative, of which evidence can be found in his essay On the Romam Empire.
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spelling doaj-art-547a23e43f5d4213a823039d69edadd42025-01-22T19:04:32ZengUniversidade Católica Portuguesa, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Centro de Estudos de FilosofiaInternational Journal of Philosophy and Social Values2184-27872025-01-014110.34632/philosophyandsocialvalues.2024.17328Ortega on liberalism and democracy: revisiting an old discussionCarlos Morujão0Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Centro de Estudos Filosóficos e Humanísticos In this paper I address the problem of Ortega’s liberalism. I try to characterize Ortega’s liberal creed considering his well-known statemen, in The Revolt of the Masses, that the 20th century needs a liberalism different from the 19th century one. I argue that some traits of Ortega’s liberalism, namely, Ortega’s concern with social rights, can also be found in some liberal authors of the Weimar Republic. However, my central claim in this paper is that the kind of liberalism Ortega proposes is only understandable in the light of its philosophical groundwork. I also try to highlight the changes in Ortega’s concept of liberalism, from his early liberal socialism (under the influence of Paul Natorp) to the mature liberalism that follows Ortega’s acceptance of phenomenology, of which we find a document in Meditations on Quixote of 1914 and in “New and old politics”, published in the same year. On the basis of this phenomenological turn, Ortega will propose a distinction between liberalism and democracy, as two different answers to two different problems. Finaly, I discuss the hypotheses of the existence of a third phase in Ortega’s liberalism, more pessimistic and conservative, of which evidence can be found in his essay On the Romam Empire. https://journals.ucp.pt/index.php/philosophyandsocialvalues/article/view/17328OrtegaLiberalismDemocracyPhenomenology
spellingShingle Carlos Morujão
Ortega on liberalism and democracy: revisiting an old discussion
International Journal of Philosophy and Social Values
Ortega
Liberalism
Democracy
Phenomenology
title Ortega on liberalism and democracy: revisiting an old discussion
title_full Ortega on liberalism and democracy: revisiting an old discussion
title_fullStr Ortega on liberalism and democracy: revisiting an old discussion
title_full_unstemmed Ortega on liberalism and democracy: revisiting an old discussion
title_short Ortega on liberalism and democracy: revisiting an old discussion
title_sort ortega on liberalism and democracy revisiting an old discussion
topic Ortega
Liberalism
Democracy
Phenomenology
url https://journals.ucp.pt/index.php/philosophyandsocialvalues/article/view/17328
work_keys_str_mv AT carlosmorujao ortegaonliberalismanddemocracyrevisitinganolddiscussion