KONCEPT MASE U DELU POBUNA MASA HOSEA ORTEGE I GASETA

Abstract

THE CONCEPT OF MASS IN THE REVOLT OF THE MASSES BY JOSÉ ORTEGA Y GASSET

The purpose of this paper is to define and analyze the concept of mass which is suggested by José Ortega y Gasset in his work The Revolt of the Masses (1930). We will depart from the hypothesis that for Ortega y Gasset the mass iz essentially qualitative, spiritual category, rather than quantitative, material; furthermore, the emphasis is on the mass-man as a type of personality. We will interpret Ortega y Gasset’s concept of selected minorities, as well as the concepts of extraordinary, exemplariness, docility and the consciousness of history. We will elaborate what is, in Ortega y Gasset’s opinion, the revolt of the masses, what kind of changes have caused that the mass tends to take over the elite’s positions and how the revolt has surged. We will compare the main points of view of Ortega y Gasset, Gustave Le Bon (Psychology of Crowds, 1895), Sigmund Freud (Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, 1921) and Elias Canetti (Crowds and Power, 1960). We will employ comparative, inductive, deductive, analytic and synthetic method