What is Knowledge?

José Ortega Y Gasset, Jorge Garcia-Gomez

Description

Appearing in English for the first time, this book comprises two of Ortega's most important works, ¿Qué es conocimiento? and the essay "Ideas y creencias." This is Ortega's attempt to systematically present the foundations of his metaphysics of human life and, on that basis, to provide a radical philosophical account of knowledge. In so doing, he criticizes idealism and overcomes it. Accordingly, this book goes well beyond a treatise on epistemology; in fact, as understood in modern philosophy, this discipline and its questions are shown to be derivative and, in that sense, they are transcended here by Ortega's systematic effort.

Written during the time of his maturity, these works are representative of his fruitful and radical period. Both ¿Qué es conocimiento? and "Ideas y creencias" are equally decisive not only for the understanding and radical completion of Ortega's work, but also for their relevance to the work of continental philosophers during the same period and for years to come (e.g., Husserl, Jaspers, Heidegger, Sartre, and others).
Translator's Introduction
Jorge Garcia-Gomez

Spanish Editor's Note
Paulino Garagorri

I. Life as Performance (Performative Being)

Problems

December 19, 1929

The 1929-1930 Course

First Day
Second Day
Third Day
Sixth Day
Seventh Day
Eighth Day

II. Concerning Radical Reality

Second Lecture
Third Lecture
Fourth Lecture

III. What Is Life?

Third Lecture
Fifth Lecture
Sixth Lecture
Seventh Lecture
Eighth Lecture

IV. Glimpses of the History of Philosophy

Ninth Lecture
Tenth Lecture
Eleventh Lecture

Appendix: Ideas and Beliefs

1: Believing and Thinking

I. We Have Ideas, But We Find Ourselves Placed in Our Beliefs. To "Think About Things" and "To Count on Them."
II. The Befuddlement of Our Times. We Believe in Reason, Not in Its Ideas. Science Almost Poetry.
III. Doubt and Belief. A "Sea of Doubts." The Place of the Ideas.

2: Inner Worlds

I. The Philosopher's Ridiculousness. A Car's Breakdown and the Breakdown of History. "Ideas and Beliefs," All Over Again.
II. The Ingratitude of Human Beings and Naked Reality
III. Science as Poetry. A Triangle and Hamlet. The Treasury of Errors.
IV. The Articulation of the Inner Worlds.

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Sujets

• Philosophie
• Métaphysique
• Épistémologie
• Éthique et morale
• Ethique et morale
• Metaphysics
• Epistémologie
• Epistémologie
• Epistémologie

Informations

• Publié par: State University of New York Press
• Date de parution: 01 février 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780791489574
• Langue: English

Extrait

WHAT IS KNOWLEDGE?

SUNY Series in Latin American and Iberian Thought and Culture Jorge J. E. GraciaandRosemary Geisdorfer Feal,editors

What Is Knowledge?

José Ortega y Gasset

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Translated and Edited by JORGE GARCÍA-GÓMEZ

STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS

Published by State University of New York Press, Albany

© 2002 State University of New York

All rights reserved

Printed in the United States of America

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

For information, address State University of New York Press, 90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207

Production by Marilyn P. Semerad Marketing by Anne M. Valentine

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ortega y Gasset, José, 1883–1955. [¿Qué es conocimiento? English] What is knowledge? / José Ortega y Gasset ; translated and edited by Jorge García-Gómez. p. cm. — (SUNY series in Latin American and Iberian thought and culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn0-7914-5171-2 (alk. paper)—isbn0-7914-5172-0 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Knowledge, Theory of. II. OrtegaI. García-Gómez, Jorge. y Gasset, José, 1883–1955. Ideas y creencias. III. Title. IV. Series. b4568.o73q42 2001 121—dc21 2001031186

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This translation is dedicated to Sara, beloved wife and best friend

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Contents

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Translator’s Introduction Jorge García-Gómez

Spanish Editor’s Note Paulino Garagorri

Life as Performance (Performative Being) Problems 33 December 19, 1929 35 The 1929–1930 Course 40 First Day 40 Second Day 42 Third Day 46 Sixth Day 55 Seventh Day 65 Eighth Day 71

Concerning Radical Reality Second Lecture 77 Third Lecture 84 Fourth Lecture 93

What Is Life? Third Lecture 105 Fifth Lecture 108 Sixth Lecture 116 Seventh Lecture 127 Eighth Lecture 136 vii

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IV

What Is Knowledge?

Glimpses of the History of Philosophy

Ninth Lecture 155 Tenth Lecture 156 Eleventh Lecture 167

Appendix: Ideas and Beliefs Chapter One: Believing and Thinking 177 IWe Have Ideas, But We Find Ourselves Placed in Our Beliefs. To “Think About Things” and “To Count on Them.”177 IIThe Befuddlement of Our Times. We Believe in Reason, Not in Its Ideas. Science Almost Poetry.181 IIIA “Sea of Doubts.” TheDoubt and Belief. Place of the Ideas.185 Chapter Two: Inner Worlds 189 IA Car’sThe Philosopher’s Ridiculousness. Breakdown and the Breakdown of History. “Ideas and Beliefs,” All Over Again.189 IIThe Ingratitude of Human Beings and Naked Reality.192 IIIA Triangle and Hamlet.Science as Poetry. The Treasury of Errors.196 IVThe Articulation of the Inner Worlds.199

Notes

Bibliography

Index

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Translator’s Introduction

Jorge García-Gómez

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Understandably, Paulino Garagorri, in his capacity of editor of the origi- 1 nal version of this book, was reluctant to offer the reader his own assess- ment of the work, preferring to defer to the reader’s unprejudiced consid- 2 eration. Accordingly, he confined himself to taking a look at it from a vantage point internal to Ortega’s “entire philosophical work,” and on that basis he came to the conclusion that, “[a]s to the intellectual signifi- cance of the new book,” one could appropriately say that “it is destined 3 to be one of the most important parts of his legacy.” I certainly concur with him in that, and yet I cannot rest my case with a simple acknowledg- ment of agreement, if for no other reason than the fact that Garagorri, 4 following Ortega’s own choice and his usage of terms in this work, has chosen the Spanish equivalent ofWhat Is Knowledge?as the title for the book. But that decision, in my opinion, may prove misleading to the reader, for it seems to suggest that this work of Ortega’s should be under- stood as if it were a mere effort on his part to arrive at a further articula- tion of the longstanding philosophical preoccupation with knowledge and as his particular contribution to the field that has come to be known 5 as epistemology or theory or knowledge. That however would be, in fact, a fatal misinterpretation of his intent and a failure to appreciate its radicalness. Let me attempt to show that this is the case.

Some Epistemological Traditions

As a first approach to the philosophical discipline in question, one could say that epistemology “is a branch of philosophy which is concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge, its presuppositions and basis, and the

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