Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Revolt of the Masses by Josey Ortega Y Gasset, Anthony Kerrigan, Y. Ortega, Jose Ortega Y. Gasset, Kenneth Moore ISBN: 0-268-01609-7 Publisher: Univ of Notre Dame Pr Pub. Date: May, 1985 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $33.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.71 (17 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: The Revolt of the Mass
Comment: The first thing I should say is that this is not light reading. With that said, read it anyway. Gasset wrote something as contemporary today as it was in the 1920s and 30s. Operating on the premise that we have seen since Thucydides, that the mass of citizens, when unchecked does damage, does not consider the consequences of its actions, its demands, its lifestyle without understanding or thinking about the system of civilisation which makes their relatively free and prosperous lives possible.
"It is false to say that history cannot be foretold," says Ortega. Obviously, since this book is equally prescient about the Fascist rallies of the 1930s and the youth rebellion of the 1960s. Perhaps in light of the 20th Century, we should look back at this philosopher from its dawn and see that Gasset saw the fundamental problem of the next century (incorporating the majority into the political and cultural realms when they had been absent throughout history) and we failed to listen to his warning.
Rating: 4
Summary: Mass Man Missive
Comment: Most reviewers seem to see this book as a reaction to the rise of fascistic and nationalistic tyrannies of Mr. Ortega y Gasset's day. Fascism is a tyranny of the bourgeois. And though a tyranny is a tyranny is a tyranny, the bourgeois were the minority whom the author claimed were the progenitors and preservers of European civilization. (And for those who feel that Revolt of the Masses is Euro-centric, well you are right. That was his target audience; just read the second to last paragraph. But so what. That complaint is like denouncing the Bible as being biased towards Christians.) Additionally, the fascists, though thuggish and violent in their actions, at least made a pretense to their past and heritage (a la Rome). A far greater representation of mass man is found in the socialistic and communistic nations, then and now. Communism makes no appeal to the heritage of civilization but instead seeks to separate itself via Revolution. Additionally, communism is not a revolution of the bourgeoisie, but against it. What could be more mass man than that? In this I wish to make no defence of fascism, not in the least. But rather to form a distinction between the two and to note, sadly and a little fearfully, that though 99% of us agree that fascism is a dangerous counter to civilization, there are far too many proponents of communism still swaying the opinions of mass man for us to feel comfortable. All in all this book is a good warning to the defenders and partakers of Western Civilization and has not, in any way, become dated by the passing of the fascistic states of Europe. Danger still abounds.
Rating: 3
Summary: The First Half is Great, But...
Comment: I loved the first half of this book. Ortega really provides an eye-opener about mass man (what he is and where he comes from). The only down-side to this part of the book is that during the first chapter or two, I kept seeing Niles and Frasier Crane discussing the same situations. Also, Ortega's (self admitted) aristocratic leanings get in the way of my "listening" to him. But, again, overall, the first half of the book is great.
However, the second half ("Who Rules in the World?") was a waste of time. Call me a moron (well, don't, really [g]), but it seems like an unrelated promotion of the European Union. Since the book was written in 1930, that's a pretty amazing feat. But, as a probable mass-man American, I just found it uninteresting.
I highly recommend people read at least the first half of this book (Honestly, I really mean it. It gives an excellent reason for why the world is the way it is). I'd consider the last half optional.
 |
Title: Man and Crisis by Jose Ortega Y Gasset, Jose Ortega y. Gasset ISBN: 0393001210 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: April, 1922 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
 |
Title: History As a System by J. Ortega Y Gasset, Jose Ortega y. Gasset ISBN: 0393001229 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: September, 1962 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
 |
Title: What Is Philosophy? by Jose Ortega y Gasset ISBN: 0393001261 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: July, 1979 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
 |
Title: Toward a Philosophy of History by Jose Ortega Y Gasset, Jose Ortega Y. Gasset ISBN: 0252070453 Publisher: Univ of Illinois Pr (Pro Ref) Pub. Date: January, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
 |
Title: The Perversion of Autonomy: Coercion and Constraints in a Liberal Society by Willard Gaylin, Bruce Jennings ISBN: 0878409068 Publisher: Georgetown University Press Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
