Remarks on Understanding Phenomenon of Life in the Philosophy of José Ortega y Gasset

Abstract

In this paper we are trying to point out possibilities for a bioethical reading of thoughts of Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset. The key problem which we are trying to expose is Ortega's understanding of the phenomenon of life and in this respect we especially focus on his work El tema de nuestro tiempo (1923). Ortega y Gasset argues that Western way of thinking may be leading humanity to its mental collapse because it does not provide full comprehension of human existence, rather, it is stressing only one dimension, the rational one, reductively. The central position of this work, created through an understanding of the philosophy of Ortega y Gasset, is the understanding of life as an existential whole, which presuposses the imperative of building a new type of knowledge, that knowledge which is focused on the care and preservation. Ortega y Gasset argues that human life is a radical reality, and bioethical reading of his thoughts points us to the conclusion that life must no longer be understood as a resource, but as a whole that needs to be preserved.