Ortega y Gasset

Abstract

Abstract This chapter attends to one of the primary Ordoliberal references on mass society, the Spanish liberal philosopher, José Ortega y Gasset (1883–1955). While foundational Ordoliberal thinkers often invoke The Revolt of the Masses, their diagnoses and prescriptions regarding mass society diverge significantly from Ortega’s. Specifically, whereas Ordoliberals focus on structural processes that render individuals desperate and dependent, Ortega sees these same processes as producing a sense of self-sufficiency and omnipotence. Both, however, perceive mass society as a profound danger for liberalism and civilisation writ large. After examining how Wilhelm Röpke deploys The Revolt of the Masses in his own account of mass society, the chapter examines Ortega’s diagnosis of mass revolt before reconstructing how he believed it could be overcome. Despite borrowing elements from Ortega’s theory of mass society, it is unclear whether Ordoliberals offered a solution to the cultural problems he outlined.