The problem of Spain is one of education
If there is one special characteristic that draws the attention of the reader of Ortega y Gasset, it is
his remarkable curiosity: no subject or event was too insignificant not to arouse his interest and be
given his attention, as can be seen from his voluminous writings2
. Our author has a number of
features that distinguish him from the stereotype of the philosopher. His thought does not seem to
be structured in the form of a system; it is frequently expressed in newspaper articles, and his most
important works were published in the form of essays; lastly, the elegance of his style sweeps the
reader along, making rigorous analysis of the ideas which it presents rather difficult.
The question of the systematicity of the philosophy of Ortega, its thematic dispersion and
its literary qualities have already been dealt with by specialists in the various areas. In this article we
shall confine ourselves to those questions which lead to an understanding of the educational
dimension of Ortega’s work, which I feel to be important and to which little attention has been paid
so far. Although he himself considered his vocation to be the cultivation of thought, which for him
could only be philosophical thought3
, Ortega’s great passion was the education of the Spanish
people. As has been shown by Cerezo4
, the driving force behind Ortega’s thought was his
continuous and intensive meditation on the problem of Spain, and his own intellectual evolution is
indissolubly linked with this concern. This is the key to any interpretation of his political, cultural
and philosophical activities; they were all geared to the socio-political reform of his country,
although focused on different levels and spheres of the life of society. Ortega was, first and
foremost, an educator on a national scale whose aim was the reform and transformation of Spain.
To attain his goal he felt that all means could and should be used: newspapers, magazines, books,
his influence as a university professor, politics, etc