The Revolt of the Masses — Ortega y Gasset

A TYPE of person, not a social class; an attitude found in any rank — a duke can be 'mass', a mechanic 'select'.

Self-satisfied, makes no demands on himself, and happy to feel 'just like everybody'.

The mass man enjoys civilization's comforts as if they came free — no gratitude for the effort that built them, no duty to keep them up.

He's pleased with himself exactly as he is — feels he's missing nothing and has nowhere to grow.

He sets himself no discipline or standard to live up to; life just drifts along easily.

Complacency — being so satisfied that he stops questioning, learning and being open to correction.

He's never quite satisfied — he keeps demanding more of himself and stays open to being wrong.

He may just smuggle his own restless, striving values into the definition of a proper human — maybe a calm, contented life is fine.

The mass man taking over the centre of public life and imposing average tastes everywhere, without deferring to anyone.

No — it's a quiet takeover of who sets the tone of a society, not a riot.

The mass man stops deferring to expertise and assumes his own untrained opinion is as good as the expert's.

Willingly accepting the lead of those with greater skill or knowledge — which the mass has abandoned.

Average taste becomes the measure of everything — in politics, art and science alike.

Some questions really do need expertise (you want a trained surgeon, not a vote), and confident ignorance is a real danger.

'Ordinary people should defer' can prop up unfair elites, and distrust of experts is sometimes healthy.

Ortega isn't against voting, but 'the masses should defer' can slide into contempt for equal say — separate his good point from that.

A type (not a class) who demands much of himself, lives by high standards, and serves something beyond himself.

A life of self-demand and service — 'noble' meaning that, NOT birth or title; open to anyone.

Demands much of himself, lives by high standards, and serves something beyond himself.

The select person imposes a hard discipline on himself, freely, to do the thing well — obeying a rule he didn't have to accept.

The mass man asks nothing of himself; the select person is never quite satisfied and always demands more of himself.

No — it's about self-demand and service; a poor person can be 'noble', a lord can be pure 'mass'.

Self-demand and service really are admirable, and the ideal is open to anyone — no birth or wealth required.

Readers quietly place themselves among the 'select' and others among the 'mass' — so the theory feels true while ranking people to suit the ranker.

His fear that when the complacent mass man rules and demands nothing, culture and liberty are left untended and decay.

Culture, science and liberty were built by effort and must be actively kept up — they don't look after themselves.

Confident ignorance, no deference to knowledge, and freedoms taken for granted really can weaken a culture.

Splitting people into 'select' and 'mass' and fearing ordinary people's power can be contempt for equality dressed as concern.

As ordinary people gained a say, many societies got fairer and freer — 'the masses shouldn't rule' has often served the powerful.

Take the warning about complacency and lost standards seriously; drop the contempt for ordinary people's equal say.

On Paper 2 — open-book, 1 hour: (a) Explain a concept [10] and (b) Evaluate a claim [15].

Part (a) Explain [10] = make a concept clear, no judgement; part (b) Evaluate [15] = argue both sides and reach a reasoned conclusion.