Key Idea: Ortega y Gasset argues that modern Europe has been taken over by the mass man — an average, self-satisfied person who feels no duty to anything higher than himself. His worry is that when this type dominates public life, civilization loses the standards that built it. This text is assessed on Paper 2, a 25-mark open-book essay on the studied text. You study The Revolt of the Masses in full.
🧠 The four moves, one card each
10.7 at a glance
- 10.7.1 · The mass man — Not a social class but a TYPE of person: the average individual who feels no duty to excel, is pleased with himself as he is, and expects life's comforts as a right rather than an achievement.
- 10.7.2 · The revolt of the masses — The mass moves into the centre of public life and imposes its tastes, refusing to defer to knowledge, skill or expertise. 'Revolt' means this takeover of the space that used to belong to qualified minorities.
- 10.7.3 · The select minority — The opposite type: not born-rich elites but people who make demands on themselves, hold themselves to standards, and see life as service to something beyond their own comfort.
- 10.7.4 · A crisis of civilization? — Ortega warns that when the mass rules without deferring to expertise or duty, the achievements of civilization are enjoyed but not sustained. Critics reply this is really snobbery dressed as diagnosis.
The 'mass' is a type of mind, not a group of people. The mass man is anyone — rich or poor, educated or not — who feels complete as he is and owes nothing to any standard beyond himself. Everything else in the book follows from that single definition.
✍️ Bring it together — a Paper 2 question
Evaluate Ortega y Gasset's claim that the rise of the 'mass man' represents a genuine crisis for civilization.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Using your text in the open-book exam
- Bring a CLEAN copy — IB rule: your text must be UN-annotated — no notes in the margins, no underlining or highlighting. A marked-up copy is not allowed in the exam. Check it well before the day.
- Know the map — You have the book, but not time to read it. Memorise WHERE each argument lives — mass man, the revolt, the select minority, the crisis — so you can find a passage in seconds. Keep your study notes in a SEPARATE document.
- Quote to evidence, then EVALUATE — Use the open book to cite a line precisely so it backs a specific point — then argue about it. Never let a quotation replace your own analysis; a copied passage with no evaluation earns little.
- Plan then write — A quick argument map — position, support, objection, weighing, conclusion — beats flipping pages mid-essay. Decide your line first, then dip into the text for evidence. Watch the clock.
Important: Retelling the book instead of evaluating it. Summarising Ortega's argument, however accurately, is not an answer to 'Evaluate'. You must weigh the claim — strongest support, strongest objection, then a reasoned decision. The open book also punishes inaccurate use of the text: cite it precisely, and never bend what Ortega actually says to fit your point.
✅ Check yourself
If you can answer these six, you have the spine of the whole text.
Is the 'mass' a social class? No. It is a TYPE of person — the average individual who feels complete as he is — and can be found in any class.
What is the 'revolt'? The mass moving into the centre of public life and imposing its tastes, refusing to defer to expertise or qualified minorities.
Who are the 'select minority'? Not born elites, but people who make demands on themselves, hold to standards and treat life as service — the opposite of the mass man.
What exactly is Ortega's warning? That a civilization can be consumed without being sustained: enjoyed by people who feel no duty to keep up its standards.
What is the main objection to Ortega? That the diagnosis is snobbery — contempt for ordinary people and for democracy dressed up as cultural analysis.
How do you defend the point from the snobbery charge? Separate the argument from the tone: the loss of duty and standards is an attitude anyone can have, so the warning can hold even if the phrasing is elitist.
Exam Tips
- Paper 2 is a 25-mark OPEN-BOOK essay on this one text — the marks are for evaluation, not for how much of the book you can recall.
- Bring a clean, un-annotated copy and know where each argument sits so you can cite fast.
- Quote precisely to evidence a point, then argue about it — never let the text speak for you.
- Always weigh the strongest case each way and end on a reasoned conclusion, not a summary.