Ortega y Gasset on what constitutes a world

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"For this is the fundamental meaning of the idea 'world.' The world is the sum total of our vital possibilities. It is not then something apart from and foreign to our existence, it is its actual periphery." -- The Revolt of the Masses, p. 41

This gets at the heart of why the imaginary, abstract world of physical objects existing apart from all consciousness is not really a world at all: it is not a world to anyone or to anything. It contains no vital possibilities.

Comments

  1. Unknown10:33 AM

    Hopefully I'm not bothering you, Gene! But... what does he mean "vital possibilities"? Could you clarify this..?

    ReplyDelete

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