Ortega y Gasset

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A Spanish thinker who says society should be led by educated people and writes about culture

proper noun

: Ortega y Gasset

Ortega y Gasset argued that mass society threatened individuality and true culture.

Examples

Many of Ortega y Gasset's ideas about elites remain influential in social theory.
The philosophy of Ortega y Gasset continues to be studied in universities worldwide.
The ideas of Ortega y Gasset influenced many modern thinkers.
Have you read any works by Ortega y Gasset?
Ortega y Gasset believed that true cultural appreciation arises from intellectual engagement.
In his essay, Ortega y Gasset emphasized the importance of critical thought in society.
The writings of Ortega y Gasset reflect profound insights into the nature of leadership and culture.

Synonyms

Jose Ortega y Gasset

vsOrtega y Gasset

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A Spanish philosopher who wrote about society and argued it should be led by educated people

is the same person but titled using the surname form

Surface Forms

Ortega y Gasset main

Morphology

Ortega + y + Gasset

This is a proper name (a compound surname) referring to a specific historical person; the literal tokens 'Ortega', 'y', and 'Gasset' do not convey the descriptive meaning 'Spanish philosopher' to a learner who has not seen the name before. Even if a learner recognised 'y' as Spanish for 'and', that would not allow them to derive the biographical sense, so the expression is unpredictable from its parts.

Etymology

Ortega y Gasset is a Spanish full name: the 'y' means 'and' and links two family names, Ortega and Gasset. He was a Spanish thinker who warned that when everyone follows the crowd, real culture and individuality suffer, so his name often stands for those ideas.