José Ortega y Gasset

"The choice of a specific subject demanded more thought. The writer's interest in Spanish literature, acquired through previous courses, suggested the possibility of choosing a Spanish author who would be fairly well known to English-speaking readers and who had had some works translated into English. José Ortega y Gasset fulfilled these conditions, and a study of his life and works seemed to this writer a challenging topic. The reading of several of Ortega's works had aroused an interest in his ideas and a desire to know more about his personality and his literary works. The results of this investigation are given in the body of this paper, a bio-bibliographical study. The first section is a brief account of the life of Ortega y Gasset, with emphasis on the events which influenced his thinking and writing. The second section deals with the philosophical concepts of Ortega as expressed in his books. The third section is a bibliography of his works which have been translated into English, giving the theme of each, an indication of the reaction of critics, and a listing of the sources of criticisms. Following is an Appendix listing Ortega's works in Spanish, excluding articles in periodicals and magazines"--Introduction.