Book: The Revolt of the Masses

Context and purpose
José Ortega y Gasset wrote "The Revolt of the Masses" during the interwar years, a time of rapid social change, expanding mass education, and rising political movements across Europe. He examines the psychological and social transformations produced by industrialization, democratization, and the spread of technical expertise. The book seeks to diagnose how these changes alter the balance between individual excellence and collective conformity.
Ortega frames his analysis as a response to a new social actor he calls the "mass-man," an attitude and condition that threatens the cultural and moral foundations of civilization. He is less concerned with class struggle than with a cultural shift that elevates quantity, numbers, rights, and comfort, over qualitative achievement and responsibility.

Main thesis
The central claim is that the elevation of the masses to the center of social life produces a revolt against traditional authorities, standards, and hierarchies. This revolt does not simply mean political empowerment; it means that the mediocrity of the average becomes the norm, and the standards set by exceptional individuals are treated as unnecessary or oppressive. Ortega contends that when mass-man feels entitled and refuses to see duty or refinement as necessary, culture and intellectual life suffer.
He warns that this process risks replacing a civilization oriented toward excellence with a flattened society that mistakes numerical dominance for moral legitimacy. The danger is not only cultural decay but also a political outcome in which strongman leaders or demagogues can harness mass sentiment to destructive ends.

Characteristics of the "mass-man"
Mass-man is not merely a poor or uneducated person; he is a psychological type that can appear across social strata. He is comfortable, self-satisfied, and convinced of his sufficiency. Lacking the humility that comes from realizing one's own limits, mass-man rejects elite guidance and refuses to accept specialization or defer to expertise. He demands rights while denying obligations and undervalues the cultivation of taste and reflective judgment.
This type is also shaped by modernization: technical rationality, mass schooling, and consumer affluence make competence in basic tasks widespread but do not guarantee the cultivation of judgment or formative experience. As a result, society becomes "massified", public life dominated by an empowered majority that prizes sameness and instant gratification.

Consequences for culture and politics
Ortega argues that the triumph of mass-man leads to the decline of high culture, the trivialization of art and science, and the erosion of institutions that foster intellectual excellence. Public discourse deteriorates as appeals to sensation and simplistic slogans replace argument and refined taste. Politically, the leveling impulse makes democracy vulnerable: when numbers crowd out excellence, populism and authoritarian figures can claim legitimacy by appealing to mass sentiment rather than reason.
He warns of two possible outcomes: a cultural stagnation in which society becomes complacent, or a turn to coercive leadership that promises order and purpose while further crushing individual freedom. Both outcomes represent a loss of the plural, heterogeneous culture that made civilization dynamic.

Role of the individual and prescription
Ortega insists on the importance of individual responsibility and the formation of a capable minority that preserves and advances culture. He does not call for a return to hereditary aristocracy; rather, he calls for an "aristocracy" based on merit, taste, and genuine achievement. Intellectuals and cultivated citizens must resist the flattening tendencies of mass culture by cultivating depth, defending expertise, and exercising moral leadership.
He urges a renewed commitment to instruction in the arts of living thoughtfully and to institutions that can mediate between technical proficiency and humanistic wisdom. The preservation of civilization depends on the ability of individuals to remain critical, cultivated, and engaged.

Legacy and relevance
"The Revolt of the Masses" remains influential for its prescient critique of mass culture and its political consequences. Its anxieties about technocracy, populism, and the erosion of authority resonate in debates about media, education, and democracy. The book challenges societies to reconcile egalitarian aspirations with the need to sustain standards that nurture creativity, judgment, and responsibility.