THE SECRET OF JOSE ORTEGA Y GASSET: AN ESSAY AND A PHILOSOPHY OF TRANSLATION

Abstract

Spanish philosopher José Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955) wrote an essay about his interest in North Africa and its relationship to Spain, titled Abenjaldún nos revela el secreto: pensamientos sobre África menor [Ibn Khaldūn reveals the secret to us: thoughts on Africa minor]. In The Secret he introduced his readers to the thought of Islamic philosopher Ibn Khaldūn (1332-1406). Ortega believed that Ibn Khaldūn’s philosophy of history explained how North African civilizations had changed over the centuries. It also held the key to understanding the situation of Melilla, a coastal Spanish enclave surrounded by Morocco. In The Secret, Ortega undertook a sustained philosophical engagement with Arab/Islamic thought and themes, an interest that continued throughout his life. He found the answer to the puzzle of Melilla in a key philosophical concept that Ibn Khaldūn called casabiyya. Ortega also described Ibn Khaldūn’s theory of generations, in which the prestige of a people is obtained, lost and then restored. Ortega’s own theory of generations was detailed about that same time in public lectures. If not a direct inspiration, Ortega found in Ibn Khaldūn at least a compatible philosophical perspective. Although it is dated December 1927 to March 1928, The Secret was not published until 1934 in El Espectador newspaper. It was re-published in the second volume of Ortega’s Obras completas in 1946. This thesis is the first critical translation of the essay into English, with extensive annotations. The twin goals of this translation are to make Ortega’s cultural references understandable to a reading audience nearly a century removed, and to present his thought clearly enough for philosophical consideration.