Origin and Meaning
The term "mass man" (Spanish: hombre-masa) was coined by José Ortega y Gasset in his seminal 1930 book, The Revolt of the Masses. Ortega used the term not to refer to a specific socio-economic class, such as the working class, but rather to describe a psychological type that had become prevalent across all levels of modern society. The mass man is defined by his psychological complacency; he feels "just like everybody else" and is entirely satisfied with that state, lacking any desire for self-improvement or intellectual growth.
Key Psychological Traits
According to Ortega, the mass man is characterized by three primary psychological traits:
- Radical Complacency: He believes he is already perfect and has no need to change, learn, or strive for excellence.
- Entitlement: He views the material and political benefits of modern civilization as natural rights that require no effort on his part to maintain.
- Indocility: He refuses to submit to any external authority, whether it be scientific expertise, moral standards, or historical facts, asserting his own unexamined opinions as absolute truth.
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Join NowCultural Impact
The rise of the mass man leads to what Ortega called the "revolt of the masses," where the average mind, emboldened by its numbers, aggressively imposes its standards on society. This results in the suppression of individuality, the decay of intellectual rigor, and the rise of political demagoguery, as the mass man is easily swayed by simple slogans that validate his prejudices.
This analysis is based on the Philosopheasy article "Why Mediocrity Is Becoming Militant".