Ortega's response is an original contribution to the psychology of perception. But, as was his habit, Ortega ranges far beyond his ostensible subject; the book may properly be characterized as an heroic attempt to clarify the nature and grounds of truth. It develops ideas contained in his first book, Meditations on Quixote, and introduces new concepts--such as core or nodal problems in any field of inquiry--which would have lasting consequences in his work. This volume includes an appendix, "Toward a Philosophical Dictionary," which defines terms important to lectures.

Appearing in English for the first time, this book comprises two of Ortega's most important works, Que es conocimiento? and the essay "Ideas y creencias." This is Ortega's attempt to systematically present the foundations of his metaphysics of human life and, on that basis, to provide a radical philosophical account of knowledge. In so doing, he criticizes idealism and overcomes it. Accordingly, this book goes well beyond a treatise on epistemology; in fact, as understood in modern philosophy, this discipline and its questions are shown to be derivative and, in that sense, they are...