IB Philosophy 10.7.3 the Revolt Against Authority and Tradition Key Definitions

Horizons of meaning are Taylor's term for the broader frameworks of significance (moral, cultural, spiritual, historical) against which our choices and actions become meaningful; without such horizons, even freely chosen actions are reduced to arbitrary preferences that lack genuine moral weight.

In Ortega y Gasset's philosophy, hyperdemocracy is the condition in which the mass man extends democratic equality beyond politics into every domain of life, insisting that his opinions on art, science, and morality are as valid as those of any trained specialist.

In Ortega's philosophy, legitimate authority derives not from coercive power but from demonstrated competence, moral seriousness, and intellectual discipline, sustained through ongoing achievement rather than institutional position alone.

In Ortega y Gasset's philosophy, the mass man is a social type defined not by class but by a psychological attitude of self-satisfaction and complacency, marked by a refusal to demand more of oneself than what comes easily.

The revolt of the masses is Ortega y Gasset's term for the phenomenon in which the mass man rejects the guidance of intellectual and moral elites, insisting on his right to judge, govern, and direct society without acknowledging the authority of expertise, tradition, or disciplined thought.

Self-demand (exigencia) is Ortega's central concept describing the internal discipline through which an individual holds himself to standards higher than those imposed by society, treating life as a project of continuous self-improvement rather than passive consumption.