IB Philosophy 10.7.7 Connections to the Core Theme and Optional Themes Key Definitions

the sphere of voluntary associations, institutions, and organisations that operate independently of the state, including religious groups, trade unions, the press, charities, and community organisations. Political philosophers from Hegel to Habermas have debated whether civil society is a necessary complement to state power or a site of class conflict.

Existential angst (also called anguish or anxiety) is a profound feeling of dread that arises from awareness of one's own radical freedom, the absence of a predetermined essence, and the inescapable responsibility for creating oneself through one's choices.

a political philosophy that prioritizes individual rights, limited government, and personal freedom. Ortega both draws upon and critiques liberal tradition, arguing that liberalism's achievements require a culturally disciplined citizenry that mass society may no longer produce.

Mass civilization is Ortega y Gasset's term for a society organized around mass production and consumption, in which technological convenience replaces individual effort and the achievements of civilization are enjoyed without understanding the intellectual labour that produced them.

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.

Moral responsibility is the status of being worthy of praise or blame for one's actions, typically requiring that the agent acted freely, with knowledge of what they were doing, and with the capacity to have done otherwise.

Ortega y Gasset's concept of the noble life (vida noble) describes a life organized around self-imposed demands and discipline, in which the individual treats freedom not as a right to comfort but as a continuous obligation to grow, contribute, and hold oneself to standards that exceed what society requires.