--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The nineteenth century, utilitarian…" description: "\"The nineteenth century, utilitarian throughout, set up a utilitarian interpretation of the phenomenon of life which has come down to us and may still b..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_blindness_the-nineteenth-century-utilitarian-throu_2558717.jpg" --- # The nineteenth century, utilitarian throughout, set up a… ![“The nineteenth century, utilitarian throughout, set up a utilitarian interpretation of the phenomenon of life which has come down to us and may still be considered as the commonplace of everyday thinking. ... An innate blindness seems to have closed the eyes of this epoch to all but those facts…” quote by Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_blindness_the-nineteenth-century-utilitarian-throu_2558717.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_blindness_the-nineteenth-century-utilitarian-throu_2558717.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/688/jose-ortega-y-gasset-1688_blindness_the-nineteenth-century-utilitarian-throu_2558717.jpg) > “The nineteenth century, utilitarian throughout, set up a utilitarian interpretation of the phenomenon of life which has come down to us and may still be considered as the commonplace of everyday thinking. ... An innate blindness seems to have closed the eyes of this epoch to all but those facts which show life as a phenomenon of utility” [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Modern thought treats life as a tool for utility, overlooking deeper meaning. **In simple terms:** Life is seen only as useful. Key Takeaway Seek purpose beyond utility. Themes philosophy existentialism utility meaning Mood analytical inquisitive Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - career counseling - ethical decision‑making - personal development - education - public policy Key Concepts humanism critical theory existential thought Questions to Reflect On - What aspects of life resist utilitarian view? - How can we integrate meaning with practicality? A Different Perspective Utility focus can ignore moral values. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blindness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blindness/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Century Utilitarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century-utilitarian-1586226/) [Commonplace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/commonplace/) [Epoch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/epoch/) [Everyday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everyday/) [Eye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eye/) [Facts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/facts/) [Innate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innate/) [Interpretation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interpretation/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [May](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/may/) [Nineteenth century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nineteenth-century/) [Phenomenon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/phenomenon/) [Seems](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seems/) [Shows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shows/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Thinking Innate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking-innate-1586227/) [Utilitarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utilitarian/) [Utilitarian Interpretation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utilitarian-interpretation-1586225/) [Utility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/utility/) ## Related quotes > [The history of the Roman Empire is also the history of the uprising of the Empire of the Masses, who absorb and annul the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-history-of-the-roman-empire-is-also-the-history-of-the-uprising/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The characteristic of the hour is that the commonplace mind, knowing itself to be commonplace, has the assurance to proclaim the rights of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-characteristic-of-the-hour-is-that-the-commonplace-mind-knowing/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [ \[I\]t is necessary to insist upon this extraordinary but undeniable fact: experimental science has progressed thanks in great part to the work of men… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/i-t-is-necessary-to-insist-upon-this-extraordinary-but-undeniable/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Commonplaces are the tramways of intellectual transportation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/commonplaces-are-the-tramways-of-intellectual-transportation/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Every intellectual effort sets us apart from the commonplace, and leads us by hidden and difficult paths to secluded spots where we find ourselves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/every-intellectual-effort-sets-us-apart-from-the-commonplace-and/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The utilitarian behaves sensibly in all that is required for preservation but never takes account of the fact that he must die...His whole life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allan-bloom/the-utilitarian-behaves-sensibly-in-all-that-is-required-for/) [Allan Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allan-bloom/) > [Now that practical skills have developed enough to provide adequately for material needs, one of these sciences which are not devoted to utilitarian ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/now-that-practical-skills-have-developed-enough-to-provide-adequately/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [“In the temple of science are many mansions, and various indeed are they that dwell therein and the motives that have led them thither.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/in-the-temple-of-science-are-many-mansions-and-various-indeed-are/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [“we live in a utilitarian age. Honour is a mediaeval conception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-conan-doyle/we-live-in-a-utilitarian-age-honour-is-a-mediaeval-conception/) [Arthur Conan Doyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-conan-doyle/) > [ We thought \[with Alix MacKenzie\], if those are the kinds of pots from every culture that interest us, why would we think that it… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-mackenzie/we-thought-with-alix-mackenzie-if-those-are-the-kinds-of-pots-from/) [Warren MacKenzie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-mackenzie/) > [I think that in a lot of readers' minds the essay is a lot more utilitarian than it is art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-d-agata/i-think-that-in-a-lot-of-readers-minds-the-essay-is-a-lot-more/) [John D'Agata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-d-agata/) > [Modern anthropology ... opposes the utilitarian assumption that the primitive chants as he sows seed because he believes that otherwise it will not grow,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-carroll/modern-anthropology-opposes-the-utilitarian-assumption-that-the/) [John Carroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-carroll/) > [For the utilitarian, there is a fact of the matter about the good (the general happiness, or whatever conception of the good the utilitarian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allen-w-wood/for-the-utilitarian-there-is-a-fact-of-the-matter-about-the-good-the/) [Allen W. Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allen-w-wood/) > [Somebody who eats twice as much factory-farmed products as he or she needs to is clearly doing twice as much damage to the planet.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/somebody-who-eats-twice-as-much-factory-farmed-products-as-he-or-she/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) ## More by Jose Ortega y Gasset > [It would be a piece of ingenuousness to accuse the man of today of his lack of moral code. The accusation would leave him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/it-would-be-a-piece-of-ingenuousness-to-accuse-the-man-of-today-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In these years we are witnessing the gigantic spectacle of innumerable human lives wandering about lost in their own labyrinths, through not having anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-these-years-we-are-witnessing-the-gigantic-spectacle-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [In order to master the unruly torrent of life the learned man meditates, the poet quivers, and the political hero erects the fortress of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/in-order-to-master-the-unruly-torrent-of-life-the-learned-man/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The common man, finding himself in a world so excellent, technically and socially, believes it has been produced by nature, and never thinks of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-common-man-finding-himself-in-a-world-so-excellent-technically/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Barbarism is the absence of standards to which appeal can be made.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/barbarism-is-the-absence-of-standards-to-which-appeal-can-be-made/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The form most contradictory to human life that can appear among the human species is the "self-sat-isfied man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-form-most-contradictory-to-human-life-that-can-appear-among-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [“For there is no doubt that the most radical division that is possible to make of humanity is that which splits into two classes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/for-there-is-no-doubt-that-the-most-radical-division-that-is-possible/) [José Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [What makes a nation great is not primarily its great men, but the stature of its innumerable mediocre ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/what-makes-a-nation-great-is-not-primarily-its-great-men-but-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [To be surprised, to wonder, is to begin to understand. This is the sport, the luxury, special to the intellectual man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/to-be-surprised-to-wonder-is-to-begin-to-understand-this-is-the-sport/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Romantic poses aside, let us recognize that "falling in love"...is an inferior state of mind, a form of transitory imbecility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/romantic-poses-aside-let-us-recognize-that-falling-in-love-is-an/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Law is born from despair of human nature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/law-is-born-from-despair-of-human-nature/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The masses think that is is easy to flee from reality, when it is the most difficult thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-masses-think-that-is-is-easy-to-flee-from-reality-when-it-is-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [The librarian's mission should be, not like up to now, a mere handling of the book as an object, but rather a know how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/the-librarian-s-mission-should-be-not-like-up-to-now-a-mere-handling/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Whether he be an original or a plagiarist, man is the novelist of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/whether-he-be-an-original-or-a-plagiarist-man-is-the-novelist-of/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) > [Here, then, is the point at which I see the new mission of the librarian rise up incomparably higher than all those preceding. Up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-ortega-y-gasset/here-then-is-the-point-at-which-i-see-the-new-mission-of-the/) [Jose Ortega y Gasset](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) [Explore all 204 Jose Ortega y Gasset quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-ortega-y-gasset/) ## More Blindness quotes > [I guess I was so blinded by who I wanted you to be, that I didn't see who you really were.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-copeland/i-guess-i-was-so-blinded-by-who-i-wanted-you-to-be-that-i-didn-t-see/) [Rachel Copeland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-copeland/) > [I will love you till a mute women tells his deaf friend about a blind women that saw a girl with no legs walking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-will-love-you-till-a-mute-women-tells-his-deaf-friend-about-a-blind/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Cynicism masquerades as wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-colbert/cynicism-masquerades-as-wisdom-but-it-is-the-farthest-thing-from-it/) [Stephen Colbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-colbert/) > [These eyes, tho' clear To outward view of blemish or of spot, Bereft of light, their seeing have forgot, Nor to their idle orbs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/these-eyes-tho-clear-to-outward-view-of-blemish-or-of-spot-bereft-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [“And the blind man said to the deaf man, "Do you see what I hear?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-gerard-trotman/and-the-blind-man-said-to-the-deaf-man-do-you-see-what-i-hear/) [Wayne Gerard Trotman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-gerard-trotman/) > [With every rising of the sun Think of your life as just begun. The past has shrived and buried deep All yesterdays— there let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ella-wheeler-wilcox/with-every-rising-of-the-sun-think-of-your-life-as-just-begun-the/) [Ella Wheeler Wilcox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ella-wheeler-wilcox/) > [The observation of human blindness and weakness is the result of all philosophy, and meets us at every turn, in spite of our endeavours…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hume/the-observation-of-human-blindness-and-weakness-is-the-result-of-all/) [David Hume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hume/) > [Some men make money not for the sake of living, but ache In the blindness of greed and live just for their fortune's sake.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/some-men-make-money-not-for-the-sake-of-living-but-ache-in-the/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [Blindness separates us from things but deafness separates us from people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/blindness-separates-us-from-things-but-deafness-separates-us-from/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [I give money to Unicef because I like the 'bang for your buck' aspect. Here's $10, go and save 1,000 kids from blindness!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emo-philips/i-give-money-to-unicef-because-i-like-the-bang-for-your-buck-aspect/) [Emo Philips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emo-philips/) > [The recovery of spiritual sight and the healing of physical blindness have much in common. Some of those whose bodily eyes were blind received…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-palamas/the-recovery-of-spiritual-sight-and-the-healing-of-physical-blindness/) [Gregory Palamas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-palamas/) > [The simplest things to see are the things we are most blind to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milliton-munney/the-simplest-things-to-see-are-the-things-we-are-most-blind-to/) [Milliton MUNNEY](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milliton-munney/) > [Blackout is the way we feel how the blind people feel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/blackout-is-the-way-we-feel-how-the-blind-people-feel/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The blindness of the eye in darkness is as life in the absence of true love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brain-emrys/the-blindness-of-the-eye-in-darkness-is-as-life-in-the-absence-of/) [Brain Emrys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brain-emrys/) > [It was a huge deal, a huge musical discovery that became life lessons learned. You can't return from having an experience like that. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-harper/it-was-a-huge-deal-a-huge-musical-discovery-that-became-life-lessons/) [Ben Harper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-harper/) [Browse all 580 Blindness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blindness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The nineteenth century, utilitarian throughout, set up a utilitarian interpretation of the phenomenon of life which has come down to us and may still be considered as the commonplace of everyday thinking. ... 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