Tragic Sense of Life [Paperback]

Miguel de Unamuno (Author), J. E. Crawford Fitch (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1954

The acknowledged masterpiece of one of Spain's most influential thinkers. Between despair and the desire for something better, Unamuno finds that "saving incertitude" that alone can console us. Dynamic appraisal of man's faith in God and in himself.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

This is the masterpiece of Miguel de Unamuno, a member of the group of Spanish intellectuals and philosophers known as the "Generation of '98," and a writer whose work dramatically influenced a wide range of 20th-century literature.

His down-to-earth demeanor and no-nonsense outlook makes this 1921 book a favorite of intellectuals to this day, a practical, sensible discussion of the war between faith and reason that consumed the twentieth century and continues to rage in the twenty-first century.

de Unamuno's philosophy is not the stuff of a rarefied realm but an integral part of fleshly, sensual life, metaphysics that speaks to daily living and the real world. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 332 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications; Dover edition (June 1, 1954)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486202577
• ISBN-13: 978-0486202570
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #617,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars men of flesh and bone, March 6, 2003

By 

Ricardo Signes "rjbs" (Bethlehem, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tragic Sense of Life (Paperback)

Other reviewers have called this book "philosophy for real men." Unamuno begins with this assertion. He rejects the Socratic "Man" as a creature of thought and not of substance. "Soy un hombre de carne y hueso!" he says: "I am a man of flesh and bone."

He works to provide the basis for a belief based on on reason, which he calls anti-vital, but on necessity. It is necessary for us, as men of flesh and bone, to believe that we can exist indefinitely. Reason tells us that we cannot. It is the confluence of these two beliefs that creates the tragic sense of life.

This is one of the best and most important books I've read, and I'd recommend it to anyone capable of sitting down and reading it.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book..., July 27, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Tragic Sense of Life (Paperback)

One of my favorite books in the field of philosophy. Unamuno seems to effortlessly cut through so much of the time-wasting academic drollery and nonsense that often clutters up this vital area of study. This isn't a philosopher getting lost in his own inane definitions and absurd mind games, this is the work of a man who lives to think, and thinks because he is in awe of life. Highly recommended to those who philosophize because they need to, not because they are trying to make other people think they are intelligent...

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tragic Sense of Life., January 9, 2007

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New Age of Barbarism "zosimos" (EVROPA.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tragic Sense of Life (Paperback)

_Tragic Sense of Life_ is a translation of _Del Sentimiento Tragico de la Vida_, originally published in 1913, by the Spanish (Basque) existentialist philosopher Miguel de Unamuno, translated by J. E. Crawford Flitch. This work is an important one in Spanish literature and offers an attempt to expound upon a uniquely Spanish philosophy (influenced in particular by for example Cervantes and his _Don Quixote). This is also an important existentialist work, which considers the interplay and contrast between faith and reason. Miguel de Unamuno (1864-1936) was a Roman Catholic Spanish intellectual who participated to some extent in the Basque nationalist movement (though he remained skeptical of Basque separatism) and was witness to the Carlist wars. Unamuno also lived through the fascist revolution in Spain and eventually came to oppose the Franco regime because of its brutality. Unamuno's life was one of profound religious crisis (perhaps brought on by the early deaths of his father and his son), and he attempted to resolve this crisis in his writings. However, despite the fact that Unamuno was and remained a Roman Catholic, he was heavily influenced by the Protestant Kierkegaard, and thus his work may be described as having a particularly "Lutheran" aspect to it. In particular, in his understanding of the relationship between faith and reason and in the place of individual autonomy within his philosophy, Unamuno's philosophy may be understood as "Lutheran". It is for this reason that his work was rejected by Catholics and eventually placed on the Index of Prohibited Books. Nevertheless, Unamuno was to remain a Catholic and to argue that the Spanish understanding was a profoundly Catholic one.

Unamuno begins this work by noting that he writes for all Christian men and not just for Spanish Christians. Unamuno also reflects some on the Great War, and the sense of crisis which existed at the time and which underlay all the subsequent existentialist philosophies. The first chapter is entitled "The Man of Flesh and Bone", and it is here that Unamuno contrasts man in the abstract (man considered as humanity, man as the "reasoning animal", man as "homo economicus" and "homo sapiens") with the "man of flesh and bone". Indeed, in contrast to the idea of man as the "reasoning animal", Unamuno maintains that instead man is the feeling animal. Unamuno wittily observes, "More often I have seen a cat reason than laugh or weep. Perhaps it weeps or laughs inwardly - but then perhaps, and also inwardly, the crab resolves equations of the second degree." Unamuno considers the "Protestant" philosophy and God of Kant and contrasts this with the Aristotelian God of Catholicism. Unamuno also mentions Joseph Butler, the Anglican divine, and Cardinal Newman. Unamuno contrasts this with the philosophy of the Jewish Spinoza, a man suffering from "God-ache" for his refusal to believe in immortality. Indeed, the issue of immortality becomes Unamuno's central question; one which he will try to rescue from various objections (such as that it is selfish to wish for immortality). The second chapter is entitled "The Starting-Point". Unamuno comments on the apparent "morbidity" of his reflections. He considers both biblical and Darwinian accounts of man's origin, and then goes on to expound upon the nature of philosophy. The third chapter is entitled "The Hunger of Immortality". Here, Unamuno regards immortality as the central question and the central yearning of man. He considers objections to the belief in immortality (such as that it is selfish to believe in one's immortality or that belief in immortality constitutes a form of materialism), but shows how these objections are ill-founded. Unamuno also brings out again the contrast between the Protestant (Kantian) understanding of God and the Catholic (Aristotelian) one. The fourth chapter is entitled "The Essence of Catholicism". Here, Unamuno shows how Christianity arose from both Hellenism and Judaism. He comments on the letters of Saint Paul. Then, he discusses the rise of the Catholic Church and the Catholic mystics, contrasting the Catholic understanding with the Protestant (Kantian). He also discusses the modernist crisis and mentions such ardent defenders of Catholic orthodoxy as Donoso Cortes and Count Joseph de Maistre. The fifth chapter of this book is entitled "The Rationalist Dissolution". Here, he shows how Catholicism faces a crisis brought on by rationalism, mentioning such philosophers as Hume and Kant. He also mentions the conflict between idealism and materialism and notes the work of William James. Unamuno also presents the writings of George Berkeley and Joseph Butler as examples of philosophers who sought to preserve belief in the immortality of the soul. Unamuno also discusses an interesting book by Frederic W. H. Myers, _Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death_, which held him in thrall for a time for what it promised regarding immortality. Unamuno brings out the conflict between faith and reason, mentioning both Pascal and Spinoza in this regard. He also mentions Nietzsche, whose writings he rejects. The sixth chapter of this book is entitled "In the Depths of the Abyss". Here, Unamuno expounds upon both Descartes and Kierkegaard, as well as various further comments on the opposition between faith and reason. The seventh chapter of this book is entitled "Love, Suffering, Pity, and Personality". Unamuno reflects upon these notions and the nature of God. The eighth chapter of this book is entitled "From God to God". Here, Unamuno considers man's understanding of God, contrasting the rationalist God of Aristotle with the more Protestant understanding of God (of for example Kant). The ninth chapter of this book is entitled "Faith, Hope, and Charity". Unamuno reflects upon both faith and hope, but he also calls attention to the possibility of charity. The tenth chapter of this book is entitled "Religion, the Mythology of the Beyond and the Apocatastasis". Unamuno writes upon God, heaven, and hell (mentioning Dante), and he notes his difficulties with the doctrine of hell (claiming that nothingness is worse than eternal torture) which he believes will be resolved in the apocatastasis. The eleventh chapter of this book is entitled "The Practical Problem". Here, Unamuno makes some comments on the nature of work, socialism, and the issue of war and the state (noting its origin in the fratricide of Cain and Abel). The twelvth chapter of this book is entitled "Don Quixote in the Contemporary European Tragi-Comedy". Unamuno notes the role of Don Quixote in Spanish literature and his importance in forming a Spanish philosophy. Unamuno comments on the role of comedy and tragedy, maintaining that life is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel. Unaumuno notes that while Don Quixote may be a "reactionary" that he is an heroic one. Unamuno then concludes his book on the "tragic sense of life in men and in peoples", noting the fact that he is a man and that he writes for his people.

Unamuno's writings are certainly beautiful and they play an important part in both Spanish and existentialist literature in the twentieth century. While Unamuno never quite reconciled himself to the Catholic understanding of both faith and reason, he provides a unique philosophy which speaks both to the heart and head.