Reason and Life. Phenomenological Interpretations of Don Quixote

Abstract

Don Quixote is not only a novel which represents Spanish culture, but a hero that reveals the relation between life and reason. I will compare two interpretations of Don Quixote. The first phenomenological interpreta-tion belongs to Ortega Y Gasset, and the second to Lithuanian philosopher Algis Mickūnas. The interpretations of Don Quixote are related to the question about an ideal. What is the role of ideals in culture? Are ideals principles con-structed by reason? Do these principles deny the reality of life, or are ideals related to the self life-world rationality? Then what does the idealism of Don Quixote mean? Does it represent a utopian rationality or does it seek to show values that are not reduced to circumstance? Ortega criticizes Don Quixote as an idealist, who can’t find any ideal values in the nearest environment. Mickūnas suggests interpreting Don Quixote’s idealism as a phenomenological bracketing, which allows one to doubt the blind dependence on this life-world and question its value.