Abstract

José Ortega y Gasset studied painting in depth from the standpoint he called ratio-vitalism or the philosophy of vital reason. This paper explores whether the term živopis corresponds more to ratio-vitalist philosophy than the term pintura used by the Spanish philosopher. In other words, the question is whether the translation, in this case, is better than the original. Following Ortega’s thesis on the historicity of human creations, we will look for the origin of the word živopis, which contributes to the consideration of whether it is an appropriate word for the art of painting from the perspective of the philosophy of life.