CASO, ANTONIO

From "Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture"

Copyright © 1997 by FITZROY DEARBORN PUBLISHERS

A gifted student at the positivist-dominated Escuela Preparatoria Nacional, Antonio Caso studied under thefamous intellectuals Ezekiel Chávez and Justo Sierra. Collectively known as the Científicos, this earliergeneration of liberal-positivists stressed political order and economic progress as the formula for Mexico’sfuture success; they drew upon theories of August Comte and Herbert Spencer to construct the intellectualsupport for Porfirio Díaz’s long tenure in office. Antonio Caso and others of his generation rejected positivismalong with the Porfiriato, however, and urged greater national control over the economy and cultural life ofMexico. With José Vasconcelos, Pedro Henríquez Ureña, and Alfonso Reyes, Caso founded the Ateneo deJuventud, a discussion and study group dedicated to the propagation of the new generation’s ideals. Themembers of the Ateneo opposed positivism as an imported ideology that appealed to man’s basest instinctsand discounted his generous, human impulses. In place of a scientific materialist society, Caso and theAteneo suggested that each nation had its own unique identity that deserved cultivation and respect. Forthem, Mexicans were capable of a creative, dynamic, and heroic national life based upon selflessness andChristian charity.

Antonio Caso, as a historian and social philosopher, quite naturally took a great interest in the education ofMexican youth. After the tumult of the Mexican Revolution, as others of his generation and intellectualinclination assumed power, Caso took a leading role in the country’s educational system. He held concurrentprofessorships in philosophy at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and at the law school, and wasrector at the Universidad Nacional. He always viewed education as an art, as an active and engaging searchfor truth rather than a dull accumulation of facts simply to be memorized. In the 1930s, Caso lost his jobwhen he spoke out against the presidential decree that mandated schools to teach socialism; Caso was agreat proponent of academic freedom and opposed all grand theoretical systems equally, whether political(Marxism), religious (Catholicism), or philosophical (positivism). Caso wanted Mexicans to be free to think forthemselves, to make their own choices in thought and action according to the twin goals of moral progressand individual self-perfection. His trust in Mexicans’ inherent preference for goodness and in the nationalmaturity must have made Caso a popular professor indeed; his dismissal prompted such an outcry from thestudents and faculty that Caso won reinstatement.

As a philosopher of national identity, Caso incorporated the work of his younger brother, notedanthropologist Alfonso Caso, to reconcile Mexico’s many pasts. He urged Mexicans to move beyondresentments based on class, race, political affiliation, and social caste in order to forge a “cosmic race”;through the comingling of criollos, mestizos, and Indians, Mexico had a unique opportunity to create avibrant, creative culture that allowed each member to progress toward self-perfection. Society was a “moralunion of men,” and the state existed to protect the rights of its citizens in their quest.

Besides his educational projects, Antonio Caso also held several diplomatic posts during an ambassadorialcareer that took him to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay. He participated in several spiriteddebates in Mexico’s popular press, most notably over freedom of speech in the 1930s. His work ischaracterized by three main goals: a defense of academic freedom, a rejection of the extremes of bothMarxism and materialism, and the focus on Christian humanism as an alternative path to humandevelopment.

Among the major works of Antonio Caso are La existencia como economía y como caridad (1916), Laexistencia como economía, como disinterés y como caridad (1919), El conceto universal y lafilosofía de los valores (1933), La persona humana y el estado totalitario (1941), and El peligro delhombre (1942).

Select BibliographyGarrido, Luís, Antonio Caso, una vida profunda. Mexico City: Universidad Nacional Autónoma de

México, 1961.Haddox, John Herbert, Antonio Caso, Philosopher of Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1971.Krauze de Kolteniuk, Rosa, La filosofía de Antonio Caso. Mexico City: UNAM, 1961.Sutton, Delia L., Antonio Caso y su impacto cultural en el intelectomexicano. Mexico City: Secretaria de

Hacienda y Crédito Público, 1971.Karen Racine

Copyright © 1997 by FITZROY DEARBORN PUBLISHERS

Persistent URL to the Entry: http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/routmex/caso_antonio/0

APA

Racine, K.(1998). Caso, Antonio. In Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture. Retrieved fromhttp://www.library.rochester.edu/ezproxy.php?dbredirect=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.credoreference.com%2Fcontent%2Fentry%2Froutmex%2Fcaso_antonio%2F0

MLA

Racine, Karen "Caso, Antonio." Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture. London: Routledge,1998. Credo Reference. Web. 10 July 2014.

Chicago

Racine, Karen "Caso, Antonio." In Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture. London:Routledge, 1998. http://www.library.rochester.edu/ezproxy.php?dbredirect=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.credoreference.com%2Fcontent%2Fentry%2Froutmex%2Fcaso_antonio%2F0 (accessed July 10, 2014.)

Harvard

Racine, K. 1998 'Caso, Antonio' in Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture, Routledge,London, United Kingdom. Accessed: 10 July 2014, from Credo Reference