Philosopher views

ETHICS

The two ideals that Caso sought for Mexico were freedom and love. He argued that the human moral conscience has become “drugged.” “He [sic] is saturated with avarice for material possessions, for more and more outer goods with less and less concern for his [sic] inner, spiritual perfection. Man [sic] seems to be running away from himself [sic] with no knowledge of where he is going.” (Caso, Principios de Estetica, 1925, p. 207). In turn, he argued that this causes violence, tyranny, injustice, and warfare. He believed that creative freedom was necessary to achieve the desired political and intellectual self-determination of Mexico and that humans were inherently capable of heroic, self-sacrificing love; but that this was only possible through freedom (Haddox 1971). The ability to give and not just take was what Caso believed was uniquely human (Haddox 1971). He believed that moral progress is the movement toward self-perfection, through self-sacrifice (Haddox 1971). The person, in contrast to the economic-individualist, seeks to be more of a humanist, through her/his ethical and social activities (Haddox 1971).

EDUCATION

As a teacher, Caso sought to not just create good philosophers, but good people and good citizens (Haddox 1971). He believed that it is the role of the teacher to awaken in her/his students human personality (Haddox 1971). For Caso, education was a perpetual search for truth (Haddox 1971). The purpose of education is to inform, not deform; to discuss, not persuade; and to liberate, not dictate (Krause 1961).

AESTHETICS

Caso argues that art is a product of social tradition and creative genius. It is representative of the insatiable endeavor to symbolize what cannot be expressed. Utilizing the writings of Alfonso Caso, he argues that there are four classes representing the arts: First, a being that has moved, i.e. architecture and ornamentation; second, a being that is moving, i.e. sculpture and painting; third, a movement of being, i.e. poetry and music; and fourth, a being and its movement, i.e. dance and drama. (Berndston 1951)

Caso argues that there are five conditions of art or aesthetic experience: First is the general state of “demansia vital” or vital exuberance. Living beings have a special impetus to push inert matter into partnerships of creation. He argues that the universe as a whole is made of energies which are based on the principle that a “quantitative increase in causes results in a qualitative differentiation in effects” (Berndston 1951, p. 324). Caso does not make very clear how art illustrates the theory of vitality. However, he does state that, “beauty affords a rich concentration of ideas; he cites Schiller on the contrast between work, which indicates lack, and play, which implies fullness; and undoubtedly he assumes the general relevance in aesthetic production of the external factor of leisure and the internal factor of novel creation.” (Berndston 1951, p. 324)
The second condition of art is disinterestedness, which implies a kind of contemplation. Things are viewed as an end rather than in relation to our desires. “It does not imply the negation of desire or of pleasure; on the contrary, it means that the object contemplated is so satisfying that there is no transitive movement of conation” (Berndston 1951, p. 324). Caso based his theory on Kant, Schopenhauer, and Bergson, with Nietzsche and Santayana in disagreement. Caso argues that catharsis and the disinterestedness of art guarantees its morality, because only interested acts can be immoral (Caso, Principios de Estetica, 1944). He uses the theory of disinterestedness to argue that art should be dissociated from play (Caso, Principios de Estetica, 1944). Therefore, play must be classified with work (Berndston 1951).
The third condition of art is based on intuition, which is an awareness of reality in its full individuality (Berndston 1951). The basic element of intuition is based on Kant, and involves seeing things as they are without the conceptual artifices of experience. This is done through seeing things with disinterest and to view things as instruments (Berndston 1951). The second element is the belief that there is no logic to the nature of art. “…His theory of value claims to strip the evaluator of arbitrary decision by noting the ineluctable contributions of the object, of society, and even of God” (Berndston 1951, p. 325).
The fourth condition of art is empathy; which Caso defines as “an effusion of the soul upon the things of the world…” (Berndston 1951, p. 326). Empathy is part of intuition, in that the subject is the object; we endow the subject with the attributes of our own selves. This happens in three circumstances: The first is in construction of religious myths in which nature is invested with the hopes and fears of the subject (Berndston 1951). The second is in dealing with aesthetics, which is the projection of pure feeling and a minor form of mysticism. It includes any perception of emotional or mental processes or behavior directed toward action or change as attributes of objects (Berndston 1951). The third type is logical, which states that every object is a coherent and synthetic diversity of attributes or qualities. That which synthesizes is subjective even though it is the condition of all objects (Caso, Principios de Estetica, 1944).
The final condition of art is creative intuition or expression (Berndston 1951). Since it is not possible to embody our emotional states in objects and these objects do not want to remain latent, they tend toward action. Thus, our emotional states move, in the metaphysical passage, from the indeterminate (empathy) into the determinate (expression). He argues that expression is the end result of intuition. The way that expressive factors relate to what is expressed is similar to the relation of body and mind (Principios de Estetica 1944; Existencia como Economia 1943).
CASO IN DEBATE
Caso never identified himself with one system of thought, but instead took from other philosophers and their modalities. As such, Caso makes for good support of many other philosophers, but also provides criticisms and thoughts for change on all of their philosophies. For instance, Max Scheler, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Arthur Schopenhauer all helped inform Caso’s ethics; Caso took methodology from the pragmatist William James and took aesthetics from Benedetto Croce. For his theory of knowledge, he borrowed from the phenomenologist Edmund Husserl and for his philosophy of history, he borrowed from Nicolas Berdyaev and Wilhelm Dilthey. Caso also had minor influence from Immanuel Kant, Martin Heidegger, Heinrich Rickert, Maine de Biran, Max Stirner, and Emile Meyerson.

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