Antonio Caso,
"El Maestro"

In Memoriam-1883-1946

PEDRO DE ALBA

Assistant Director of the Pan American Union

MEXICO is a country engaged in a noble struggle for intellectual progress. In every period of its independent history it has sought for a mentor or guide and sometimes has found one. But since the days of Ignacio Ramírez, "The Necromancer," Ignacio M. Altamirano, and Justo Sierra, no one has borne the title of Maestro by such unanimous agreement as Antonio Caso. The men of my generation were almost of his age, but his mind matured more quickly. Even before he graduated from the old Law School he had taught various subjects to his fellow students. From his youth he stood out because of his disciplined study and because of his eagerness to explore new paths. He lived surrounded by the affection and respect of his students. Those of us who came a little after him called him simply Don Antonio, if we did not say Maestro, for his personality always aroused both admiration and affection.

Antonio Caso was an aristocratic thinker in the Greek sense. While he believed in classic humanism, he was also a philosopher of his own age. The currents of Mexican culture that originated in preColumbian times and were enriched by contact with men of the western world at the time of the Discovery, the Conquest, and the Colony brought him a stimulating and profound message.

He always thought of culture as existing on a universal plane. He said that every

day problems, domestic anxieties, and personal characteristics cannot be fully understood if one does not have a clear idea of the world in which one lives, and if the determinants of humanity's progress are not clearly in mind. The meaning of history was one of the subjects that Don Antonio treated in a masterly manner; the interpretation of the past was to his mind a philosophic question.

We must refer here, although it may be only in outline, to the foundation of his culture and to the characteristics of his intellectual education. A passionate and confirmed Hellenist, he studied the Greek philosophers of the pre-Socratic age, the century of the Academy, and the decadent period. He himself was like an Alexandrian philosopher who tried to interlace the Christian spirit with the cosmic thought of Pythagorus and Plato and with the logic of Aristotle.

Caso's studies of the philosophy of the Middle Ages took him from the Church Fathers to the Reformation and the height of the Renaissance. After becoming acquainted with Campanella, Bacon, Erasmus, Vico, Vitoria, and Molinos, he followed the trail of the Spanish mystics who influenced Pascal and Jansenism, and went on to the field of German philosophic thought, which in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was dominant throughout the world.

He was among the Mexican university men who studied the great German thinkers in the original. Kant, Hegel, Marx were coupled in his thought with Goethe, Schiller, and Fichte, and also with Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Pure reason, dialectic, and economic determinism were part of the background of his career as philosopher, historian, and sociologist, and great poets gave him his phenomenal equipment as a master of esthetics.

We say that Don Antonio Caso was a

Courtesy of the Department of Public Education, Mexico ANTONIO CASO

humanist because his eagerness for universal knowledge and his respect for the fundamental values of life never died. One of the chief reasons why he did not attach himself permanently to the German school was his spirit of universality and his great. gift of human sympathy. Thomas Mann, the thinker and novelist, said at a lecture that he gave in the Library of Congress at Washington in May 1945:

Already I have somehow slipped into the complex world of German psychology with the remark about the combination of expansiveness and seclusiveness, of cosmopolitanism and provincialism in the German character. I believe this observation, dating from my early youth, is correct. A trip out of the Reich, say across Lake Constance, into Switzerland, was a trip out of the provincial into the world-no matter how strange it may appear to regard the tiny country of Switzerland as "world" in comparison to the large and powerful German Reich with its gigantic cities. Still it was perfectly true: Switzerland, neutral, multilingual, under French influence, breathing west

ern air-notwithstanding its miniature format— was actually far more European, far more "World," than the political colossus to the north, where the word "international" had long since been considered an insult and where arrogant provicialism had tainted the atmosphere and made it stagnant.

The universal value of German culture is found in the musicians, who opened windows, explored the four corners of the universe, and distributed their gifts with heroic generosity. The music of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms is the heritage and pride of humanity, the insuperable expression of the creative genius of man.

Reluctance to place Richard Wagner on the same plane as the group of immortals from Bach to Brahms arises from the fact that Wagner was first of all a German. In spite of his genius, he cannot escape from the circle of the Nibelungs or from Pan-Germanism or emerge from the seclusiveness of which Thomas Mann spoke. Some German intellectuals among those persecuted and exiled by the Nazis have discountenanced Wagner. They believe that he influenced the formation of the Hitlerian mentality, and they assert that he inspired the devastating theories of racial pride.

Beethoven became the symbol of human dignity, the desire for liberation, and the spirit of brotherhood. Thus we have the seeming paradox that the victory theme of the free men of the world was the introduction to the Fifth Symphony, written by a German.

An artistic passion deeply rooted in Maestro Caso was worship of Beethoven, who left us the message of his fortitude in his Prometheus and in the Ninth Symphony. Don Antonio Caso also knew well the Festen Mut in schwerem Leiden that crowned Beethoven's life and exalted his work; he believed in Schiller's gospel, which served as the inspiration for that immortal work.

We have learned to love and understand Beethoven the man through the glass of French genius; Romain Rolland gave us the key. German symphonic music and the Russian novel of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, harmonious creations of spirit, mind, and heart, were circulated in the Latin world thanks to the French language.

The Greek adage affirming that "man is the measure of all things" is the root of French culture, a magic key that unlocks all doors, throwing open the way to the thought not only of France but of other countries as well.

Maestro Caso, who had drunk deeply at the Greco-Latin fount of knowledge, became profoundly French. He found in French philosophers, poets, and essayists a clarity and precision that accorded with his own temperment. The store of French philosophy that Maestro Caso acquired was equalled by his historical learning. It went from Abélard to the great century of Montaigne, Descartes, and Pascal and the revolutionary era of Voltaire, Diderot, and Condorcet, which was followed by that of August Comte and Hippolyte Taine. This fund of historical erudition enabled him to undertake his study of contemporaneous French philosophy with full mastery of the subject.

Boutroux and Bergson, whom Caso made known in Mexico, were for him the repository of a great inheritance, the upholders of a great philosophical trend that had come down through the ages. His studies on the history of French philosophy gave him a basis for presenting in one harmonious picture Jules de Gaultier, Marcel Proust, Gabriel Hanoteaux, Paul Valéry, and many other illustrious men.

Maestro Caso's solid and profound learning had a pleasant outward aspect because of his gift for communicating it agreeably. The teaching of mathematics is somewhat

similar to that of philosophy. If the neophyte has the bad fortune of falling into the hands of dry-as-dust professors who begin by presenting to him only abstruse and incomprehensible problems, he may feel frustrated from the beginning.

But Don Antonio never tried to crush or discourage his students. He presented the problems of learning in an attractive and accessible form with a clearness that showed him to belong to the classic tradition.

The French influence appeared in his eagerness to teach with a smile and a pleasant phrase. His chair of sociology in the Law School, of esthetics in the School of Advanced Studies, and of history in the National Normal School were tribunes of free thought and sources of a wholesome inconformity, giving a creative and constructive stimulus to contemporaneous life in Mexico.

Don Antonio did not hold the tenets of any particular sect or dogma but expounded broad and comprehensive theories. He always cited his references accurately. A man profoundly respectful of his students' dignity, he never sought to impose his opinion upon them by authority or even by moral pressure. He won those who followed his school and shared his doctrines by his persuasive eloquence and his exemplary teaching.

From his classes in sociology, history, and esthetics came divergent stimuli. Some of the most notable Mexican thinkers of the day-socialists or conservatives, revolutionists or the orthodox-owed many lessons to Maestro Caso. He was not a propagandist nor did he desire to proselyte. He aroused inquiring thought; he required ethical circumspection and a serious effort, intellectual discipline, and respect for the imponderables of the spirit.

His classes in history, esthetics, and

philosophy, analytical in nature and varied and comprehensive in color and content, were the point of departure for the renovation of historical and philosophical thought in Mexico. Even those who sometimes denied it owed him profound teachings.

It would be tempting to write a full biography of Antonio Caso in which his manifold characteristics might be described and his books and doctrines discussed. Some one of his students among those who had the good fortune to be close to him in whole-hearted effort and identity of purpose should undertake it. A portrait of the Master which would paint his essential aspects and traits of character would indeed be a compendium of his philosophical thought.

This task should be reserved for those

who are fully informed, those who have unswervingly followed the academic path. This personal and unassuming offering on the occasion of his death is made with no analytical purpose. Perhaps at some later time I may set down what I learned at his side and tell what his friendship meant to me. I knew him in the University faculty and in University struggles. We were companions in various civic enterprises and we shared cultural undertakings to help our Mexico. I was acquainted with the man in various aspects of his daily life; I knew his exemplary conduct, his unflagging valor in maintaining his ideals, and the great dignity with which he invested his university professorship. He was always faithful to the maxim that he used to repeat to his classes: "Thought must keep step with life."

SOME BOOKS BY ANTONIO CASO IN THE COLUMBUS MEMORIAL LIBRARY OF THE PAN AMERICAN UNION CASO, ANTONIO. Caso; prólogo y selección de Eduardo García Máynez. México, Secretaría de educación pública, 1943. 188 p. [El Pensamiento de América, xi] Contenido: El pensamiento filosófico.-El pensamiento sociológico.-El pensamiento político.-Discursos. CASO, ANTONIO. Las causas humanas de la guerra. [México] El Colegio de México, Centro de estudios sociales, 1943. [Jornadas, no. 5]

El concepto de la historia universal y la filosofía de los valores. México, Ediciones Botas, 1933. 149 p.

CASO. Doctrinas e ideas. México, Herrero hermanos, sucesores, 1924. 231 p.

Doctrinas e ideas. México, A. Botas e hijo, sucesor [19] 240 p. Contenido: Ensayos socráticos.-Problemas estéticos.-Ideologías.

La existencia como economía, como desinterés y como caridad. México, Ediciones de la Secretaría de educación pública, 1943. 199 p. [Serie: Cultura mexicana. 1?]

Filósofos y moralistas franceses. México, Editorial Stylo [1943]. 202p.

Historia y antología del pensamiento filosófico. [México] Sociedad de edición y librería Franco-Americana, 1926. 526 p.

México (apuntamientos de cultura patria). México, D. F., Universidad nacional de México, Comisión editorial, 1943. 161 p.

Meyerson y la física moderna. México, D. F., Fondo de cultura económica, 1939. 78 p. (Casa de España en México)

El peligro del hombre. México, D. F., Editorial Stylo, 1942. 163 p.

La persona humana y el estado totalitario. México, D. F., Universidad nacional de México, Comisión editorial, 1941. 276 p.

Positivismo, neopositivismo y fenomenolo gía. México, D. F., Centro de estudios filosóficos de la Facultad de filosofía y letras, 1941. 123 p. (Colección de monografías filosóficas) Principios de estética. México, Secretaría de educación, 1925. 227 p.

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EDITOR

SIERRA, JUSTO. Prosas; prólogo y selección de Antonio Caso. México, Universidad nacional autónoma, 1939. 218 p. (Biblioteca del estudiante universitario. 10)

UNDER the auspices of the United States Railway Mission in Mexico, which had long considered the advisability of a railway educational program for Mexico, the National Railways inaugurated at Buena Vista Station, Mexico City, on February 1, 1946, its first Railway Technical Training School.

Present at the impressive ceremony were Messrs. Pablo M. Hernández, General Manager of the National Railways; Pedro C. Morales, Assistant to the General Manager; Robert J. de Camp, Chief of the United States Railway Mission in Mexico; Jaime Torres Bodet, Secretary of Public Education; Manuel R. Palacios, Under Secretary of Labor; and Valentín Campa, Secretary of Education of the Railroad Syndicate, all of whom spoke with inspiring confidence of the future of this splendid venture.

More than two years of exhaustive research and planning by the United States Railway Mission had prepared the way for this important undertaking, which now has the approval and support of the President of Mexico, General Manuel Ávila Camacho, and the Syndicate of Mexican Railway Workers. Mexican industrialists, at a convention held at the National Polytechnic Institute, on February 26 of this year, also expressed great interest in the technical training schools as another step toward the solution of Mexico's most serious problem-transportation.

Heretofore, neither the National Railways nor any other railroad in Mexico had ever set up an educational program,

either in theory or practice; nor had they followed the apprenticeship system, one of the main reasons for North American railroad success. The obvious result was that as their managers, supervisors, foremen, and other department heads died or retired there was no personnel, trained in these positions, to succeed them. This is one of the most serious and vital problems of the National Railways, for without a competent personnel no organization can function properly, nor can it maintain a high level of efficiency without some practical training method for the development of replacement personnel.

It was the practice in the past to send enginemen and mechanics to study in large railroad centers in the United States, where they stayed six months to a year, receiving practical instruction. While the results obtained were satisfactory, this method has proved very costly. The number of men that could be sent away was limited, since no large group could be spared without risk of serious impairment to the service. Thus many deserving men were deprived of the opportunity of a training which would not only benefit them and prepare them for advancement, but would make them of far greater value to the railroad. The National Railways especially have many good men in their service, men who are ambitious and capable of doing excellent work if given efficient training and supervision. It has been noted by trained observers that the men are not only eager to learn, but that they take great pride in their work and in