Living _Un_economically: The Aesthetics of Antonio Caso

[Winner of the 2025 APA Essay Prize in Latin American Thought.] In this paper, I explain why influential early 20th century Mexican philosopher Antonio Caso’s effort to inaugurate aesthetics in Mexico represents a watershed moment in the history of aesthetics. I chart the evolution of Caso’s understanding of aesthetics throughout his career, detail the role it plays in his systematic philosophy, and discuss how philosophers today have much to gain from engaging with his aesthetics. In Section 1, I demonstrate that in his early career, Caso advances an anti-individualist aesthetics well ahead of its time. In Section 2, I discuss the theory of aesthetic disinterest developed in the 1925 Principios de estética, articulating its contribution to Caso’s philosophical system and to the history of aesthetics. In Section 3, I turn to the final edition of the Existencia, where Caso argues that, without the ability to recognize aesthetic value, human beings cannot recognize or realize moral value.