Carolyn first introduced me to Benjamin De Casseres years ago. He was the favorite philosopher of our mutual friend, the late Big Sur sculptor Edmund Kara. De Casseres wrote in an unusually creative manner that was unique, as well as philosophically intriguing. Although he was a brilliant and incredibly prolific writer, it seems that not many people are aware of his large body of remarkable work. De Casseres lived from 1873 to 1945, and worked as a journalist for The New York Times and other prominent newspapers. He was also a poet, and the author of numerous articles, essays, fiction, and criticisms, as well as 19 books on wide-ranging topics. However, despite his literary brilliance, for years he lived in a single room while working odd jobs to support himself.

Some of Carolyn’s favorite books by De Casseres include Spinoza, Liberator of God and Man and The Chameleon, which is one of my favorites too. Interesting, a source of Jewish genealogy identifies him as a descendent of Baruch Spinoza (via the philosopher’s sister Rebecca de Spinoza), who gave birth to an earlier Benjamin De Casseres around 1660. Some of De Casseres’ other noteworthy books include a collection of poetry titled The Shadow-Eater, and the philosophical works The Superman in America, and Fantasia Impromptu & Finis.

Why has the work of this uniquely brilliant mind been largely forgotten? Perhaps this is because De Casseres’ books were viewed as rather eccentric or difficult to classify? His writings certainly didn’t fit neatly into any clear literary categories, and De Casseres saw his creative work as being a threat to that compromised mind of the masses. Also, small publishers handled most of his writings, and his final publisher, Gordon Press, is said to have barely distributed his books, so his work was much less visible than it deserved to be. I hope that more people discover the lost treasures of this great philosopher-poet.

Some of the thought-provoking quotes that De Casseres is remembered for include:
Progress is nothing but the victory of laughter over dogma.

My studies in Speculative philosophy, metaphysics, and science are all summed up in the image of a mouse called man running in and out of every hole in the cosmos hunting for the Absolute Cheese.

Fame is the beauty parlor of the dead.

by David Jay Brown