 The intellectual atmosphere of the 1930s underwent dramatic changes: the new generation of students, many of whom were protégés of Caso and Vasconcelos, were not interested in the debate between determinism and freedom or materialism and spirit. To them, values, objectivity, and social responsibility were the central issues of the day. They rejected the intuitionism and the irrationalism of Caso and Vasconcelos and favored a renewed rationalism and universalism. Critical reflection on what it means to be Mexican also started to gain importance, although it was not until the end of the 1940s that it reached full prominence.