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Summary:

In Aztec Philosophy, James Maffie reveals a highly sophisticated and systematic Aztec philosophy worthy of consideration alongside European philosophies of their time. Bringing together the fields of comparative world philosophy and Mesoamerican studies, Maffie excavates the distinctly philosophical aspects of Aztec thought. Aztec Philosophy focuses on the ways Aztec metaphysics--the Aztecs' understanding of the nature, structure and constitution of reality--underpinned Aztec thinking about wisdom, ethics, politics, \ and aesthetics, and served as a backdrop for Aztec religious practices as well as everyday activities such as weaving, farming, and warfare. Aztec metaphysicians conceived reality and cosmos as a grand, ongoing process of weaving--theirs was a world in motion. Drawing upon linguistic, ethnohistorical, archaeological, historical, and contemporary ethnographic evidence, Maffie argues that Aztec metaphysics maintained a processive, transformational, and non-hierarchical view of reality, time, and existence along with a pantheistic theology. Aztec Philosophy will be of great interest to Mesoamericanists, philosophers, religionists, folklorists, and Latin Americanists as well as students of indigenous philosophy, religion, and art of the Americas.

Table of Contents:

• Chapter 1 Teotl 21
• 1.1 Teotl 21
• 1.2 Supporting Scholarship 31
• 1.3 The Cosmos as Teotl's Artistic-Shamanic Self-Transformation 38
• 1.4 Some Implications of and Objections against Several Aspects of this Interpretation of Aztec Metaphysics 43
• 1.5 Conclusion 62
• Chapter 2 Pantheism 79
• 2.1 Pantheism 79
• 2.2 The Sacred 92
• 2.3 Neltiliztli, Self-Presentation, and Nonhierarchical Well-Ordering 100
• 2.4 Ixiptla and Teixiptla 113
• 2.5 Animism 114
• 2.6 Objections and Replies 116
• 2.1 Conclusion 121
• Chapter 3 Agonistic Inamic Unity 137
• 3.1 Agonistic Inamic Unity 137
• 3.2 Agonistic Inamic Unity as a Pattern in the Weaving of the Cosmos 140
• 3.3 Examining Agonistic Inamic Unity 143
• 3.4 Artistic Presentations of Agonistic Inamic Unity 159
• 3.5 Abstract Inamic Pairs 164

• 3.6 Balance and Imbalance, and Center and Periphery Are Not Inamic Pairs 168
• 3.7 Ometeotl 169
• 3.8 Conclusion 172
• Chapter 4 Teotl as Olin 185
• 4.1 Olin 186
• 4.2 Linguistic Evidence 187
• 4.3 Literary Evidence 194
• 4.4 Graphic Evidence 230
• 4.3 Conclusion 241
• Chapter 5 Teotl as Malinalli 261
• 5.1 Linguistic Evidence 261
• 5.2 Literary Evidence 267
• 5.3 Graphic Evidence 320
• 5.4 Conclusion 329
• Chapter 6 Teotl as Nepantla 355
• 6.1 Linguistic Evidence 355
• 6.2 Literary Evidence 364
• 6.3 Graphic Evidence 401
• 6.4 Conclusion 403
• Chapter 7 Teotl as Time-Place 419
• 7.1 Introductory Remarks on Time and Place 419
• 7.2 The Tonalpohualli 423
• 7.3 The Xihuitl or Xiuhpohualli 43°
• 7.4 Aztec Cosmogony 432
• 7.5 Aztec Time-Place: a Monistic and Processive Interpretation 452
• 7.6 Conclusion 465
• Chapter 8 Weaving the Cosmos: Reality and Cosmos as Nepantla Process 479
• 8.1 The Dynamics of the Aztec Cosmos 479
• 8.2 Backstrap Weaving 483
• 8.3 Weaving the Fifth Sun-Earth Age 495
• 8.4 The First Four Sun-Earth Ages as Nepantla Process 502
• 8.5 The Fifth Age as Nepantla-Generated Woven House 503
• 8.6 The Vertical Folding of the Cosmos and of the Fifth Age 504
• 8.7 Cosmos and Reality as Nepantla Process 508
• 8.8 Conclusion 512.

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Author/Creator:

Maffie, James

Languages:

English

Language Notes:

Item content: English

Main Work:

Aztec philosophy: understanding a world in motion [by Maffie, J.]

Subjects:

Aztec philosophy

Aztecs — Folklore

Aztecs

Genres:

Folklore

General Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 531-565) and index.
Description based on print version record.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Digital Characteristics:

text file

Call Numbers:

F1219.76.P55 M35 2013eb

ISBNs:

9781607322238 (electronic bk.)
1607322234 (electronic bk.)
9781607322221 [Invalid]
1607322226 [Invalid]

Other Standard Numbers:

[Unknown Type]: 40023440041

OCLC Numbers:

873807175

Other Control Numbers:

EBC3039833 (source: MiAaPQ)
[Unknown Type]: ybp11719587