PREVIEW: Walking in Balance: Aztec Metaphysics & Ethics | James Maffie | HITW 131

Howl in the Wilderness

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Episode Description:

On this episode I speak with Dr. James Maffie, about his book Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion. James Maffie is senior lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and affiliate of the Latin American Studies Program at the University of Maryland.

This was a fascinating conversation about the sophisticated metaphysics of the Mexica people, which in many ways bears a striking resemblance to Eastern Taoism and Tantra. In our discussion we speak quite a bit about the Mexica concept of Teotl, which can be thought of as a universal energy of movement and transformation. For the Aztecs, like the Taoist, the purpose of life was to maintain a balance of the opposing manifestations of Teotl, such as light/dark, life/death, masculine/feminine. Living an ethical life meant fulfilling what Dr. Maffie calls the “original obligation” of the human to feed the holy, rather than, in the Judeo-Christian world, struggling to overcome the stain of original sin.

Go deeper:

Aztec Philosophy book: https://www.ubcpress.ca/aztec-philosophy

Lecture by Andres Segura Granados: https://youtu.be/GwXMc2VP9y8?si=Y--88jhWOatyPrcX

Topics: Nahua, Toltec, Aztec, Mexica, philosophy, metaphysics, Taoism

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