Aztec philosophy was a school of

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

that developed out of Aztec culture.Mann, Charles C. '' 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. p, 121. Aztec

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

was in some sense dualistic, but exhibited a less common form of it known as dialectical monism. Aztec philosophy also included

ethics Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...

and

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

. It has been asserted that the central question in Aztec philosophy was how people can find stability and balance in an

ephemeral Ephemerality (from the Greek word , meaning 'lasting only one day') is the concept of things being transitory, existing only briefly. Academically, the term ephemeral constitutionally describes a diverse assortment of things and experiences, fr ...

world.

Beliefs

Aztec philosophy saw the concept of '' Ometeotl'' as a unity that underlies the universe. Ometeotl forms, shapes, and is all things. Even things in opposition—light, and dark, life and death—were seen as expressions of the same unity, Ometeotl. The belief in a unity with dualistic expressions compares with similar dialectical monist ideas in both Western and Eastern philosophies.

Relation to Aztec religion

Aztec priests had a

panentheistic Panentheism (; "all in God", from the Greek , and ) is the belief that the divine intersects every part of the universe and also extends beyond space and time. The term was coined by the German philosopher Karl Krause in 1828 (after reviewin ...

view of religion but the popular

Aztec religion The Aztec religion is a polytheistic and monistic pantheism in which the Nahua concept of '' teotl'' was construed as the supreme god Ometeotl, as well as a diverse pantheon of lesser gods and manifestations of nature. The popular religion te ...

maintained

polytheism Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, or whet ...

. Priests saw the different gods as aspects of the singular and transcendent unity of Teotl but the masses were allowed to practice polytheism without understanding the true, unified nature of their Aztec gods.

Moral beliefs and aesthetics

Aztec philosophers focused on morality as establishing balance. The world was seen as constantly shifting with the ever-changing teotl. Morality focused on finding the path to living a balanced life, which would provide stability in the shifting world. Aztec philosophy saw the arts as a way to express the true nature of teotl. Art was considered to be good if it in some way brought about a better understanding of teotl. Aztec poetry was closely tied to philosophy and often used to express philosophic concepts.Mann, 122-123 Below is an example of such a poem, translated from the original

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

: ''No one comes on this earth to stay''
''Our bodies are like rose trees - ''
''They grow petals then wither and die.''
''But our hearts are like grass in the springtime,''
''They live on and forever grow green again.
''

How did the Aztecs regard "time"?

James Maffie has explained that the Aztec concept of time (like that of the Mayas) was not one of 'uniform forward flow' whose passage could be accurately measured by a clock or some similar device. Specific events were regarded as separate, unique entities, only minimally related to those which had occurred immediately before them or to those which followed straight afterwards. Of paramount importance were the positions which they happened to occupy in the 260-day and 360+5-day calendar counts. Also significant were the 584-day Venusian cycle, and indeed the "age-growth cycles" of the people involved (which extended from birth through to old age).

Texts

There is a dearth of material from which Aztec philosophy can be studied with a majority of extant texts written after conquest by either Spanish colonists and missionaries, or Christianised Spanish educated natives. The conquistadors burned most Aztec (and Mayan) texts. Pre-conquest sources include the

Codex Borgia The Codex Borgia ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Borg.mess.1), also known as ''Codex Borgianus'', ''Manuscrit de Veletri'' and ''Codex Yohualli Ehecatl'', is a pre-Columbian Middle American pictorial manuscript from Central Mexico featuring calendric ...

and the

Codex Borbonicus The Codex Borbonicus is an Aztec codices, Aztec codex written by Aztec priests shortly before or after the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire. It is named after the Palais Bourbon in France and kept at the Bibliothèque de l'Assemblée National ...

(written about the time of conquest). Post-conquest texts include the Florentine Codex,

Codex Mendoza The Codex Mendoza is an Aztec codices, Aztec codex, believed to have been created around the year 1541. It contains a history of both the Aztec rulers and their conquests as well as a description of the daily life of pre-conquest Aztec society. ...

and the Codex Magliabechiano, including others.

References

Sources

* Maffie, James; ''Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion''; 2014
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
* Leon-Portilla, Miguel; ''Native Mesoamerican Spirituality''; Jun 27 2002. * Leon-Portilla, Miguel; ''Aztec Thought and Culture: A Study of the Ancient Nahuatl Mind''; 1990. * Leon-Portilla, Miguel; ''Fifteen Poets of the Aztec World''; October 15, 2000.

External links

The Mesoamerican Philosophy Renaissance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aztec Philosophy

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Culture of Latin America Medieval philosophy History of Indigenous peoples of North America Mexican philosophy Aztec philosophy