James Maffie, University of Maryland: Mesoamerican Worldview and Intellectual Tradition Working Group
The Mesoamerican Worldview and Intellectual Tradition Working Group
March 8, 2021
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
James Maffie, University of Maryland
“The Role of Hardship (Ihiyohuiliztli) in Mexica Ethics, Or Why Being Good Has to Hurt"
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Philosophers in major Western and Eastern ethical traditions (e.g. utilitarianism and Buddhism) commonly predicate their theories of morality and the good life upon the assumption that hardship (exhaustion, pain, suffering, etc.) is intrinsically bad. The good life, the morally upright life, and the life worth living for human beings contain as little hardship as possible. By contrast, Mexica ethics denies hardship has intrinsic value and so denies it is intrinsically bad. Instead, its badness and goodness are determined contextually. What's more, Mexica ethics maintains that hardship plays an essential and hence indispensable role as well as a creative and positive role in morally upright human behavior and in the well-lived, good human life. In short: doing the right thing and being good have to hurt."
James Maffie is senior lecturer in the Department of American Studies and an affiliate of the Departments of Philosophy and History and Religious and Latin American Studies Programs. He is author of Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion (2014) and numerous articles examining various aspects of conquest-era Mexica (Aztec) philosophical thought. He argues that the conquest-era Mexica advanced a highly sophisticated and systematic philosophy worthy of consideration alongside other world philosophies. Maffie is currently writing a second book tentatively entitled Toltecayotl: An Aztec Understanding of the Well-Ordered Life that focuses on Mexica ethics and understanding of the good life. His work employs a broadly inter-disciplinary approach including philosophy, indigenous studies, linguistics, ethnography, religious studies, ritual studies, art history, archaeology, and history.
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Date posted
Dec 10, 2019
Date updated
Jan 11, 2021