Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion

Conclusion: Nepantla and Aztec Philosophy

523 Conclusion Nepantla and Aztec Philosophy DOI: 10.5876_9781607322238.c009 TheAztecs’world,thefifthandlastSun-EarthOrdering in the history of the cosmos, is a world in motion. It is a world of ceaseless nepantla-defined becoming and transformation. The Aztecs’ world is also nonhierarchical : one without transcendent deities, purpose, truths, norms, or commandments. In such a world, Aztec tlamatinime asked, what is the correct path (ohtli), the right way of life, for human beings to follow? What enables humans to follow and further this path, and what disables them? How did Aztec tlamatinime, in other words, conceive what Western philosophers call ethics, political philosophy, epistemology, and aesthetics ? This question obviously requires another study. By way of conclusion, I sketch the following answer. Given the centrality of nepantla in Aztec metaphysics , it is not surprising that Aztec philosophy defines human existence in terms of nepantla.1 Human existence is, in short, both in nepantla and of nepantla. It is in nepantla in the sense that it is defined by ceaseless and ineluctable betwixt-and-betweenness. Life takes time-place in the cyclical back-and-forth struggle of cosmic inamic pairs such as order~disorder, being~nonbeing,life~death,and male~female.Trapped in the tension-ridden, reciprocating balance between being~nonbeing, human existence is defined by inescapable processing, becoming, and transformation. Human life is consequently unstable, fragile, perilous, fleeting, and evanescent. Human existence is also of nepantla. Life itself is a nepantla-process consisting of continual nepantladefined becoming and transformation as well as the nepantla-defined interweaving of agonistic inamic forces.Humanbeings(thecomplete,energy-constituted CONCLUSION 524 mind-body fusion) are not only generated and sustained by, but also consist of, the nepantla-defined intersecting and middling of inamic forces – indeed, the selfsame nepantla intersecting and middling that generate and sustain the Fifth Sun and Fifth Age. As a consequence, human life is unstable, fragile, perilous, fleeting, and evanescent. Because it is by definition both in and of nepantla, human existence is also by definition both in and of the crossroads. Life takes place and takes part in the crucible of crossing cosmic arms depicted so clearly by Codex Mendoza (pl. 2r; see Figure 4.10) and Codex Fejérváry-Mayer (pl. 1; see Figure 4.3). After all, it is in the crossroads – that is, the middled and balanced commingling and interweaving of agonistic inamic forces – that all regeneration, all degeneration, and all olin-defined life~death occur in the Fifth Sun-Earth Ordering. Human beings are no exception. Teotl’s nepantla-processing situates human existence in nepantlatli, that is, in the dynamic betwixt-and-between of agonistic inamic partners. Understanding and embracing the foregoing holds the key to wisdom and living a good (cualli) human life. The Aztecs looked to their metaphysics for guidance concerning how to conduct their lives and to follow a path in a cosmos defined by nepantla. Given its defining role in Aztec metaphysics, they turned to teotl, or more precisely, teotl-as-nepantla-process. They regarded teotl-asnepantla -process as the ideal normative model for human behavior because they regarded teotl-as-nepantla-process as the ideal descriptive model of nepantlabehavior .They did not however turn to teotl because they saw teotl as transcendent ,supernatural,omniscient,or benevolent,or because they saw teotl as sacred while seeing themselves as profane.Instead,they turned to teotl because human beings are in and of teotl. Aztec tlamatinime accordingly enjoined people to live their lives in a teotl-like, nepantla-middling manner, and they based their prescriptions regarding how humans ought to conduct their lives upon teotl’s example. The concept of nepantla thus figures prominently in Aztec prescriptions concerning how humans ought to walk,speak,eat,drink,think,feel,bathe, dance, perform rituals, and sexually commingle, for example. Nepantla, in other words, defines the Aztecs’ understanding of what Western philosophers call ethics, epistemology, aesthetics, and social and political philosophy.2 Aztec tlamatinime apparently reasoned that since reality and human existential condition are inescapably middled, humans must therefore act and live middlingly. In a cosmos defined by nepantla, one must live a life defined by nepantla. Ideograms such as the quincunx, four-petaled flower, and butterfly therefore functioned both descriptively and prescriptively. Codex Mendoza (pl. 2r) and Codex Fejérváry-Mayer (pl. 1) both describe the nature of human CONCLUSION 525 existence and prescribe a way for humans to exist. They describe the way things...