Philosophy of the Ancient Maya

Philosophy of the Ancient Maya
Author: Alexus McLeod
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2017-12-26
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1498531393

This book investigates some of the central topics of metaphysics in the philosophical thought of the Maya people of Mesoamerica, particularly from the Preclassic through Postclassic periods. This book covers the topics of time, change, identity, and truth, through comparative investigation integrating Maya texts and practices—such as Classic Period stelae, Postclassic Codices, and Colonial-era texts such as the Popol Vuh and the books of Chilam Balam—and early Chinese philosophy.

Ancient Maya Politics

Ancient Maya Politics
Author: Simon Martin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 543
Release: 2020-06-18
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108483887

With new readings of ancient texts, Ancient Maya Politics unlocks the long-enigmatic political system of the Classic Maya.

Time and Reality in the Thought of the Maya

Time and Reality in the Thought of the Maya
Author: Miguel Leon-Portilla
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 1990-09-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780806123080

In this second English-language edition of one of his most notable works, Miguel León-Portilla explores the Maya Indians’ remarkable concepts of time. At the book’s first appearance Evon Z. Vogt, Curator of Middle American Ethnology in Harvard University, predicted that it would become "a classic in anthropology," a prediction borne out by the continuing critical attention given to it by leading scholars. Like no other people in history, the ancient Maya were obsessed by the study of time. Their sages framed its cycles with tireless exactitude. Yet their preoccupation with time was not limited to calendrics; it was a central trait in their evolving culture. In this absorbing work León-Portilla probes the question, What did time really mean for the ancient Maya in terms of their mythology, religious thought, worldview, and everyday life? In his analysis of key Maya texts and computations, he reveals one of the most elaborate attempts of the human mind to penetrate the secrets of existence.

Aztec Philosophy

Aztec Philosophy
Author: James Maffie
Publisher: University Press of Colorado
Total Pages: 609
Release: 2014-03-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1607322234

In Aztec Philosophy, James Maffie shows the Aztecs advanced a highly sophisticated and internally coherent systematic philosophy worthy of consideration alongside other philosophies from around the world. 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.

The Doctrine of Maya in the Philosophy of the Vedanta

The Doctrine of Maya in the Philosophy of the Vedanta
Author: Prabhu Dutt Shastri
Publisher: Palala Press
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2018-02-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 9781378646502

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Ancient Maya

Ancient Maya
Author: Arthur Demarest
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 396
Release: 2004-12-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780521533904

Ancient Maya comes to life in this new holistic and theoretical study.

From Moon Goddesses to Virgins

From Moon Goddesses to Virgins
Author: Peter Herman Sigal
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2021-11-03
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780292798984

For the preconquest Maya, sexuality was a part of ritual discourse and performance, and all sex acts were understood in terms of their power to create, maintain, and destroy society. As postconquest Maya adapted to life under colonial rule, they neither fully abandoned these views nor completely adopted the formulation of sexuality prescribed by Spanish Catholicism. Instead, they evolved hybridized notions of sexual desire, represented in the figure of the Virgin Mary as a sexual goddess, whose sex acts embodied both creative and destructive components. This highly innovative book decodes the process through which this colonization of Yucatan Maya sexual desire occurred. Pete Sigal frames the discussion around a series of texts, including the Books of Chilam Balam and the Ritual of the Bacabs, that were written by seventeenth and eighteenth century Maya nobles to elucidate the history, religion, and philosophy of the Yucatecan Maya communities. Drawing on the insights of philology, discourse analysis, and deconstruction, he analyzes the sexual fantasies, fears, and desires that are presented, often unintentionally, in the "margins" of these texts and shows how they illuminate issues of colonialism, power, ritual, and gender.

Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World

Handbook to Life in the Ancient Maya World
Author: Lynn V. Foster
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 432
Release: 2005
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780195183634

This comprehensive and accessible reference explores the greatest and most mysterious of civilizations, hailed for its contributions to science, mathematics, and technology. Each chapter is supplemented by an extensive bibliography as well as photos, original line drawings, and maps.

"Veil of Maya, The"

Author: Douglas L. Berger
Publisher: Global Academic Publishing
Total Pages: 348
Release: 2004-05-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9781586842437

Explores the interpretive problems, complexities, and legacies of Schopenhauer’s encounter with ancient India.

The World of the Ancient Maya

The World of the Ancient Maya
Author: John S. Henderson
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 362
Release: 1997
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780801482847

Theirs was one of the few complex societies to emerge in and to adapt successfully to a tropical-forest environment. Their architecture, sculpture, and painting were sophisticated and compellingly beautiful.