Philosophy of the Ancient Maya: Lords of Time

239 Pages·2017·3.272 MB·English

by  Alexus McLeod

i
Philosophy of the Ancient
Maya
Studies in Comparative Philosophy and Religion
Series Editor: Douglas Allen, University of Maine
This series explores important intersections within and between the disciplines of religious
studies and philosophy. These original studies will emphasize, in particular, aspects of
contemporary and classical Asian philosophy and its relationship to Western thought. We
welcome a wide variety of manuscript submissions, especially works exhibiting highly
focused research and theoretical innovation.
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Philosophy of the Ancient
Maya
Lords of Time
Alexus McLeod
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: The World of Maya Thought: An Experiment
in Comparative Philosophy xiii
1 Calendrics, Ritual, and Organization 1
2 Reductionism versus Correlativism 57
3 Worlds and the Question of Essence and Truth 99
4 Personhood, Identity, and Substitution 131
Conclusion: Maya Philosophy and World Philosophy 161
Bibliography 175
Index 185
About the Author 191
v

Preface
In this book my aim is to offer an interpretation of the philosophical thought
of the ancient Maya in the Classic and Postclassic periods. While much is
now known about ancient Maya history, religion, and culture in general,
most work done by Mayanists is in anthropology, linguistics, and religious
studies. Philosophical methodology has not yet been brought to bear in any
robust way on the thought of the ancient Maya. Now that the Maya glyphs
have been largely deciphered and our understanding of ancient Maya mate-
rial culture continues to improve, more abstract features of the ancient Maya
world can be revealed. It has become possible to understand ancient Maya
history, political thought, economics, and religion. Numerous scholars have
applied the tools of various academic fields in order to better understand
these aspects of ancient Maya culture. As of yet, however, there has been no
effort to understand Maya philosophy, as distinct from these other aspects of
ancient Maya thought. In this book I argue that the ancient Maya indeed had
philosophical thought that we can treat as distinct (in the same way we treat
history, religion, etc. as distinct, even though the ancient Maya did not think
in terms of these categories). The best way to understand the philosophical
thought of the ancient Maya, I propose, is through the adoption of philo-
sophical methodology and the tools of the historian of philosophy. That is,
we come to reveal and best understand ancient Maya philosophy by engaging
with Maya thought as philosophy.
To do this, I look to the texts of the Classic and Postclassic Maya, includ-
ing the four existing Maya codices and the numerous inscriptions on stelae
and architecture at Maya sites. I rely on the interpretation of archaeolo-
gists and epigraphers, and also offer my own interpretation of Classic and
Postclassic Maya texts involving philosophical methodology, in addition to
that used by archaeologists and epigraphers. That is, my interpretations of
vii
viii Preface
ancient materials are based on conceptual as well as linguistic and material
considerations.
I also use the tools of comparative philosophy to interpret Maya philoso-
phy. There are numerous parallels between aspects of Maya philosophy and
that of early China, and looking to early Chinese philosophy can help us, I
argue, to fill out much of what is only implicit in Maya texts, rituals, and
traditions. Early China thus serves as the main comparative mirror in this
text, through which I develop many aspects of my interpretation of ancient
(Classic through Postclassic) Maya philosophy.
Many Mayanists have recognized the complexity and importance of
ancient Maya philosophy, and a number of archaeologists, other anthropolo-
gists, and linguists have attempted to engage with and offer interpretations
of various aspects of Maya philosophy. These studies of Maya philosophy,
however, have been mainly piecemeal, in that only particular aspects of Maya
philosophical thought are investigated that contribute to non-philosophical
aims of the scholars in question. While non-philosophers have been willing to
engage with philosophy in their study of the Maya, they of course do not have
primarily philosophical goals, and their engagement with Maya philosophy
is generally limited and secondary, with another aim in mind. In addition,
non-philosophers engage with philosophy in a very different way than phi-
losophers, and the work of non-philosophers in the area, although valuable,
can be strengthened and further developed through engagement with ancient
Maya thought from a philosophical perspective. This is the first book, or work
of any kind, to my knowledge, to engage in such a task. As such, I believe it
can make a contribution to Maya studies as well as philosophy.
The book focuses primarily on metaphysics in the ancient Maya philosoph-
ical tradition, with brief forays into ethics and political philosophy. I focus on
first the central concept of time, which is the most fundamental category of
ancient Maya metaphysical thought, then continue on to give accounts of the
Maya positions on being and worlds, properties and universals, personhood
and identity through time, and change, including issues of causation, process,
and identity transformation.
I aim with this book to help establish Maya philosophy as an independent
area of investigation within both philosophy and Maya studies. Maya thought
has not been a concern among professional philosophers, mainly because
most philosophers are unfamiliar with issues and developments in Maya
studies or Mesoamerican studies in general. Maya thought has been the realm
of anthropologists. While a few anthropologists have dealt with particular
philosophical issues in their work on the Maya, including David Friedel,
Linda Schele, and Joy Parker (Maya Cosmos) and Lars Pharo (The Ritual
Practice of Time: Philosophy and Sociopolitics of Mesoamerican Calendars),
few philosophers have dealt with these issues. Perhaps the most notable case
Preface ix
is Miguel Leon-Portilla (Tiempo y realidad en el pensamiento Maya [Time
and Reality in The Thought of the Maya]). Recently, there has been increasing
focus on Mesoamerican philosophy by philosophers, with Aztec philosophy
generating interest among comparative philosophers. A number of articles
have appeared in this area, in addition to James Maffie’s recent book Aztec
Philosophy (2014). My contribution on Maya philosophy, while smaller in
scope than Maffie’s book, aims to bring Maya thought into the philosophical
discussion. If this book serves to at least begin the conversation and to bring
more scholars to the investigation of Maya and Mesoamerican philosophy
(and comparative philosophy), it will have been a success.