How to live well in a slippery world

The cosmos is a place of both hardship and tremendous vitality in the philosophy of the Mexica or Aztecs, themselves part of a wider, still-living, Nahua culture. While perilous, the Universe pulses with energy and is animated by vivid relationships of care and reciprocity. Join us for an evening exploring Nahua thought with artist and Nahuatl-speaker Emilio Rojas and philosopher James Maffie. In Nahua visions of the cosmos and the human place within it we will find deep answers to questions like how we become fully human beings; how to deal with endless change and tumult; and how to act as responsible individuals within the web of all living things. What can we learn from the wisdom of the Nahua sages?

James Maffie

Speaker

Dr James Maffie is senior lecturer, emeritus, in history and affiliate faculty member of the department of philosophy and the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center at the University of Maryland. He is most well known for his work on Aztec philosophy and Aztec metaphysics. His book Aztec Philosophy: Understanding a World in Motion, published in 2014, brings together the fields of comparative world philosophy and Mesoamerican studies, excavating the distinctly philosophical aspects of Aztec thought. James argues that Aztec metaphysics maintained a processive, transformational, and non-hierarchical view of reality, time, and existence.

Emilio Rojas

Artist

Emilio Rojas is a multidisciplinary Mexican artist working primarily with the body in performance, using video, photography, installation, public interventions and sculpture. As a queer, Latinx immigrant with Indigenous heritage, it is essential to his practice to engage in the postcolonial imperative to uncover, investigate, and make visible undervalued narratives and individuals. His work has been exhibited in institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Museo Tamayo in Mexico City, The Vancouver Art Gallery and The Botin Foundation. He has held teaching positions and residencies at institutions including Bard College, Parsons the New School and most recently at Cornell University as a visiting critic.

Emilio can be found on instagram at @performanceroarte

Brigid Hains

Host

Brigid Hains is the editorial director of Aeon Media. An environmental historian by training, she is driven by a deep curiosity about the natural and human worlds. The Sophia Club is a chance for Brigid to express her love of beauty and the arts, and to share the heartfelt dimensions of her intellectual life.