Open AccessWatching the Heavens with a ‘Rooted Heart’: The Mystical Basis of Aztec Astronomy
Author(s) -
James Maffie
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
culture and cosmos
Language(s) - English
DOI - 10.46472/cc.0112.0205
Subject(s) - mysticism , observational study , context (archaeology) , metaphysics , philosophy , epistemology , history , theology , archaeology , mathematics , statistics
Aztec epistemology maintained that humans acquire knowledge of reality mystically using their hearts, not their five senses. What, then, was the epistemological status of observational astronomy? Aztec epistemology assigned a privileged role to mystical knowledge and an ancillary, propaedeutical role to observational astronomy. The epistemological evaluation of observational claims in Aztec astronomy occurred within a context of mystically rooted metaphysical, religious, and astrological background assumptions. These played an essential role in the epistemology of Aztec astronomy.