ABSTRACT
Scholars of Mexica philosophy widely embrace the general claim that reciprocity functions at the heart of Mexica metaphysics’ understanding of the nature and continual becoming of the world as well as the role of human beings in contributing to the continual becoming of the world. According to Mexica creation narratives, the history of the cosmos consists of a series of five Ages or Suns. The succession of the first four Ages consists of the creator beings, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca, taking turns creating their own and destroying the other’s Age. According to the Legend of the Suns, creator beings bring about the existence of the Fifth Age and Fifth Age human beings by means of a process referred to as macehua, meaning “to merit, deserve, attain, be worthy of, or acquire that which is deserved”, and by tlamacehua, “to deserve or merit something”.
