ABSTRACT

This work is a critical examination of Maat, the moral ideal in ancient Egypt. It seeks to present Maat in the language of modern moral discourse while at the same time preserving and building on its distinctiveness as a moral ideal capable of inspiring and maintaining ethical philosophic reflection. The effort here is one of both interpretation and transmission of an ethical tradition, a project in which tradition is seen not simply as a precondition and process in which one comes, but also as an ongoing product of one's efforts to understand it. Locating himself within the tradition, the author seeks to test the conceptual elasticity of its major categories and contentions and to establish its capacity for critical moral discourse.

chapter 1|26 pages

The Maatian Ideal: A Conceptual Framework

chapter 5|40 pages

Maatian Ontology

chapter 6|48 pages

Maatian Anthropology

chapter 7|48 pages

The Way of Worthiness

chapter 8|70 pages

Worthiness Before People

chapter 9|26 pages

Worthiness Before Nature

chapter 10|4 pages

Conclusion