Mito y ética: una lectura del pensamiento mítico de los Uitoto y Muinane

Abstract

The intention of this article is to study the relationship between myth and ethics as a result of a research in Uitoto-Muinane mythology, one of most important mythologies of the Amazonian region. The nucleus of this reflection is the ethical preoccupation in the thought of this ancestral culture shown in its normativity permeated by the myth. The underlying power of the word is investigated, from the understanding that this power is needed for the covenant or alliance as a means to rationalize oppositions, mainly in the dialectic confrontation between men and animals. Given that the the “Owner” is the mythical representation of the force of each species, the interchange with the “Owners” is an important point of the so called “Amerindian Ethics”. In addition and as a theoretical contribution, three basic elements are identified in reference to myth in its normative aspect: excess, punishment and equilibrium. The research shows a very interesting anthropological conception: man, far from being essentially and dogmatically superior to his surroundings, considers himself part of a cosmic ensemble where all the elements, through his actions, conserve the tendency towards a relation of dynamic equilibrium.