Éticas indígenas en discursos coloniales de los Andes y de Quebec : análisis, interpretación y perspectivas

This thesis is a comparative study of indigenous ethical conceptions, through the analysis of colonial discourses from two regions of the Americas: Peru and Quebec. The aim of this study is to discover the principles of indigenous ethics and have these participate in the creation of and discussion about intercultural and ecological ethics that are relevant to the contemporary world. To this end, this paper is devoted to the study of indigenous oral traditions, and more particularly to colonial literatures based on oral sources. Specifically, we study two indigenous colonial chronicles from the Andes: the Huarochiri Manuscript and the Relation, by Joan and Santa Cruz Pachacuti; we also examine the relations of two Jesuit missionaries in New France: Paul Lejeune and Jean de Brébeuf. Since these texts cannot be considered as direct transcriptions of indigenous oral traditions, we use a methodology that takes into account the locus of enunciation, discursive traditions and processes of textualization of memory; as well as contextual relationships (intertextual, referencial, and interpersonal) and the different instances of an “ethicologic” analysis. Regarding the Andean texts, ethical dynamics are highlighted and then synthesized as an “ethics of reciprocity”. This highly ecological ethics takes into consideration the coexistence of all environmental entities (human and non-human), and may be viewed as an effort of Andean people to respond to the specific challenges they faced. Concerning the texts from Quebec, the ethical principles identified may be summarized as an “ethics of respect”. These may also be viewed as an ecological ethics as they do not perceive a real separation between man and the other entities that inhabit their environment. Rather, they view the relationship between human and non-human entities as a fluid continuity that forms a “sacred circle”. Based on these results we draw a comparative assessment that demonstrates that the difference is mostly formal: ethics are anchored in different socio-historical realities related to environmental differences and the customs associated with these environments. Regarding the similarities between the Peruvian and Quebec indigenous ethics, they may be summarized by the concept of a “cosmoethics of the circle”. This reveals a conception of ethics as a dynamic process that brings into play not only humans, but also the environment, as well as that which escapes a palpable apprehension of the world. Finally, this thesis attempts to lend a perspective on some of the principles outlined in the analysis, by showing that they can involve a complexity that is at times denied or dismissed by contemporary Western philosophers. In summary, this dissertation shows that the study of indigenous discourses, or discourses which give a voice to indigenous people, is a gateway to their ways of thinking about ethics and therefore can contribute to the intercultural work of philosophy and ethics.

Keyphrases: intercultural and ecological ethics, Andean colonial indigenous discourses, Jesuit relations of New France, Paul Lejeune, Jean de Brébeuf, ethics of reciprocity, ethics of respect, cosmoethics