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19 th & 20 th Century Theorists. Magic, Science and Religion Fall 2014. Unilineal Social Evolutionary Theory (L.H. Morgan, 1818-81). “The history of the human race is one in source, one in experience and one in progress.” ( Ancient Society , Preface, p.6)
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19th & 20th Century Theorists Magic, Science and Religion Fall 2014
Unilineal Social Evolutionary Theory(L.H. Morgan, 1818-81) • “The history of the human race is one in source, one in experience and one in progress.” (Ancient Society, Preface, p.6) • “Psychic unity of man” – one direction • One universal order of cultural evolution • Savagery/Barbarism/Civilization
Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-81) • American (upstate New York) • Lawyer, businessman, politician (state) • Kinship and social structure – cross-cultural • Ethnography of Iroquois • Early proponent of theory that indigenous had migrated from Asia in ancient times • Unilineal social evolutionary theory • Ancient Society (1877)
1) Savagery • Lower, middle, upper • Matrifocal/gynocentric • Primarily promiscuity – no knowledge male role in conception • Equality, not stratified, no hierarchy • Collectivism/cooperation – no private property • Hunter-gatherer • Magical thinking – considered illogical • Animistic • Fire, bow, pottery
2) Barbarism • Lower, middle, upper • Beginning of human family • Tribal organization • Polygamy • Polytheism • Agrarian: domestication of animals • Metalworking
3) Civilization • Lower, middle, upper • Monogamy, monotheism • Stratification, hierarchy • Competition, capitalism, private property • Development of alphabet and writing
Response to Morgan’s Ideas • Europeans/Westerners positive • Engels – Private Property and the State, The Origin of the Family • Engels said Morgan proved Marx: collectivism is the original state • Criticized as speculative, ethnocentric • Later anthropologists proved Morgan wrong
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) • French, founder of social science (along with Karl Marx and Max Weber) • Statistical study of society • Elementary Forms of Religious Life (1912) • Religion provides model OF society: • If society changes, religion changes • Spirit world as reflection of society
Lucien Levi-Bruhl (1857-1939) • French philosopher, anthropologist • Posited two basic mindsets: Primitive, western • How Natives Think (1910) • Magic: pre-logical, mystical • Irrational, aversion to reasoning • For those magically oriented, no fact is purely physical • Don’t distinguish supernatural from natural
Edward Tylor (1832-1917) • Animism was oldest form of religious life: every living thing has a soul/spirit and everything is living • Under certain conditions, can see spirits • Soul alive in living being, spirit leaves • Need to understand dreams Primitive Culture (1871)
20th Century Functionalism: Malinowski (1884-1942) Polish, from Austria-Hungary, moved to Britain Invented participant observation – made everything different, questions different The goal of ethnographer is: “to grasp the native's point of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world.” —Argonauts of the Western Pacific, Dutton 1961 ed., p. 25. 1914-1920 in Pacific islands, area (World War I) Papua New Guinea; Trobriand Islands (26 months) Magic, Science and Religion, 1925, 1948
Malinowski & Functionalism • Functionalist: “What do people use it for?” • Social institutions fill needs of, serve interests of members of society • Every society has magic, science & religion • All simple societies use science, experiment: make a net, does it work? • When things get difficult, pray • When things get desperate, use magic – provides control, certainty in uncertain world
