Primitive Culture
Quick Summary
Edward Burnett Tylor's Primitive Culture (1871) is a foundational work in anthropology that posits a progressive relationship between primitive and modern cultures. Tylor defined culture as "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society".12
Tylor's work explored the evolutionary development of human societies, suggesting that primitive peoples, though lacking scientific understanding, used reason to explain the world. He identified "animism"—the belief in spiritual beings—as an early form of religious thought, arising from attempts to explain life and death. This concept of animism broadly describes various cults and beliefs where supernatural beings are attached to specific places, persons, or creatures.13
Primitive Culture also introduced the concept of "survivals," which are customs and beliefs from a primitive past that persist into modern times. Tylor's evolutionary view influenced anthropology, though later scholars, like Franz Boas, challenged unilinear evolutionary models in favor of diffusionist and more pluralistic approaches.124
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animism…Burnett Tylor in his work Primitive Culture (1871), to which is owed the continued currency of the term. While none of the major world religions are animistic (though they may contain animistic elements), most other religions—e.g., those of tribal peoples—are. For this reason, an ethnographic understanding of animism, based on…
Read More…Burnett Tylor in his work Primitive Culture (1871), to which is owed the continued currency of the term. While none of the major world religions are animistic (though they may contain animistic elements), most other religions—e.g., those of tribal peoples—are. For this reason, an ethnographic understanding of animism, based on…
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theismHumanism and transcendence…ethnologist and anthropologist, in his Primitive Culture (1871), and by Sir James Frazer, an ethnographer and historian of religion, in his Golden Bough (1890–1915). But a corrective to this approach was soon provided by other scholars equally renowned, who started from the historical and empirical evidence available to them at…
Read More…ethnologist and anthropologist, in his Primitive Culture (1871), and by Sir James Frazer, an ethnographer and historian of religion, in his Golden Bough (1890–1915). But a corrective to this approach was soon provided by other scholars equally renowned, who started from the historical and empirical evidence available to them at…
Read More- cultureVarious definitions of culture
…the first paragraph of his Primitive Culture (1871):
Read More…the first paragraph of his Primitive Culture (1871):
Read More - magicFoundations
…Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, whose Primitive Culture (1871) regarded magic as a "pseudo-science" in which the "savage" postulated a direct cause-effect relationship between the magical act and the desired outcome. Tylor regarded magic as "one of the most pernicious delusions that ever vexed mankind," but he did not approach it…
Read More…Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, whose Primitive Culture (1871) regarded magic as a "pseudo-science" in which the "savage" postulated a direct cause-effect relationship between the magical act and the desired outcome. Tylor regarded magic as "one of the most pernicious delusions that ever vexed mankind," but he did not approach it…
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classification of religionsMorphological…Tylor, a British anthropologist, whose Primitive Culture (1871) is among the most influential books ever written in its field. Tylor developed the thesis of animism, a view that the essential element in all religion is belief in spiritual beings. According to Tylor, the belief arises naturally from elements universal in…
Read More…Tylor, a British anthropologist, whose Primitive Culture (1871) is among the most influential books ever written in its field. Tylor developed the thesis of animism, a view that the essential element in all religion is belief in spiritual beings. According to Tylor, the belief arises naturally from elements universal in…
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