Levy-Bruhl speculates about what he posited as the two basic mind-sets of mankind; "primitive" and "Western." The primitive mind does not differentiate the supernatural from reality, but rather uses "mystical participation" to manipulate the world. Moreover, the primitive mind doesn't address contradictions. The Western mind, by contrast, uses speculation and logic. ‘How Natives Think’ IS an accurate and valuable contribution to anthropology.
The primitive mind does not differentiate the supernatural from reality, but rather uses "mystical participation" to manipulate the world. According to Bruhl, moreover, the primitive mind doesn't address contradictions. The modern mind, by contrast, uses reflection and logic. Bruhl believed in a historical and evolutionary teleology leading from the primitive mind to the modern mind.
2015 Reprint of 1926 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition. Not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. In this work, first published as "Les Fonctions Mentales dans les Societes Inferieures," Levy-Bruhl speculated about what he posited as the two basic mindsets of mankind; "primitive" and "Western." The primitive mind does not differentiate the supernatural from reality, but rather uses "mystical participation" to manipulate the world. According to Levy-Bruhl, moreover, the primitive mind doesn't address contradictions. The Western mind, by contrast, uses speculation and logic. Like many theorists of his time, Levy-Bruhl believed in a historical and evolutionary teleology leading from the primitive mind to the Western mind. Sociologist Stanislav Andreski argued that despite its flaws, Levy-Bruhl's "How Natives Think" was an accurate and valuable contribution to anthropology, perhaps even more so than better-known work by Claude Levi-Strauss.
Dr. Levy-Bruhl presents a dramatic picture of the primitives who live in a world that is capricious, unpredictable, and unstable; under the power of spirits both good and evil, to be worshipped or propitiated by ceremonies, dances, and religious rites. Dr. Levy-Bruhl shows how the mind of the primitive has no conception of the world of abstract though, natural law, causation, and categories, which has been opened up to the mind by science and philosophy. In addition, the author explains omens, talismans, amulets, ancestor worship, witchcraft, insect, defilement, and purification as fundamental parts of the primitive existence.
The primitive mind does not differentiate the supernatural from reality, but rather uses "mystical participation" to manipulate the world. According to Bruhl, moreover, the primitive mind doesn't address contradictions. The modern mind, by contrast, uses reflection and logic. Bruhl believed in a historical and evolutionary teleology leading from the primitive mind to the modern mind.
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