Abstract
M. LEVY-BRUHL here adds to his previous studies of the primitive mind an examination of its reactions when confronted with the supernatural. As is well known, in his conception, the working of the primitive mind is so far removed from the logic of developed reasoning as to warrant regarding its processes as belonging to a different order. It has no conception of the world of abstract thought, of causation, of categories and the like. Its cosmos is unpredictable and unstable; it is a realm under the control of spirits, both good and evil, who are to be propitiated and if possible controlled. In these conditions it seems difficult to draw the line between normal and supernormal, natural and supernatural. M. Levy-Bruhl, whose knowledge of the literature of the subject is stupendous, here passes in review the ceremonies and rites, and the beliefs and customs relating to omens, amulets, ancestor worship, purification and the like, whereby primitive man has endeavoured to secure that the course of events either shall turn to his advantage or at least not be to his detriment.
Primitives and the Supernatural
Lucien
Lévy-Bruhl
. Authorized translation by Lilian A. Clare. Pp. 405. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1936.) 18s. net.
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Primitives and the Supernatural. Nature 137, 849 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137849b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137849b0