Elements of Folk Psychology: Outline of a Psychological History of the Development of MankindWundt, Wilhelm Max
Science
Elements of Folk Psychology: Outline of a Psychological History of the Development of Mankind
Wundt, Wilhelm Max
Ethnopsychology
namely, _polygyny_, finds favourable conditions of development in
the new political order. It receives fresh impetus as a result of
that very dominance of man which brought about the transition from
the maternal descent of earlier times to paternal descent. Polyandry
and group-marriage, on the other hand, have by this time disappeared,
either entirely or, at least, with rare exceptions. Moreover,
the character of polygyny has changed. This is apparent from the
distinction between _chief wife_ and _secondary wife_--a distinction
which has, indeed, an analogy in certain phenomena of the totemic
period, but which, as a result of the conditions of public life,
now rests upon an entirely different basis. The chief wife is taken
from one's own tribe; the secondary wife belongs to a strange tribe,
being, in many cases, a slave captured in war. Thus, these changes in
polygyny reflect the warlike character of the age, as well as a growing
tendency toward a return to monogamy. On the other hand, however, we
also discern certain tendencies of a retrogressive nature. These occur
particularly within Islamitic culture, whenever the difference between
chief and secondary wives is either annulled or is subordinated to
the will of the husband. Such deviations from the general trend of
development are usually attributed to the influence of personalities.
It is not impossible, however, that they are due in this case to the
fact that Islamism spread to peoples of totemic culture. But in other
departments of life also, remnants and traces of totemic culture have
passed down to the heroic era. A striking example appears in the case
of the Spartan State. The fact that the men lived in the city, engaged
in military drill and political affairs, while the women, together with
the slaves, cultivated the fields outside of the city, clearly betrays
the influence of the ancient institution of the men's club.
5. THE DIFFERENTIATION OF CLASSES.
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