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
Meanwhile, primitive man, in so far as we may speak of him in the
relative sense already indicated, has really been discovered. But the
Australian does not belong to this class, nor, even less, can many of
the peoples of Oceania be counted within it. It includes only those
tribes which, having probably been isolated for many centuries and
cut off from the culture of the rest of the world, have remained on
the same primitive level. We have become familiar with them in the
preceding account of the external culture of primitive man. We find
them to be forest peoples who have, for the most part, been crowded
back into inaccessible territory and who have entered but slightly
into intercourse with the outside world, inasmuch as their needs are
limited. They generally call themselves, whether rightly or wrongly
we need not inquire, the original inhabitants of these regions,
and they are regarded as such by their neighbours. They include,
in addition to several tribes of Hindustan (as yet insufficiently
studied), particularly the Semangs and Senoi of the interior of the
Malay Peninsula, the Veddahs of Ceylon, the Negritos of the Philippines
and Central Africa, and, finally, to some extent, also the Bushmen.
This is certainly a considerable number of peoples, some of whom live
at great distances from the others. In spite of this, however, even
their external culture is largely the same. Considering the primitive
character of their social institutions and customs, it would seem safe
to say that without doubt they approach the lowest possible level of
human culture. Besides bow and arrow they have scarcely a weapon, no
vessels of clay, and practically only such implements as are presented
directly by nature herself. At this stage there is scarcely anything
to distinguish man from the animal except the early discovered art of
kindling fire, with its influence on the utilization of the food that
is gathered. Briefly summarized, these are the main traits of primitive
culture that are known to us.
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