The idea of animism was developed by anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor through his 1871 book Primitive Culture, in which he defined it as "the general doctrine of souls and other spiritual beings in general." According to Tylor, animism often includes "an idea of pervading life and will in nature " a belief that natural objects other than humans have souls. Critics of the old animism have accused it of preserving "colonialist and dualistic worldviews and rhetoric." Edward Tylor's definition Edward Tylor developed animism as an anthropological theory.
The old animism assumed that animists were individuals who were unable to understand the difference between persons and things.
"Old animism" definitions Įarlier anthropological perspectives, which have since been termed the old animism, were concerned with knowledge on what is alive and what factors make something alive. The first known usage in English appeared in 1819. The origin of the word comes from the Latin word anima, which means life or soul. He adopted the term animism from the writings of German scientist Georg Ernst Stahl, who had developed the term animismus in 1708 as a biological theory that souls formed the vital principle, and that the normal phenomena of life and the abnormal phenomena of disease could be traced to spiritual causes. Etymology Įnglish anthropologist Sir Edward Tylor initially wanted to describe the phenomenon as spiritualism, but he realized that it would cause confusion with the modern religion of spiritualism, which was then prevalent across Western nations. Some members of the non-tribal world also consider themselves animists, such as author Daniel Quinn, sculptor Lawson Oyekan, and many contemporary Pagans. Animism may further attribute a life force to abstract concepts such as words, true names, or metaphors in mythology. Examples include water sprites, vegetation deities, and tree spirits, among others. It is "one of anthropology's earliest concepts, if not the first." Īnimism encompasses beliefs that all material phenomena have agency, that there exists no categorical distinction between the spiritual and physical world, and that soul, spirit, or sentience exists not only in humans but also in other animals, plants, rocks, geographic features (such as mountains and rivers), and other entities of the natural environment. The currently accepted definition of animism was only developed in the late 19th century (1871) by Edward Tylor. Largely due to such ethnolinguistic and cultural discrepancies, opinions differ on whether animism refers to an ancestral mode of experience common to indigenous peoples around the world or to a full-fledged religion in its own right. The term "animism" is an anthropological construct. The animistic perspective is so widely held and inherent to most indigenous peoples that they often do not even have a word in their languages that corresponds to "animism" (or even "religion"). Īlthough each culture has its own mythologies and rituals, animism is said to describe the most common, foundational thread of indigenous peoples' "spiritual" or "supernatural" perspectives. Animism focuses on the metaphysical universe specifically, on the concept of the immaterial soul. Animism is used in anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many Indigenous peoples in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions. Animism perceives all things- animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words-as animated and alive.
For other uses, see Animism (disambiguation).Īnimism (from Latin: anima meaning ' breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence.
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