Kinship and Social Organisation

by W. H. R. Rivers

It may be that there will be those who will accept my main position, but will urge that these lectures have been devoted to the criticism of an extreme position, the position taken up by Professor Kroeber. They may say that they have never believed in the purely psychological causation of the terminology of relationship. In reply to such an attitude I can only express my conviction that the paper of Professor Kroeber is only the explicit and clear statement of an attitude which is implicit in the work of nearly all, if not all, the opponents of Morgan since McLennan. Whether they have themselves recognised it or not, I believe that it has been this underlying attitude towards sociological problems which has prevented them from seeing what is good in Morgan’s work, from sifting out the chaff from the wheat of his argument, and from recognising how great is the importance to the science of sociology of the body of facts which Morgan was the first to collect and study. I feel that we owe a debt of gratitude to Professor Kroeber for having brought the matter into the open and for having presented, as a clear issue, a fundamental problem of the methods of sociology.

Lastly, I should like to point out how rigorous and exact has been the process of the determination of the nomenclature of relationship by social conditions which has been demonstrated in these lectures. We have here a case in which the principle of determinism applies with a rigour and definiteness equal to that of any of the exact sciences. According to my scheme, not only has the general character of systems of relationship been strictly determined by social conditions, but every detail of these systems has also been so determined. Even so small and apparently insignificant a feature as the classing of the sister-in-law with the sister has been found to lead back to a definite social condition arising out of the regulation of marriage and of sexual relations. If sociology is to become a science fit to rank with other sciences, it must, like them, be rigorously deterministic. Social phenomena do not come into being of themselves. The proposition that we class two relatives together in nomenclature because the relationships are similar is, if it stand alone, nothing more than a form of words. It is incumbent on those who believe in the importance of the psychological similarity of social phenomena to show in what the supposed similarity consists and how it has come about—in other words, how it has been determined. It has been my chief object in these lectures to show that, in so far as such similarities exist in the case of relationship, they have been determined by social conditions. Only by attention to this aim throughout the whole field of social phenomena can we hope to rid sociology of the reproach, so often heard, that it is not a science; only thus can we refute those who go still further and claim that it can never be a science.

INDEX

“Absurd” in sociology, [32], [87].
America, North, [10], [18], [49], [55].
Anaiteum, [22].
Aniwa, [22].
Assiniboin, [51].
Australia, [11], [32].
Avoidance, [85].
Banks Is., [12], [16], [28], [42], [53], [61], [68].
Bellamy, R. L., [56].
Blunt, E. A. H., [90].
Bougainville I., [40].
Brother-in-law, functions of, [12].
Buin, [40].
Canarese, [47].
Celtic terms, [78], [81].
Cherokees, [53].
Chiefs, [85].
Choctas, [53].
Christianity, [30].
Clan, [67], [71], [74].
Classes, matrimonial, [32], [39].
Classificatory relationship, [2], [4], [19], [83].
Codrington, Dr., [28], [30], [68].
Communism in property, [12];
sexual, [62], [86].
Concomitant variations, method of, [70].
“Creek” Indians, [53].
Crees, [50], [55].
Cross-cousins, [20], [28];
see [marriage].
“Crow” Indians, [53].
Dakotas, [51], [88].
Descent, [34], [39], [73].
Descriptive system, [76];
terms, [77], [81].
Determinism, [7], [93].
Dieri, [32], [37], [88].
Dinkas, [78].
Dorsey, J. O., [51].
Dual organisation, [32], [34], [58], [67], [72], [82].
Eddystone I., [68], [70].
Egidi, Father, [16].
Egypt, [78], [79].
English terms of relationship, [13], [74].
Eromanga, [22].
Esthonia, [78], [81].
Exchange of brothers and sisters, [43].
Exogamy, [68], [72].
Family, [74], [77], [87];
extended, [79], [81].
Father’s sister, functions of, [16].
Field, Rev. J. T., [57].
Fiji, [22], [31], [39], [77].
Fison, Rev. L., [26].
Florida, [45], [69].
Freire-Marreco, Miss B., [53], [55].
Functions of relatives, [6], [11], [12], [15].
Gait, E. A., [47].
Genealogical method, [23], [31].
Genealogical relationship, [68], [70].
Gillen, F. J., [11].
Gonds, [26].
Group-marriage, [6], [86].
Guadalcanar, [23], [45].
Haidahs, [54].
Hawaiian Is., [15], [66], [68];
system, [66], [84].
Head, sanctity of, [12].
Hopi Indians, [55].
Howitt, A. W., [11], [88].
India, [18], [26], [47], [90].
Kindred, [80].
Kinship, [1], [67], [82].
Kohler, J., [8], [19].
Kroeber, A. L., [9], [25], [52], [60], [62], [64], [88], [93].
Kuni, [16].
Lithuania, [78], [81].
McLennan, J. F., [6], [17].
Malayalam, [47].
“Malayan” system, [65], [68].
Maori, [66].
Marriage, [1], [60];
between brother and sister, [85];
by exchange, [43];
group-, [6], [86];
regulation of, [67];
with brother’s daughter, [89];
with brother’s granddaughter, [34], [37], [56];
with cousin, [79];
with cross-cousin, [20], [39], [43], [47], [49], [54];
with deceased wife’s sister, [65];
with father’s sister, [89];
with wife of father’s father, [40], [57];
with wife of mother’s brother, [30], [33], [52].
Massim, [56].
Mbau, [22].
Mekeo, [16], [70].
Melanesia, [14], [19], [28], [45], [52], [61], [66], [77], [85], [89].
Morgan, Lewis, [4], [10], [18], [26], [47], [50], [65], [84], [93].
Mother’s brother, functions of, [15].
New Hebrides, [22], [31], [68].
New Guinea, [16], [56], [69].
Niue, [15].
Pantutun, John, [33], [37].
Pawnees, [53], [54].
Pedigrees, [31], [70].
Pentecost I., [31].
Polyandry, [7], [90].
Polynesia, [15], [61], [66].
Prediction, [26].
Promiscuity, [6], [75], [84].
Psychology, [10], [17], [24], [29], [38], [52], [62], [63], [66], [91], [94].
Pueblo Indians, [53].
“Red Knives” Indians, [49].
Riggs, Rev. S. R., [51], [89].
Roth, W., [11].
Salutations, [7], [10].
Samoa, [77].
San Cristoval, [46].
Santa Cruz, [15], [68], [77].
Scandinavia, [78], [81].
Seligmann, C. G., [56].
Semitic terms, [78], [81].
Shilluks, [78].
Sioux, [53], [54], [88].
Sladen Trust, [14].
Sociology, [10], [26], [70], [84], [92], [94].
Solomon Is., [15], [23], [45], [67], [68].
Spencer, B., [11].
Sudan, [78], [81].
Survival, [39], [43], [46], [48], [59], [86], [92].
Swanton, J. R., [55].
Tamil, [47].
Tanna, [22].
Telegu, [47].
Tewa Indians, [53].
Thomas, N. W., [32], [88].
Thurnwald, R., [40].
Tikopia, [15], [67].
Todas, [49].
Tonga, [15], [67].
Torres Is., [89].
Torres Straits, [11], [44].
Trobriand Is., [55].
Tubetube, [57].
Wagawaga, [56], [58].
Wedau, [58].
Widow, [12], [30], [41].
“Yellow Knife” Indians, [49].
Ysabel, [46].

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