Animistic beliefs explain all

nomena and

cially liable, together with somnambulism, demonstrate further that the double may leave the body to return at will. Death merely indicates that the double is unwilling to return or has lost its way, and hence has taken up its abode in some other body or object. Rare cases of insanity, idiocy, or epilepsy furnish still further evidence that the body and the double are separable entities, since in these cases a foreign or hostile spirit has taken possession of a body not its own. To his dog, his horse, his canoe, his weapons of warfare and chase, he attributes a similar double. For does he not use them in his dreams? Do they not cast a shadow as he himself does? And do they not at times seemingly thwart his will as if possessed of a hostile spirit? Therefore at death his horse and dog are killed; perhaps his canoe, even his wife, is burned, or his weapons and household utensils are buried with the body in order that their doubles. may serve his double as of yore. To his spirit, offerings of food and other necessities of this life are made until the time when the remembrance of him is lost in the worship of the multitude of ancestral spirits that throng the air or inhabit the sensible objects that form the universe of the family or clan.

Thus the primitive man explains the processes of the world around him; each material object, whether sensible or innatural phe- sensible from our point of view, is by him in his unreflective all personal way endowed with consciousness. Through its double each experiences feels and thinks and has the power of volition, as he himself has. The world of doubles is an immaterial counterpart of the world of material objects. Thus do ordinary processes of life and nature find their explanation; extraordinary happenings, in a similar way, merely indicate the intervention of such spirits, friendly if the occurrences are fraught with good results, hostile if accompanied by evil consequences.

Animistic beliefs control daily

life

NATURE OF EDUCATION OF PRIMITIVE MAN DETERMINED BY THIS DOMINANT SOCIAL CHARACTERISTIC. The life of the primitive man is largely occupied in obtaining the necessities of food, clothing, and shelter. But these must be

obtained in such a manner as not to offend the spirit, or double that dwells in every object he needs for fuel or for building, in every utensil he uses in the preparation of food, in every weapon, and in every animal. Thus every desired end must be secured by activities following certain formal and established methods that are the outgrowth of the experience of past generations. The learning of these formal methods that will placate the spirit Such beliefs world back of the material world constitutes the most important the content part of his education. Because it consists in becoming familiar with the results of the experience of the past, this part of his education is here termed the theoretical education, as opposed to the immediate practical adjustment to the needs of his environment which grows directly out of the individual's own experience.

constitute

of intel

lectual and spiritual edu

cation

stages of re

ligious, philosophical,

and scientific thought

This belief in controlling spirits, or doubles, and in ways of Comparison of animism acting so as to obtain desired ends without offending them has with higher counterparts in higher stages of social life. The early Greek explained the action of physical forces by the dominance of a multitude of special deities and sought to control the flight of an arrow or the course of a ship, to obtain the mastery of horse and chariot, through appeasing and thus controlling the deities back of them. To the Hebrew this direct control of the details of life, of the harvest, of the plague, of the battle, of sickness, of the objects to be used, and of the processes of nature was in the hands of a supreme deity and was to be obtained by man through ceremonial worship and prayer. To the modern man the mastery of a weapon is to be obtained by a knowledge of the laws of physics; the preparation of articles of food so as to avoid noxious elements contained in the materials, by knowledge of certain laws of chemistry; the control of a disease, by knowledge of certain biological laws; the control of the harvest, by knowledge of certain laws of nature drawn from a variety of the sciences. The chief point to be noted is this: modern man assumes that there are such things as chemical affinity, molecular attraction, electrical current, for the same reason that primitive man as

From ani

mism natural religions, philosophies, and the sciences

have evolved

Character of the

earliest

teachers

sumes that there are doubles back of all material phenomena. By these assumptions each explains the relations which the phenomenal world bears to himself, and by a knowledge of these entities he seeks to control the forces and phenomena of nature for his own advantage. In both cases this control is obtained through a mastery of the symbols. These symbols may be the formulas of physical law, or they may be the totemic representations of doubles.

In other words, the initiation ceremonies, with the totemic dances and incantations which follow, give to the primitive man that explanation of the universe that will enable him to secure a satisfactory adjustment to its demands. This knowledge of the world of doubles and the animistic beliefs that are thus acquired, serve the same purpose that is served in more complex society by sciences, philosophy, history, literature, and religion. In fact, it is from these primitive animistic beliefs that the sciences, philosophy, and the natural religions have evolved.

TRANSITION TO A HIGHER STAGE. —The characteristic feature of primitive education, then, is its non-progressive and imitative character. The primitive man seeks to adjust himself to his environment as he finds it and as the previous generation has done. He has little consciousness of the past as a form of life to be preserved, or of the future as offering opportunities greater than those of the present. He lives in the present; hence there is little tendency to change, and that is accidental. That "the least developed people are the most averse to change" is a well-established principle of the sociological sciences. Nevertheless, through the various stages of savage and barbarian life some advance, though wholly unconscious or irrational, can be traced in the following respects:

(1) A Teaching Class. While the ceremonial performances are participated in by all the men of certain groups, yet they are usually under the direction of certain designated persons. Certainly the acts of incantation and of sorcery, which aim to placate the spirits and obtain control over them through manipula

tion of symbols, are in the hands of a special class possessing unusual power over unfriendly spirits. These men are variously called shamans, wizards, exorcists, medicine men, or familiars. They form the earliest teachers. As the friendly ones in the spirit world become more numerous and powerful, the familiars develop into a priest class. At first this class is made up of the heads of the family groups; but as the duties of the father become more manifold and this worship of the friendly spirits becomes more complex, a special priesthood is designated. There The priestis now some instruction for the populace by the priesthood in general, and a more elaborate and formal instruction of prospective members of the priesthood by certain of their own members. These latter are the first professional teachers. For many cen- class turies teaching remains as a special right of the clergy, and for many centuries more education is supervised and directed by the clergy alone. Before this stage has been reached, however, primitive society has developed into the earliest phase of civilization.

hood forms

the first

clearly dif

ferentiated

teaching

guages

(2) Subject-matter for Study. — By the time a special priest- Formation of hood is formed, this interpretation of life or experience has written lanbecome so complex and the ceremonial has become so complicated that it is necessary to commit it to permanent form. Hence arise written languages. These form the chief mark of distinction between the barbarian and the civilized stage of social organization. For the priesthood, then, there comes to be a special subject-matter of study; namely, the forms of the written language and the content of the literature. All early literatures are consequently of a religious nature. Out of these, as illusrated by that of the Chaldeans and of the Egyptians, grow the earlier cosmologies, philosophies, and sciences; on them are founded advances in the arts. This literary instruction their esoteric learning—is reserved for the priesthood alone. For the multitude there is the exoteric instruction given by the priesthood. This consists for the most part in directions as to formal conduct and worship, --the "what and how to do" of action. (3) Elaboration of Method. So long as education con

Early religious literasubject

ture the first

matter for

study

tional

method, training

through imi

tation

Early educa- sists simply in learning from the adult generation or from a special religious class "what to do and how to do it," there is little of method but training by imitation. This method prevails for a long time after the primitive organization of society has given way to the political organization characteristic of civilization. But with the formation of a special priesthood and the elaboration of a written language and a literature, there arises the inquiry, "Why should these things be done?" For the priesthood itself this gives rise to instruction as distinguished from training. During the earlier stages of civilization this is peculiar to the priesthood alone. For example, schools for the people were not established by the Jews until a short time before the opening of the Christian era. The education of the masses was the practical training of the home; the theoretical training that in religious ceremonial was by the priesthood.

Instruction

added to

training in education of the priesthood

These char

acteristics indicate a

The education based upon a written language, given by a specially designated class, and including formal instruction as well as practical training, represents a higher stage in educational higher than development than that found among primitive peoples. The earliest types of this stage are to be found in Oriental societies.

transition to a stage

primitive education

SUMMARY

With primitive peoples practical education is unorganized and is provided for through direct imitation of adult by child. Theoretical education consists in transmitting to the younger generation the general body of knowledge or the animistic beliefs which constitute their interpretation of life's experiences. This transmission is accomplished through various ceremonies. The initiation ceremonies are the most important of these, educationally. From animism develop the natural religions, early philosophies, and rudimentary sciences. With the formulation of these, written languages are invented, and a special body of knowledge accessible to a few is developed. This forms the subject-matter of a higher stage of education. Along with this there develops a special priesthood differing from the familiars or exorcists on the one hand, and from the common people on the other. This priesthood becomes a special teaching-class for all. As they organize to teach prospective members of their own order, the first school emerges. With the formation of definite curriculum, teachingclass, and school, the primitive stage in education is passed, and the early stages of civilization are reached.