Mind of Primitive Man

The Mind of Primitive Man by anthropologist Franz Boas takes a critical look at the concept of primitive culture. The work challenged widely held racist and eugenic claims about race and intelligence, particularly white supremacy.

This classic study of the relationship between race and culture holds an important place in twentieth-century scientific literature. For not until its publication were scientists who refused to accept theories of race superiority and inferiority able to point to a single comprehensive work in which data were presented in terms of wider implications and known facts marshalled to answer disputed questions.

The author insists that “there is no fundamental difference between in the ways of thinking of primitive and civilized man. A closer connection between race and personality has never been established. The concept of racial type as commonly used even in scientific literature is misleading and requires a logical as well as a biological redefinition.

Boas concludes the book with an examination of racism. He expresses his hope that anthropology can lead to more tolerance and sympathy for different civilizations, since “all races have contributed in the past to cultural progress in one way or another.”