Edward Burnett Tylor
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Featured:  Illustration: Portrait fantaisiste du marquis de Sade (1866) by H. Biberstein |
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor (October 2 1832–January 2 1917), was an English anthropologist.
Tylor is considered representative of cultural evolutionism. In his works Primitive culture and Anthropology, he defined the context of scientific study of anthropology, based on the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin. He believed that there was a functional basis for the development of society and religion, which he determined was universal. E. B. Tylor is considered by many a founding figure of the science of social, or cultural, anthropology, and scholarly works are seen as important and lasting contributions to the discipline of Anthropology that was beginning to take shape in the 19th century. He believed that research into the history and prehistory of man could be used as a basis for the reform of British society.
He reintroduced the term animism (the faith in the individual soul or anima of all things, and natural manifestations) into common use. He considered animism as the first phase of development of religions.
Definition of culture
E. B. Taylor (1871:1) was probably the first to define the term "culture". He defined it as "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." --Dr. Marvin Wolfgang’s black subculture of violence theory
