In Search of the Primitive [Paperback]

Stanley Diamond (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1981

Anthropology is a kind of debate between human possi- bilities--a dialectical movement between the anthropologist as a modern man and the primitive peoples he studies. This brilliant, tough-minded book contains chapters ranging from encounters in the field to essays on the nature of law, schizophrenia and civilization, and the evolution of the work of Claude Lvi-Strauss. Diamond views the anthropologist who refuses to become a searching critic of his own civilization as not merely irresponsible, but a tool of Western civilization.

Product Details

• Paperback: 387 pages
• Publisher: Transaction Publishers (January 1, 1981)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087855582X
• ISBN-13: 978-0878555826
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #721,736 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant anthropology and philosophy, December 30, 2002

By 

Derrick Jensen (Crescent City, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Search of the Primitive (Paperback)

I love this book, and refer to it constantly, both in my life and in my books. It has the best first sentence of any book I've ever read: "Civilization originates in conquest abroad and repression at home." And the book takes off from there. It is an extraordinary exploration of the indigenous peoples with whom Diamond worked, and explores the differences between, for example, indigenous and civilized moralities. Here is what he wrote about morality in a civilized world: Our moral syntax has no predicate. Hence we speak of doing good, good for its own sake, or evil. We convert each to a pure substantive, beyond experience, abstract. That is what [anthropologist] Paul Radin meant when he observed that the subject (or object) to which love, remorse, sorrow, may be directed is regarded as secondary in our civilization. All have the rank of virtues as such: they are manifestations of Gods if not of Mans way. But among primitives . . . the converse holds. Morality is behavior, values are not detached, not substantives; the good, the true, the beautiful or rather, the ideas of these things, do not exist. Therefore, one does not fall in love, one loves another; and that is an intricately learned experience, as hate, in a certain sense, also is.

The whole book is that good. Fabulous. Fabulous.

8 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Wrong Book!, September 21, 2007

By 

B. Weller "BC" (Colorado) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Search of the Primitive: A Critique of Civilization (Hardcover)

The previous two reviews are for a different book (paperback, with the same title, but no subtitle), by Stanley Diamond. Both reviews refer to Diamond's book, not Cotlow's, because they mention Diamond by name. Apparently both reviews were erroneously attatched to the hardback edition of the Cotlow book, unbeknownst to the reviewers.

I'm hoping Amazon will correct this error.

1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cotlow's book, August 29, 2009

By 

Adventure Reader "Don" (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In Search of the Primitive: A Critique of Civilization (Hardcover)

I have owned this book for many years by Lewis Cotlow. I reread it every now and then. It is a good nonfiction look at a man that wanted to see life on the wild side through the eyes of native people while respecting their culture. In many instances, Cotlow "joined" the tribe and became one with them. It is a great look at unvarnished native life in all its charm and terror.