"Bridge Between Cracks": Interpreting Morgan's Ancient Society

Author: Wang Mingming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
Features: Famous Scholars' Interpretations of Classic Works Series (Volume 2). Classic works have become timeless treasures due to their enduring charm; similarly, the writings of famous scholars interpreting these classics also become timeless treasures, illuminated by the brilliance of the classics and the unique intellectual allure of the scholars. This book targets the intellectual class as its primary readership to interpret Lewis H. Morgan's classic work Ancient Society. Morgan strove to free social research from the dominance of the divine while adopting a stance of natural history. However, the relationship between his ideas and evolutionism is far more complex than we had previously imagined. His research and writings carry a sociological hue, but this hue does not carry a simple deterministic meaning. His ideas reflect, from one perspective, the state of modern Western political life and religious reform, while the Iroquois Indians he respected serve as a bridge for his intellectual time travel.