John Ferguson McLennan
Encyclopedia
John Ferguson McLennan was a Scottish
ethnologist and lawyer. He was born at Inverness
.
He studied at King's College, Aberdeen
, where he graduated with distinction in 1849, thence proceeding to Cambridge
, where he remained till 1855 without taking a degree. He was called to the Scottish bar in 1857, and in 1871 was appointed parliamentary draughtsman for Scotland.
ground braking, and his work had implications for the field of history of religion as well. In the published study "The Worship of Animals and Plants" (to parts, 1869-70) MacLennan suggested a connection between social structures and primitive religions, and he coined the term totemism
for the social function of primitive religion. This concise term proved to be very useful to later historians of religion and sociologists like William Robertson Smith
and Émile Durkheim
(among others). MacLennan is also known for his later work, Studies in Ancient History (1876).
MacLennan is especially mentioned by historians of religion in connection with William Robertson Smith
, the renowned biblicist and historian of religion. For Robertson Smith, the comparative method of MacLennan proved to be very important for his work, as well as the concept of totemism
. As a fact, one of Robertson Smiths more influential essays, "Animal Worship and Animal Tribes among the Arabs and in the Old Testament", directly follows MacLennans idea of Totemism and it connects both contemporary Arab nomads and ancient biblical peoples with the social function of totemism
in primitive religions.
Concerning MacLennans contribution to historical methods, the following quote by MacLennan (1865) contains the basic premise for the comparativ method (as used by Robertson Smith):
ceremonies of primitive races, he developed an intelligible picture of the growth of the marriage relation and of systems of kinship
according to natural laws. In 1866 he wrote in the Fortnightly Review (April and May) an essay on Kinship in Ancient Greece, in which he proposed to test by early Greeli facts the theory of the history of kinship set forth in Primitive Marriage; and three years later appeared a series of essays on Totemism
in the same periodical for 1869-1870 (the germ of which had been contained in the paper just named), which mark the second great step in his systematic study of early society.
A reprint of Primitive Marriage, with Kinship in Ancient Greece and some other essays not previously published, appeared in 1876, under the title of Studies in Ancient History. The new essays in this volume were mostly critical, but one of them, in which perhaps his guessing talent is seen at its best The Divisions of the Irish Family, is an elaborate discussion of a problem which has long puzzled both Celtic scholars and jurists; and in another, On the Classificatory System of Relationship, he propounded a new explanation of a series of facts which, he thought, might throw light upon the early history of society, at the same time putting to the test of those facts the theories he had set forth in Primitive Marriage. A Paper on The Levirate and Polyandry, following up the line of his previous investigations (Fortnightly Review, 1877), were the last work he was able to publish. He died of consumption
on the 14th of June 1881 at Hayes Common, Kent.
Besides the works already cited, McLennan wrote a Life of Thomas Drummond
(1867). The vast materials which he had accumulated on kinship were edited by his widow and Arthur Platt, under the title Studies in Ancient history: Second Series (1896).
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
ethnologist and lawyer. He was born at Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
.
He studied at King's College, Aberdeen
King's College, Aberdeen
King's College in Old Aberdeen, Scotland is a formerly independent university founded in 1495 and an integral part of the University of Aberdeen...
, where he graduated with distinction in 1849, thence proceeding to Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where he remained till 1855 without taking a degree. He was called to the Scottish bar in 1857, and in 1871 was appointed parliamentary draughtsman for Scotland.
ground braking, and his work had implications for the field of history of religion as well. In the published study "The Worship of Animals and Plants" (to parts, 1869-70) MacLennan suggested a connection between social structures and primitive religions, and he coined the term totemism
Totemism
Totemism is a system of belief in which humans are said to have kinship or a mystical relationship with a spirit-being, such as an animal or plant...
for the social function of primitive religion. This concise term proved to be very useful to later historians of religion and sociologists like William Robertson Smith
William Robertson Smith
William Robertson Smith was a Scottish orientalist, Old Testament scholar, professor of divinity, and minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He was an editor of the Encyclopædia Britannica and contributor to the Encyclopaedia Biblica...
and Émile Durkheim
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.Much of Durkheim's work was concerned with how societies could maintain...
(among others). MacLennan is also known for his later work, Studies in Ancient History (1876).
MacLennan is especially mentioned by historians of religion in connection with William Robertson Smith
William Robertson Smith
William Robertson Smith was a Scottish orientalist, Old Testament scholar, professor of divinity, and minister of the Free Church of Scotland. He was an editor of the Encyclopædia Britannica and contributor to the Encyclopaedia Biblica...
, the renowned biblicist and historian of religion. For Robertson Smith, the comparative method of MacLennan proved to be very important for his work, as well as the concept of totemism
Totemism
Totemism is a system of belief in which humans are said to have kinship or a mystical relationship with a spirit-being, such as an animal or plant...
. As a fact, one of Robertson Smiths more influential essays, "Animal Worship and Animal Tribes among the Arabs and in the Old Testament", directly follows MacLennans idea of Totemism and it connects both contemporary Arab nomads and ancient biblical peoples with the social function of totemism
Totemism
Totemism is a system of belief in which humans are said to have kinship or a mystical relationship with a spirit-being, such as an animal or plant...
in primitive religions.
Concerning MacLennans contribution to historical methods, the following quote by MacLennan (1865) contains the basic premise for the comparativ method (as used by Robertson Smith):
In the sciences of law and society, old means not old in chronology, but in the structure: that is most archaic which lies nearest to the beginning of human progress considered as a development, and that is most modern which is farthest removed from the beginning.
Publications
In 1865 he published Primitive Marriage, in which, arguing from the prevalence of the symbolical form of capture in the marriageMarriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
ceremonies of primitive races, he developed an intelligible picture of the growth of the marriage relation and of systems of kinship
Kinship
Kinship is a relationship between any entities that share a genealogical origin, through either biological, cultural, or historical descent. And descent groups, lineages, etc. are treated in their own subsections....
according to natural laws. In 1866 he wrote in the Fortnightly Review (April and May) an essay on Kinship in Ancient Greece, in which he proposed to test by early Greeli facts the theory of the history of kinship set forth in Primitive Marriage; and three years later appeared a series of essays on Totemism
Totemism
Totemism is a system of belief in which humans are said to have kinship or a mystical relationship with a spirit-being, such as an animal or plant...
in the same periodical for 1869-1870 (the germ of which had been contained in the paper just named), which mark the second great step in his systematic study of early society.
A reprint of Primitive Marriage, with Kinship in Ancient Greece and some other essays not previously published, appeared in 1876, under the title of Studies in Ancient History. The new essays in this volume were mostly critical, but one of them, in which perhaps his guessing talent is seen at its best The Divisions of the Irish Family, is an elaborate discussion of a problem which has long puzzled both Celtic scholars and jurists; and in another, On the Classificatory System of Relationship, he propounded a new explanation of a series of facts which, he thought, might throw light upon the early history of society, at the same time putting to the test of those facts the theories he had set forth in Primitive Marriage. A Paper on The Levirate and Polyandry, following up the line of his previous investigations (Fortnightly Review, 1877), were the last work he was able to publish. He died of consumption
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
on the 14th of June 1881 at Hayes Common, Kent.
Besides the works already cited, McLennan wrote a Life of Thomas Drummond
Thomas Drummond
Captain Thomas Drummond , from Edinburgh, Scotland, was an army officer, civil engineer and senior public official. Drummond used the Drummond light which was employed in the trigonometrical survey of Great Britain and Ireland. He is sometimes mistakenly given credit for the invention of limelight,...
(1867). The vast materials which he had accumulated on kinship were edited by his widow and Arthur Platt, under the title Studies in Ancient history: Second Series (1896).