Twins are Birds and a Whale is a Fish, a Mammal, a Submarine
Revisiting 'Primitive Mentality' as a Question of Ontology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 18973170 |
|---|---|
| Authors | T M S Evens (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 1-11 |
| Publication date | 2012-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Analysis (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0155-977X • E-ISSN: 1558-5727 |
| Publisher | Berghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3167/sa.2012.560301 |
| OpenAlex | W2322201166 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
Refuting the rationalist implication that the Nuer statement “twins are birds“ is dumb, Evans-Pritchard held that the statement should be taken as a figure of speech. Against his interpretation, I argue that the Nuer, at the time of Evans-Pritchard's research, understood their statement to be true in an ordinary sense. In effect, my argument continues to suppose that the perception of the world implicit in the Nuer statement differs in a fundamental way from that of moderns. However, instead of having to conclude that the Nuer statement about twins and birds is indeed dumb (or that we have never been modern in any distinguishing sense), my argument develops an ontological thought-experiment that theorizes the relative validity of the Nuer perception
Biology · Epistemology · Fish · Fishery · Linguistics · Ontology · Perception · Whale · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Ecology
Societal transformation in response to global environmental change
Introduction
‘ Bom Bombed Kwin ’
Ontological quarrels
Make Sure Somebody Will Survive from This
Adaptive institutions? Peasant institutions and natural models facing climatic and economic changes in the Colombian Andes
Homo anthropologicus
Ordering being, divining time
For Whom the Ontology Turns
| Citations per year | 0.64 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2012 - 2025 (14) |
| Highly cited | No |