The Human Animal.

by Weston La Barre
Review by: Wilton Marion Krogman
Social Forces, Vol. 33, No. 2 (Dec., 1954), p. 190
Published by: Oxford University Press
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190 SOCIAL FORCES
of the Cross-Cultural Survey and its successors, in-
dicating how the materials contained therein have been
and may be used.
JOHN GILL1N
University of North Carolina
THE HuMAN ANIMAL. By Weston La Barre. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1954. 372 pp. $6.00.
The title of this book tells its own story. Man is both
human and an animal. By definition, then, he is basi-
cally organic (biologic) with an overlay of culture
(socialization). He is a unique bio-social product of the
evolutionary process. If this is so, we might expect that
what we call human behavior-in any given cultural con-
text-is, in part at least, initiated, motivated, or con-
ditioned by the organic make-up of "the human ani-
mal." This, as I understand it, is an underlying theme
of La Barre's book. In my opinion he develops the theme
logically and sequentially; he makes good use of cur-
rent zoological and socio-anthropological knowledge and
inferences.
The aim is "to take a consistently naturalistic view
of man." In fuirtherance of this aim the author avers
that he will call upon three disciplines: 1) the biological
data of physical anthropology; 2) the ethnological
findings of cultural anthropology; and 3) "the most
sophisticated and practical psychology available in
contemporary times, the psychoanalytical psychology
of Freud." The latter is stressed as focussing upon
"whole, functioning human beings in real contexts."
The framework of the book is, in my opinion, a
remarkable linking-together of the organic and what
Kroeber called the supra-organic. There is first a broad
outline of the basic principles and steps in organic
evolution, then a focus upon Primates and Man's
unique place in that Order. Here, special attention is
paid to the origins of parenthood. It is at this point
that La Barre intensifies the theme of human "in-
fantilization" as a basic factor in the psycho-biological
peculiarities of the learning process in Man. Emergent
from this are discussions of sexual and marital patterns
and the "oneness" of the races of Homo sapiens. The
whole problem of psycho-sexuality and the develop-
ment of mental illness is considered, along with the
symbiotic connotations of human speech. By way of
summary, basic ethnographic traits are discussed-
basic in terms of "elemental" and/or "universal."
Finally there is a chapter the essence of which is,
"Whither goest thou, Man?"
I found this book stimulating and provocative. As
examples: ". . . warlike behavior is not immediately
instinctual but oedipally conditioned" . . . "a feder-
ation of even imperfect democracies is superior in
morale, and indeed in ultimate power, to even the
most powerful of autocracies" . . . "federation and
empire are two mutually opposed ideas" . . . "No
state or empire can long operate without the cultural
consent and acquiescence of its communicants"...
"It is evident that traditional capitalism is historically
obsolescent, simply because it is not good enough for
our scientific technology." There is a wallop at mc-
Carthyism (sic) which is almost subpoena-worthy
(count me in!). There is biology, sociology, anthro-
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pology, economics, political science, history, phi-
losophy, all rolled up-and integrated!
As I read the book I was puzzled at what I consider
an omission. Certainly, La Barre is deeply cognizant of
concepts or frameworks of a body-mind continuum;
yet there is no recognition by him, dither in fact or by
implication, of attempts to objectify such a bio-
psychological relationship, i.e., constitutionalism
in its broadest sense. More specifically, I wonder at
failure to mention Kretschmerian hypotheses and
Sheldonian technics.
A possible problem of The Human Animal is its scope
and wide appeal. Few have the broad biologico-
socio-psycho-historical background La Barre evidences.
To the biologist much of the psycho-cultural orienta-
tion will be (as it was to me) hard to follow. To the
psychologist and culturist much of the biological data
will be in almost an alien language. But this fault (if,
indeed it be one?) should be viewed as a virtue. It is
up to biologist and culturist each to enlarge his own
horizon to encompass that of the other. In this book
there is every opportunity to do just that! Let's move
ahead together.
WILTON MARION KROGMAN
University of Pennsylvantia
ISN'T ONE WIFE ENOUGH? THE STORY OF MORMON
POLYGAMY. By Kimball Young. New York: Henry
Holt and Company, 1954. 476 pp. $6.00.
"Here within three quarters of a century we see the
emergence, fruition, and death of a basic institution"
(from the Preface, p. xii). Mormon polygamy began in
secret under Joseph Smith in the 1830's, flourished
openly under Brigham Young for nearly fifty years,
and finally ended in secret again at about the close of
the nineteenth century.
The author is a grandson of Brigham Young and a
well-known sociologist. He is equipped to write such a
book by virtue of both background and training.
Materials for the writing were collected over a twenty-
year period. They consisted chiefly of 175 family
records derived from diaries and interviews with people
from polygamous families. These were supplemented
by personal observations and published sources. The
author alludes to the fact that he did not have access to
the "confidential records of the Church itself" (p. 145),
and concedes that this lack may have imposed certain
limitations on some of his analyses. Furthermore, one
could wish that the author had brought himself into it
a little more for additional insights-there is virtually
nothing of his own personal experiences or feelings and
only one hint at his family connection (p. 32). Even so,
there is little question but that this work is the most
complete and authentic treatment of the subject yet
to be published.
Quite correctly, Young attributes the practice of
polygamy among the Mormons to the presence of a
strong religious incentive. Mormons believed that
Joseph Smith was instructed in these and other matters
by God Himself. The majority of those who practiced
the "Principle" (as it was called) did so mainly because
they believed it was a part of the "revealed gospel"
and that by living it and securing a larger progeny their
glories in the hereafter would be multiplied. Without