Anthropos 92.1997: 165-173 
Savage Thought and Thoughtful Savages 
On the Context of the Evaluation of Logical Thought 
by Lévy-Bruhl and Evans-Pritchard 
Andreas Heinz 
Abstract. - Evans-Pritchard’s “Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic 
among the Azande” promoted a fundamental change in the way 
anthropology views the logic of “primitive” mind. This change 
was achieved by implicitly refuting Levy-Bruhl’s concept of 
“prelogical mentality.” Disputing the formal inconsistency and 
the incomprehensibility of “primitive” thought implied far- 
reaching social consequences. Evans-Pritchard belonged to a 
new generation of anthropologists who tried to explain their 
change of paradigm by pointing to their direct encounter with 
“primitive” men. However, the barely mentioned background 
of this experience is set by different patterns of colonial 
rule, interacting with the produced anthropological discourse. 
[Prelogical thought, magic, evolutionism, changing paradigms, 
colonialism] 
Andreas Heinz, medical studies at the Ruhr-Universität Bo 
chum and Freie Universität Berlin, state exam 1987, M.D. 
1988; clinical work at the Neurological University Clinic St. 
Josefs Hospital Bochum and the Department of Psychiatry 
of the Freie Universität Berlin, medical board certification 
in neurology 1993, in psychiatry and neurology 1994, psy 
chotherapy 1995; philosophical and anthropological studies at 
the Freie Universität Berlin, M.A. (Philosophy) 1994; since 
1995 research fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health, 
Washington DC, funded by a Habilitation grant of the DFG. - 
Publications in Journal of Neural Transmission, Pharmacopsy 
chiatry, Psychiatry Research, Archives of General Psychiatry, 
Kriminologisches Journal, Beiträge zur nationalsozialistischen 
Gesundheits- und Sozialpolitik. 
Introduction 
Contemporary social anthropology focuses on the 
narrative style of the ethnographers (Geertz 
1988: 9). How do they present the “there” and how 
important is the legitimizing allusion to the “grand 
narratives” that separate the “here” from the 
“there” (Lyotard 1993: xxiv)? This essay centers 
on the interaction of attitudes and expectations 
and the produced discourse. Reviewing Evans- 
Pritchard’s “Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among 
the Azande” it will be examined which theo 
ries and practices prestructured the work, how 
they influenced the encounter with the objects 
of field research and how the produced text influ 
enced the conceptualization of “primitive thought” 
at “home.” 
Evans-Pritchard’s work is specifically suited for 
such an analysis, as his description of magical 
thought of the Azande marks a turning point in 
the evaluation of “primitive thought.” His work 
has to be seen against the background of the grand 
systems of Tylor (1903) and Lévy-Bruhl (1985 
[1910]), who tried to describe “primitive” thought 
as a “prelogical” or an “antecedent stage” of our 
own developmental stage. It is well known that 
Tylor and Lévy-Bruhl based their approach on 
the material provided by other European travel 
ers without ever meeting any so-called “primitive 
man” face to face. While their systems stressed 
the alleged undeveloped or incomprehensible state 
of “primitive” thought, Malinowski argued that 
magical practices are useful for the individual (Ma 
linowski [1929] 1987: lxxvi-lxxix). Malinowski’s 
new point of view is obviously linked to his field 
research, which allowed him to experience the 
function of the different practices in the context of 
the social life of the community (Kuper 1983: 75). 
Thus, however, the problem arose how to under 
stand the functional purpose of seemingly destruc 
tive practices such as the persecution of witches in 
“primitive” societies. Another problem was close 
ly linked: if personal contact allows “primitive 
men” to be seen as actors who perform utilitar 
ian choices, how can it be explained that they 
believe in such obvious nonsense like witchcraft 
and magic (Kuper 1983: 78)? If these questions 
were to be answered without recycling depreciat 
ing concepts of “undeveloped thought” or the “in 
ability to think logically,” a new approach had to 
be found that defined the methods of observation 
and the evaluation of their results. Evans-Pritchard 
established such a new paradigm with his descrip 
tion of witchcraft, oracles, and magic among the 
Azande. 
To do so, he engaged in field research in 
southern Sudan, then an “Anglo-Egypt Condo 
minium.” Great Britain and Egypt had been co