John F. MacLennan

John Ferguson MacLennan (October 14, 1827 - June 16, 1881) was a Scottish lawyer and ethnologist.

MacLennan was one of several British jurists who in the late 19th century studied the social structures of non-european peoples. MacLennans contribution to this field was 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. [Kippenberg 2002:72-73] 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 [Kippenberg 2002, Strenski 2006] 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):

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. [Maclennan 1970 [1865] , 6]

Sources

2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. [http://www.britannica.com/ E.B.O.] Kippenberg, Hans G. 2002. "Discovering Religious History in the Modern Age." Princeton & Oxford, Princeton University Press.MacLennan, John F. 1970 [1865] . "Primitive Marriage. An Inquiry into the Origin of the Form of Capture in Marriage Ceremonies." Chicago.Strenski, Ivan. 2006. "Thinking About Religion. An Historical Introduction to Theories of Religion." Malden, MA., Blackwell Publishing.

References