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Immortality
72 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
5 people want to read
About the author
Ashley Montagu
208 books69 followersBooks, such as
The Natural Superiority of Women
(1953), of Ashley Montagu, originally Israel Ehrenberg, a British-American, helped to popularize anthropology.
As a young man, he changed his name to "Montague Francis Ashley-Montagu". After relocating to the United States, he used the name "Ashley Montagu."
This humanist of Jewish ancestry related topics, such as race and gender, to politics and development. He served as the rapporteur or appointed investigator in 1950 for the The Race Question , statement of educational, scientific, and cultural organization of United Nations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_...
As a young man, he changed his name to "Montague Francis Ashley-Montagu". After relocating to the United States, he used the name "Ashley Montagu."
This humanist of Jewish ancestry related topics, such as race and gender, to politics and development. He served as the rapporteur or appointed investigator in 1950 for the The Race Question , statement of educational, scientific, and cultural organization of United Nations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashley_...
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August 17, 2024
THE FAMED ANTHROPOLOGIST LOOKS AT THE NOTION OF IMMORTALITY
Montague Francis Ashley-Montagu (1905-1999) was a British-American anthropologist and humanist, who wrote/edited many books (e.g., 'The Concept of Race,' 'Man's Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy Of Race,' 'Toynbee and History: Critical Essays and Reviews,' etc.). This book consists of three lectures delivered in the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1951.
He begins by saying, "In this series of lectures I shall be concerned with the meaning of immortality for life, and for living human beings in particular... as a scientist I shall restrict myself to discussing those aspects of the subject about which we have knowledge..." (Pg. 15)
He says in the second lecture, "To the question then, Why do men believe in immortality, as least, why do men in non-literate societies believe in immortality, we may say: The belief in immortality is man's answer to the challenge of death; his answer to the insecurities and unhappiness of this life on earth. So believing, men can indeed find life more tolerable upon earth then they might otherwise find it, and this appears to be the principal function of the belief in immortality." (Pg. 39-40)
Later, he suggests, "The belief in immortality serves to integrate the personality, and to secure the cohesion of the social fabric, and since all men have a need to be recognised and appreciated, the consciousness that they will be noticed on earth sufficiently to be rewarded with everlasting life in the hereafter is a valued accretion to their positive self-feeling. Because the belief in immortality encourages and supports men in their postponement of certain gratifications it has played a major role in maintaining social equilibrium... On the whole, the belief in immortality has served to increase the respect for and understanding of life as well as of death, and helped significantly to reduce an anxiety among men which might otherwise have been socially seriously disruptive. In short, the belief in immortality has, on the whole, served to make men better than they otherwise would have been." (Pg. 58)
These lectures, though more than 70 years old, are still of value to anyone interested in cultural anthropology, social psychology, or related social sciences.
Montague Francis Ashley-Montagu (1905-1999) was a British-American anthropologist and humanist, who wrote/edited many books (e.g., 'The Concept of Race,' 'Man's Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy Of Race,' 'Toynbee and History: Critical Essays and Reviews,' etc.). This book consists of three lectures delivered in the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1951.
He begins by saying, "In this series of lectures I shall be concerned with the meaning of immortality for life, and for living human beings in particular... as a scientist I shall restrict myself to discussing those aspects of the subject about which we have knowledge..." (Pg. 15)
He says in the second lecture, "To the question then, Why do men believe in immortality, as least, why do men in non-literate societies believe in immortality, we may say: The belief in immortality is man's answer to the challenge of death; his answer to the insecurities and unhappiness of this life on earth. So believing, men can indeed find life more tolerable upon earth then they might otherwise find it, and this appears to be the principal function of the belief in immortality." (Pg. 39-40)
Later, he suggests, "The belief in immortality serves to integrate the personality, and to secure the cohesion of the social fabric, and since all men have a need to be recognised and appreciated, the consciousness that they will be noticed on earth sufficiently to be rewarded with everlasting life in the hereafter is a valued accretion to their positive self-feeling. Because the belief in immortality encourages and supports men in their postponement of certain gratifications it has played a major role in maintaining social equilibrium... On the whole, the belief in immortality has served to increase the respect for and understanding of life as well as of death, and helped significantly to reduce an anxiety among men which might otherwise have been socially seriously disruptive. In short, the belief in immortality has, on the whole, served to make men better than they otherwise would have been." (Pg. 58)
These lectures, though more than 70 years old, are still of value to anyone interested in cultural anthropology, social psychology, or related social sciences.
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