著者

北村 光二

出版者

Japan Association for African Studies

雑誌

アフリカ研究 (ISSN:00654140)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.1996, no.48, pp.19-34, 1996-03-31 (Released:2010-04-30)

参考文献数

24

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In anthropological studies of Africa, hunter-gatherer societies are commonly thought of as being egalitarian. This paper, however, opposes such understanding and regards such as related to the nostalgia held by those who recognize inequality in modern society. This paper reinterprets the so-called egalitarian society by examining the social life of the San, huntergatherers of the Kalahari desert, doing so by considering the evolution of cognition, thought and communication as originating in monkeys and continuing through to modern man.In this evolutional transition from monkeys to man, it is assumed that two of the more important changes in social life concerned the reduction in the significance of dominant-subordinate relationship, and the emergence of food sharing. Among the San, the former is evident in diminishing forms of both dominant arrogance and subordinate self-restraint. With increasing individual independence, reaching agreement with another in a symmetrical role arrangement becomes an increasing important aspect of communication. One voluntarily and adaptively conducts interactions on grounds justified by eventual mutual agreement with the other.With regard to the latter issue, the San, believing it proper, share foods as well as other things of daily use. The formation of an “ownership” concept is important for the emergence of sharing. Any interest in a desired object is mediated by mutual cognition that the object belongs to the “owner” and others are inhibited from direct access to it. Given such a cognitively based indirect relation with an object, one tries to realize agreement with the other's desire by means of sharing that object. As such an action is named “sharing”, it becomes a definite category of social conduct based on social reality, which ultimately gener ates an ideology directing people to share.So-called “egalitarianism” is an ideology held by those who think that a bulwark against egoism, the selfishness of individuals, is needed. Egoism, however, is not a true character of humans, nor of animals. Egoism, and by virtue of contrast, egalitarianism, are ideologies not formulated until the emergence of modern society.