ABSTRACT
Iembark on this discussion with considerable hesitation. The relationship of psychology and anthropology presents so complex and controversial a problem that I can hardly hope to deal with it adequately in the course of a chapter or two. Indeed, the hazards of such an enquiry show already in the widely divergent views held by various scholars. Is this then a thankless task? And perhaps a redundant one? It might well seem so. In a great many respects the psychologist and anthropologist approach an identical subject matter—human behaviour—by different roads; and in cases of this kind it is tempting to say: Let each go ahead and borrow from the other if need be, without worrying too much about the theory of the thing; the different lines of attack, so one trusts, will enrich our knowledge even if the respective roads are not charted in advance or barred against trespass. Certainly, a prolific literature testifies to the vitality of this combined approach to culture and society, insensible though its exponents may be of methodological scruples.
