ABSTRACT
Lucien Levy-Bruhl was an atypical expert in the realm of the social sciences. He was a philosopher like Comte and shared with him the same interests in ethics. He undertook various interdisciplinary experiences and participated in the first debates about the issues of the individual and society. He could well be defined as an anthropologist who was also interested in sociological issues. According to Levy-Bruhl, myth and rite were two elements that strengthened each other. In fact, myth could explain ritual; the rite, in turn, legitimated the myth. Edward Evans-Pritchard is another scholar who, like Levy-Bruhl, worked a great deal on the origins of primitive religion. The decisive issue of Evans-Pritchard's perspective was the problem of the "effects" of religion on the individual and social life. He proposed a "relational" theory by which religion must be studied and understood through its effects, that is, in relation with the other aspects of life and culture.
