In 1916 Malinowski claimed, on the basis of fieldwork, that ‘arguing by the law of logical contradiction is absolutely futile in the realm of belief, whether savage or civilised. Two beliefs, quite contradictory to each other on logical grounds, may co-exist, while a perfectly obvious inference from a firm tenet may be simply ignored…. The only safe way…is to investigate every detail of native belief (Malinowski (1916) 1948:194).