ABSTRACT
In his Frazer Lecture for the year 1939, published as a pamphlet under the title Taboo, Professor A. R. Radcliffe-Brown restates certain of his views on magic and religion. 1 At the same time, he makes certain critcisms of Professor Malinowski’s theories on the subject. The appearance of Taboo, therefore, offers the anthropologist an occasion for examining the present status of the theory of ritual by means of a study of a controversy between what are perhaps its two most important experts. Incidentally, the reader will find illustrated a type of behavior common in disputes in the world of science.
