The Savage Mind: Metaphysics and the Humanity of the Indian

Abstract

The first chapter explores English perceptions of the humanity and rationality of the Indians. It outlines the early modern debates over the importance and meaning of rationality as the attribute that distinguished humans from all other material beings. On one side of the continuum of English beliefs were the more puritanical, who believed that human reason had been corrupted by the Fall and that only faith and revelation could provide the necessary guidance for human affairs. On the other side were those who believed in the untrammelled power of rationality. English society tended towards the middle of the continuum, believing that human reason was sufficient for this world, if not for the next. These metaphysical differences flowed into their understandings of the Indians. The proof of the Indians’ rationality was based upon their conformity to the most basic precepts of natural law: that they had religion, language, government, and control over their appetites and passions.