Classic two-volume work, first published in 1871, was highly influential in the establishment of cultural evolution as the basis for anthropologic studies. Volume II focuses on social evolution, language, and myth.

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This classic is organized as follows: Introduction Part I Chapter I. Collective Representations in Primitives’ Perceptions and the Mystical Character of Such Chapter II. The Law of Participation Chapter III. The Functioning of Prelogical Mentality Part II Chapter IV. The Mentality of Primitives in Relation to the Languages They Speak Chapter V. Prelogical Mentality in Relation to Numeration Part III Chapter VI. Institutions in Which Collective Representations Governed by the Law of Participation Are Involved (I) Chapter VII. Institutions in Which Collective Representations Governed by the Law of Participation Are Involved (II) Chapter VIII. Institutions in Which Collective Representations Governed by the Law of Participation Are Involved (III) Part IV Chapter IX. The Transition to the Higher Mental Types

Tylor's ideology is best described in his most famous work, the two-volume Primitive Culture. The first volume, The Origins of Culture, deals with various aspects of ethnography including social evolution, linguistics, and myth. The second volume, titled Religion in Primitive Culture, deals mainly with his interpretation of animism. On the first page of Primitive Culture, Tylor provides an all-inclusive definition which is one of his most widely recognized contributions to anthropology: "Culture, or civilization, taken in its broad, ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society." Primitive Culture remained the pinnacle of Tylor's career, important not only for its thorough study of human civilization and contributions to the emergent field of anthropology, but also for its undeniable influence on a handful of young scholars.