CHAPTER XLV. Regard for the Dead

REGARD FOR THE DEAD

The belief in a future life, p. 515 sq.--Notions as regards the disembodied soul, p. 516.--The dead considered to have rights very similar to those they had whilst alive, pp. 516-520.--The soul must not be killed or injured, p. 516 sq.--Its living friends must positively contribute to its comfort and subsistence, p. 517 sq.--The right of ownership does not cease with death, p. 518 sq.--Robbery or violation committed at a tomb severely condemned, ibid.--Respect must be shown for the honour and self-regarding pride of the dead, p. 519.--The dead demand obedience, p. 519 sq.--The sacredness attached to a will, p. 519.--The rigidity of ancestral custom, p. 519 sq.--Duties to the dead that arise from the fact of death itself, pp. 520-524.--The funeral, the rites connected with it, and the mourning customs, largely regarded as duties to the dead, ibid.--The duties to the dead influenced by the relationship between the parties, p. 524 sq.--By the age and sex of the departed, pp. 525-527.--By class distinctions, p. 527.--By moral distinctions, p. 527 sq.--The causes from which the duties to the dead have sprung, pp 528-549.--These duties partly based on sympathetic resentment, p. 528.--The dead regarded as guardians of their descendants, p. 529 sq.--But the ancestral guardian spirit does not bestow his favours for nothing, p. 530 sq.--The dead more commonly regarded as enemies than friends, pp. 531-534. --Explanation of the belief in the irritable or malevolent character of the dead, p. 534 sq.--The fear of death and the fear of the dead, pp. 535-538.--The conduct of the survivors influenced by their beliefs regarding the character, activity, and polluting influence of the dead, pp. 538-546.--The origin of funeral and mourning customs, pp. 541-547.--Why practices connected with death which originally sprang from self-regarding motives have come to be enjoined as duties, p. 547 sq.--Why the duties to the dead are rarely extended to strangers, p. 548 sq.--Explanation of the differences in the treatment of the dead which depend upon age, sex, social position, and moral distinctions, p. 549.--The duties to the departed become less stringent as time goes on, p. 549 sq.--The duties to the dead affected by progress in intellectual culture, pp. 550-552.--The funeral sacrifice continued as a mark of respect or affection, p. 550.--Offerings made to the dead become alms given to the poor, pp. 550-552.

{xvi} CHAPTER XLVI

CANNIBALISM

The prevalence of cannibalism, p. 553.--Various forms of it, p. 554.--Cannibalism due to scarcity or lack of animal food, p. 555.--To gourmandise pp. 555-557.--To revenge, pp. 557-559. --The practice of eating criminals, p. 558 sq.--Cannibalism a method of making a dangerous individual harmless after death, p. 559 sq.--Due to the idea that the cannibal, by eating the supposed seat of a certain quality in a person, incorporates it with his own system, pp. 560-562.--Cannibalism in connection with human sacrifice, p. 562 sq.--The eating of man-gods, p. 563 sq.--Other instances in which a supernatural or medicinal effect is ascribed to human flesh or blood, pp. 564-566.--Cannibalism as a covenant rite, p. 566 sq.--Special reasons given for the practice of eating relatives or friends, pp. 567-569.--The cannibalism of modern savages represented as the survival of an ancient practice which was once universal in the human race, p. 569 sq.--Criticism of this theory pp. 570-580.--Savages who feel the greatest dislike of cannibalism, p. 570 sq.--Cannibals often anxious to deny that they are addicted to this practice, p. 572.--The rapid extinction of it among certain savages p. 572 sq.--Even among peoples very notorious for cannibalism there are individuals who abhor it, p. 573.--The aversion to cannibalism may be due to sympathy for the dead, p. 574.--In the first instance it is probably an instinctive feeling akin to those feelings which regulate the diet of the various animal species, ibid.--The eating of human flesh regarded with superstitious dread, pp. 574-576.--The feeling of reluctance may be overcome by other motives and may be succeeded by a taste for human flesh, p. 577 sq.--Early man probably not addicted to cannibalism, pp. 578-580.--Cannibalism much less prevalent among the lowest savages than among races somewhat more advanced in culture, p. 578 sq.--Among some savages cannibalism known to be of modern origin or to have spread in recent times, p. 579 sq.--The moral valuation of cannibalism, p. 580 sq.