4 JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS PSYCHOLOGY 



visited, one chapter of which, dealing with &quot;customs and 

 manners, consisted of four words : Customs, beastly ; man 

 ners, none.&quot; But a broader, truer view is fortunately coming 

 to prevail, the result of study at once scientific and sympathetic, 

 of peoples whose practices and standards differ from our own. 

 A slight contribution to the understanding and appreciation of 

 some ethical phases of the culture of one of the most interesting 

 of the world s peoples is the aim of this study of the Eskimo. 



In the study of morality, as well as of other phases of human 

 culture, there are two general methods of investigation and 

 presentation. One of these methods is best represented, in the 

 field within which the present inquiry falls, by Westermarck s 

 great work, Origin and Development of Moral Ideas. Thomas 

 aptly compares this method to that developed by Pitt-Rivers 

 for arranging specimens in a museum. By the Pitt-Rivers 

 method, 



All the knives, throwing sticks, and other articles of a particular 

 kind were brought together in one place, with a view to exhibiting the 

 steps in the development of this article and some very pretty effects 

 were secured. &quot; (64: 857.) 



But, as this authority goes on to say : 



Our great museums are now recognizing that it is, on the whole better 

 to arrange materials on the principle of presenting the culture of a given 

 region as a whole. No object can be completely understood when separ 

 ated from the whole culture of which it is a part.&quot; 



For a keen criticism of the first method, which is that employed 

 by Spencer, Frazer, and many others, especially earlier writers, 

 reference may be made to Dewey s essay on &quot;The Interpretation 

 of the Savage Mind.&quot; The advantages of the regional study 

 of cultures is coming to be generally recognized. Cultural 

 phenomena should be studied &quot;in situ,&quot; in connection with the 

 physical and social environment in which they are found. 

 Haddon well sums up this position, in the conclusion of his 

 History of Anthropology (23: 154) : 



Comparisons made within a given area or among cognate peoples 

 have a greater value than those drawn from various parts of the world. 

 What is most needed at the present day is intensive study of limited areas. 



In the present study, the writer has endeavored to present the 

 moral ideas and practices of the Eskimo in their relations to each 

 other and to the physical, social and economic conditions. While 



