Throughout time anthropologist have tried to define cultural evolution and

determine the key causes of such evolution. It has always been puzzling as to why

certain societies were so much more advanced than others, so anthropologists have

studied societies and tried to determine what factors are leading to the accelerated

growth in certain societies and what may be hindering others. There have been

many who have come forth with many different hypotheses. Which is true for both

Lewis Morgan and Elman Service. Both Morgan and Service bring forth quite

different arguments as to what is the key cause of cultural evolution, a common

debate between anthropologists.

Lewis Morgan was a pioneering anthropologist and social theorist who put a

lot of time into the evolution of different cultures. In his paper, Ancient Society, he

shares his view of what lead to the civilized societies that we have today. He argues

that our human ancestors travelled from forms of savagery to barbarianism and

finally making their way to civilization. He states it seems equally so that these

three distinct conditions are connected with each other in a natural as well as

necessary sequence of progress (Morgan 3). Morgan believes that the evolution of

societies is all linked to the same variables and makes the same line of progress. As

societies develop ideas, passions and aspirations they continually evolve, bringing

them closer to civilization.

Morgan illustrates this by taking us step-by-step through the evolution of

culture; starting with the first stage of savagery and ending with civilization. There

are many different societies in which the same evolutionary process took place;

with things such as the development of pottery, domestication of animals and the
advancing of a phonetic alphabet. He believes that there is a natural progress that

has occurred in every society and is a general law of cultural evolution. He ends his

paper by saying the course and manner of [a cultures] development was pre-

determined as well as restricted within narrow limits of divergence by the natural

logic of the human mind and the necessary limitation of its powers (Morgan 15).

Elman Service also spent much of his life studying the theories of cultural

evolution. He focused much of his studies in Paraguay and developed his own theory

as to why cultural evolution occurs. He disagrees with Morgans theory and even

states that it is a contradictory mixture of determinism and free-will (Service 399).

Service takes the view that there is not one way to determine how a society will

evolve culturally. He does agree that there are influences that all societies have

which leads to evolution, yet unlike Morgan he doesnt believe that all societies

progress in the same linear pattern.

Service argues that a mentalistic view is plaguing the truth behind cultural

evolution. He argues that it is beguiling because of its progress even with a total

lack of fruitfulness (Service 400). He believes that the views of these anthropologists

are just mere guesses that will forever go unproved. Since the mental factors

cannot be observed, there is absolutely no way to add factual support to the

mentalistic assertion and this means, of course, that it is a metaphysical and not a

scientific proposition (Service 400).

Service closes his argument with there is no single magical formula that will

predict the evolution of every society (Service 406). The evolution of culture for

each individual society is adaptive and that society evolves based on the natural and
human competitive environment (Service 406). This argument completely

contradicts that of Morgans pre-determined theory. So what is the right explanation

of cultural anthropology? Is it random based on individual societies? Or is it a pre-

determined path that every society will walk down?