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"Lastly, there are the Idols which have misguided into men's souls from the dogmas of the philosophers and misguided laws of demonstration as well; I call these Idols of the Theatre, for in my eyes the philosophies received and discovered are so many stories made up and acted out stories which have created sham worlds worth of the stage." (Aphorism 44.) These idols manifest themselves in the unwise acceptance of certain philosophical dogmas, namely Aristotle's sophistical natural philosophy (named specifically in Aphorism 63) which was corrupted by his passion for logic, and Plato's superstitious philosophy, which relied too heavily on theological principles. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
After enumerating the shortcomings of the current and past natural philosophies, Bacon can now present his own philosophy and methods. Bacon retains the Aristotelian causes, but redefines them in interesting ways. While traditionally the final cause was held as most important among the four (material, formal, efficient, and final), Bacon claims that it is the least helpful and in some cases actually detrimental to the sciences (aph. 2). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
For Bacon, it is the formal cause which is both the most illusive and most valuable, although each of the causes provides certain practical devices. By forms and formal causes, Bacon means the universal laws of nature. To these Bacon attaches an almost occult like power: But he who knows forms grasps the unity of nature beneath the surface of materials which are very unlike. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
Thus is he able to identify and bring about things that have never been done before, things of the kind which neither the vicissitudes of nature, nor hard experimenting, nor pure accident could ever have actualised, or human thought dreamed of. And thus from the discovery of the forms flows true speculation and unrestricted operation (aphorism 3) In this second book, Bacon offers an example of the process that of what he calls true induction. In this example, Bacon attempts to grasp the form of heat. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
The first step he takes is the surveying of all known instances where the nature of heat appears to exist. To this compilation of observational data Bacon gives the name Table of Essence and Presence. The next table, the Table of Absence in Proximity, is essentially the opposite—a compilation of all the instances in which the nature of heat is not present. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
Because these are so numerous, Bacon enumerates only the most relevant cases. Lastly, Bacon attempts to categorise the instances of the nature of heat into various degrees of intensity in his Table of Degrees. The aim of this final table is to eliminate certain instances of heat which might be said to be the form of heat, and thus get closer to an approximation of the true form of heat. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
Such elimination occurs through comparison. For example, the observation that both a fire and boiling water are instances of heat allows us to exclude light as the true form of heat, because light is present in the case of the fire but not in the case of the boiling water. Through this comparative analysis, Bacon intends to eventually extrapolate the true form of heat, although it is clear that such a goal is only gradually approachable by degrees. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
Indeed, the hypothesis that is derived from this eliminative induction, which Bacon names The First Vintage, is only the starting point from which additional empirical evidence and experimental analysis can refine our conception of a formal cause. The "Baconian method" does not end at the First Vintage. Bacon described numerous classes of Instances with Special Powers, cases in which the phenomenon one is attempting to explain is particularly relevant. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
These instances, of which Bacon describes 27 in Novum Organum, aid and accelerate the process of induction. They are "labour-saving devices or shortcuts intended to accelerate or make more rigorous the search for forms by providing logical reinforcement to induction. "Aside from the First Vintage and the Instances with Special Powers, Bacon enumerates additional "aids to the intellect" which presumably are the next steps in his "method." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
In Aphorism 21 of Book II, Bacon lays out the subsequent series of steps in proper induction: including Supports to Induction, Rectification of Induction, Varying the Inquiry according to the Nature of the Subject, Natures with Special Powers, Ends of Inquiry, Bringing Things down to Practice, Preparatives to Inquiry and Ascending and Descending Scale of Axioms. These additional aids, however, were never explained beyond their initial limited appearance in Novum Organum. It is likely that Bacon intended them to be included in later parts of Instauratio magna and simply never got to writing about them. As mentioned above, this second book of Novum organum was far from complete and indeed was only a small part of a massive, also unfinished work, the Instauratio magna. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
Bacon is often studied through a comparison to his contemporary René Descartes. Both thinkers were, in a sense, some of the first to question the philosophical authority of the ancient Greeks. Bacon and Descartes both believed that a critique of preexisting natural philosophy was necessary, but their respective critiques proposed radically different approaches to natural philosophy. Two over-lapping movements developed; "one was rational and theoretical in approach and was headed by Rene Descartes; the other was practical and empirical and was led by Francis Bacon." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
They were both profoundly concerned with the extent to which humans can come to knowledge, and yet their methods of doing so projected diverging paths. On the one hand, Descartes begins with a doubt of anything which cannot be known with absolute certainty and includes in this realm of doubt the impressions of sense perception, and thus, "all sciences of corporal things, such as physics and astronomy." He thus attempts to provide a metaphysical principle (this becomes the Cogito) which cannot be doubted, on which further truths must be deduced. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
In this method of deduction, the philosopher begins by examining the most general axioms (such as the Cogito), and then proceeds to determine the truth about particulars from an understanding of those general axioms. Conversely, Bacon endorsed the opposite method of Induction, in which the particulars are first examined, and only then is there a gradual ascent to the most general axioms. While Descartes doubts the ability of the senses to provide us with accurate information, Bacon doubts the ability of the mind to deduce truths by itself as it is subjected to so many intellectual obfuscations, Bacon's "Idols." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
In his first aphorism of New organum, Bacon states: "Man, the servant and interpreter of nature, does and understands only as much as he has observed, by fact or mental activity, concerning the order of nature; beyond that he has neither knowledge nor power." So, in a basic sense the central difference between the philosophical methods of Descartes and those of Bacon can be reduced to an argument between deductive and inductive reasoning and whether to trust or doubt the senses. However, there is another profound difference between the two thinkers' positions on the accessibility of Truth. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
Descartes professed to be aiming at absolute Truth. It is questionable whether Bacon believed such a Truth can be achieved. In his opening remarks, he proposes "to establish progressive stages of certainty." For Bacon, a measure of truth was its power to allow predictions of natural phenomena (although Bacon's forms come close to what we might call "Truth," because they are universal, immutable laws of nature). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
An interesting characteristic of Bacon's apparently scientific tract was that, although he amassed an overwhelming body of empirical data, he did not make any original discoveries. Indeed, that was never his intention, and such an evaluation of Bacon's legacy may wrongfully lead to an unjust comparison with Newton. Bacon never claimed to have brilliantly revealed new unshakable truths about nature—in fact, he believed that such an endeavour is not the work of single minds but that of whole generations by gradual degrees toward reliable knowledge. In many ways, Bacon's contribution to the advancement of human knowledge lies not in the fruit of his scientific research but in the reinterpretation of the methods of natural philosophy. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
His innovation is summarised in The Oxford Francis Bacon:Before Bacon where else does one find a meticulously articulated view of natural philosophy as an enterprise of instruments and experiment, and enterprise designed to restrain discursive reason and make good the defects of the senses? Where else in the literature before Bacon does one come across a stripped-down natural-historical programme of such enormous scope and scrupulous precision, and designed to serve as the basis for a complete reconstruction of human knowledge which would generate new, vastly productive sciences through a form of eliminative induction supported by various other procedures including deduction? Where else does one find a concept of scientific research which implies an institutional framework of such proportions that it required generations of permanent state funding to sustain it? And all this accompanied by a thorough, searching, and devastating attack on ancient and not-so-ancient philosophies, and by a provisional natural philosophy anticipating the results of the new philosophy?" | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novum_Organum |
Detailed anthropological and sociological studies have been made about customs of patrilineal inheritance, where only male children can inherit. Some cultures also employ matrilineal succession, where property can only pass along the female line, most commonly going to the sister's sons of the decedent; but also, in some societies, from the mother to her daughters. Some ancient societies and most modern states employ egalitarian inheritance, without discrimination based on gender and/or birth order. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The system of patrilineal primogeniture traditionally prevalent among most southern Bantu tribes is explained imarriage, African customary law distinguishes between "family rank" and "house rank". ... Family rank refers to the status of family members within the family group. In customary law, males held a higher rank than their female counterparts. A person's rank was ultimately determined by the principle of primogeniture. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
On the basis of that principle, oldest sons always had a higher rank than younger brothers and all sisters. That meant that females were always subjected to the authority of males and males alone were allowed to become family heads. In the extended family group however, the rank of a child was determined by the rank of their father within his family of origin. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
So, for example, if the father was the first born son in his family group that would mean that his children would hold a higher rank than any of the other children born of his siblings. ... House rank simply refers to the hierarchy of the various houses that constitute a family group. In a polygynous marriage, each marriage creates a separate family or household with the husband as the common spouse to all the families. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Each household or separate family has a particular rank. ... Amongst the indigenous African peoples, the wife married first is known as the "main wife" or the "great wife". The rank of the children born in a specific household is thus solely dependent upon the rank of their mother's house or house rank. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
In other words, the rank of the children born to the main or great wife (irrespective of age) will be higher than the rank of all the other children born to the ancillary wives. That means that the house rank of the main or great wife and her children will be higher than that of the other spouses and their children in the other houses." Although she says that this system prevailed among most African peoples, not only the southern Bantu, this is doubtful. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
This social structure prevalent among the southern Bantu even informed their religious beliefs The expansion of southern Bantu peoples, such as for example the Xhosa, is attributed to the fission of younger sons.Patrilineal primogeniture prevailed among the Xhosa ("each eldest son, upon the death of his father, inherits all the property appertaining to his mother's house"), the Pondo, the Tswana, the Ndebele, the Swazi, the Zulus, the Sotho, the Tsonga, the Venda and most other southern Bantu peoples; among them in general the first son was conceived of as superior to his siblings. As Hoernlé states, "Among the children a strict hierarchy prevails, based on the seniority which serves as a fundamental principle of behaviour in Bantu society. The elder brother always takes precedence between brothers, and so, too, between sisters the privilege of age is maintained. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Between brothers and sisters the sex differentiation often dominates the behaviour. Sisterhood and brotherhood most often overrule age differences, and there is a prescribed type of behaviour for a brother towards his sister and vice versa. Outside this intimate circle of the immediate family, the same principles of kinship and seniority hold sway. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The father forms one of a close-knit group with his brothers. The latter are everywhere grouped under a kinship term which we may translate "father"; and these "fathers" are distinguished as "great" or "little" fathers, according as they are older or younger than the child's own father". Van Warmelo writes, "Bantu social structure knows no equals, as with whole sibs, so with individuals. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The first-born of the same parents is always superior to those born after him, and this superiority is extended to his descendants, with varying consistency. "Isaac Schapera writes about the Southern Bantu in general in "The Bantu Speaking Tribes of South Africa": "Polygyny is practised; but, except in the case of Chiefs and other prominent or wealthy men, not to any marked extent. Among the Shangana-Tonga, Venda, and Tswana the first wife married is normally the great wife, the rest ranking as minor wives in order of marriage. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The Nguni, however, also give special rank to a second wife (the "right-hand wife"), and in some cases (e.g. Natal tribes) to a third wife (the "left-hand wife"). Any other wives are attached in a subordinate capacity to one or other of these principal houses. The Southern and Northern Sotho have adopted a somewhat similar system of domestic organization. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The great wife takes the lead in all domestic affairs and, as already mentioned, her eldest son is heir to the general household property and to the status of his father." He writes specifically about the Tswana: "When a married man dies, leaving a wife and children of both sexes, his eldest son becomes the principal heir even if there is an older daughter. If this son has been formally disowned by his father, he cannot after the latter's death claim the estate. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The rightful heir will be the oldest of the remaining sons. If the principal heir is dead, his eldest son will succeed to his rights, taking precedence over his father's younger brothers, along the lines already described in regard to the rules of succession." "The estate of a polygamist is similarly divided. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The eldest son in each house inherits all livestock assigned to that house. The eldest son of the great house further inherits such property as has not been assigned to any house". The only land that the Tswana use for agriculture are some fields that are assigned to each wife. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Regarding their rules of inheritance, "The general rule, in practice, seems to be that the fields are inherited by those children who have not yet obtained any of their own, the youngest child having the first claim. If provision has already been made for all the children, the eldest son inherits all the fields, but can, and usually does, distribute some of them among his younger brothers and sisters". "(There are) three separate classes, nobles, commoners, ... and immigrants, ... Within each class there are further distinctions. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Among nobles, the more closely a man is related to the chief, the higher does he rank. ... Among commoners ... the head of any group is senior to all his dependents, among whom his own relatives are of higher status than the others." "The children of paternal uncles are differentiated according to the relative status of their father. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
... If senior to one's father by birth, they are entitled to obedience and respect; if junior, their services can be freely commanded. The saying that a man's elder brother is his chief, and his younger brother his subject, summarises adequately the accepted relation. ..." "Seniority is determined firstly by priority of birth. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
An eldest son is always senior to the second, who in turn is senior to the third son and so on." (Schapera, 1994:53-54) Simon Roberts and Michael Palmer made a description of the Kgatla society, a sub-group of the Tswana people, in their book "Dispute Processes: ADR and the Primary Forms of Decision-Making", where they notice the conical (or pyramidal, as they say) shape of Tswana societies: "The link between the chief and the senior man in each ward is ideally a genealogical one, for the office of chief should devolve from father to eldest son, while the younger sons of each ruler go off to form their own wards, assuming administrative control of these new subdivisions of the main group. The Kgatla believe that their society was founded by Kgafela in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, and most of the forty-eight wards in the central village of Mochuli today are headed by men claiming descent from younger brothers of chiefs descended from Kgafela. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
... ward heads are senior members of the junior branches of the chief's lineage. This system of administration is reflected at ground level in the residential organization of the main village. At the centre is a group of homesteads occupied by men of the chief's immediate agnatic segment, and ranged around this are forty seven other groups of homesteads, each presided over by a ward head. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
... Within each ward ... the majority of the members again claim to be related in the male line to the headman. ... All the males claiming descent from a common grandfather tend to be grouped together, and within such a sub-group a minimal unit is made up of an adult married male, occupying a homestead with his wife (or wives) and children. ... Thus if the group is looked from the bottom up there is first the married male heading his own household, then the group consisting of his closest male agnates, then an aggregate of such groups forming a ward, and lastly the wards together forming the total society. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
... Kgatla society can thus be seen as an ever growing and deepening pyramid, the base of which is extended as more males are born and rear their own families; while in its simplest form the political and administrative organization is imposed on the lineage system like a cloak." The Zulus also practiced patrilineal primogeniture, allowing only minimal grants of land to younger sons. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
D.H. Reader writes in "Zulu Tribe in Transition: The Makhanya of southern Natal": "Within a given descent group, dominant or not in the sub-ward, the senior agnate will sometimes make known to his sons before he dies the land which he wishes them to have when they marry. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
If he has done so, it is the duty of the eldest son of the Great House (the general heir) to see that the others receive their allotted land when they marry after their father's death. Like the chief on a smaller scale, he holds the land in trust for them. ... In general, the chief will support a father during his lifetime in the matter of land apportionment, provided an adequate grant of land has been made to the eldest son and a minimal grant to any other sons. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
These grants naturally depend on the amount of land which the father has available, if any. If there is sufficient land, a minimal grant consists of a garden of at least half an acre, a big field of about two acres, and space to build upon; for under the present conditions of subsistence a man cannot live on less." In cases of polygamy, "The eldest son of the indlunkulu, to the exclusion of all others, succeeds to the property and status of the kraal head. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Should he be dead, his eldest son will succeed. Failing such eldest son and all male lineal descendants through him, the second son of the indlunkulu succeeds and failing him his male lineal descendants in due order of seniority. Failing a third and all other sons of the indlunkulu and all male lineal descendants there, the succession will devolve upon the eldest son of the house first affiliated to the indlunkulu. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Failing all heirs of this house the succession devolves upon the next affiliated house and so an according to the order of affiliation. Failing an heir in the indlunkulu or affiliated houses recourse will be had to the chief house on the Qadi side (second chief wife in a kraal, failing which, to the affiliate houses in order of their affiliation to the qadi house. Only in the event of a failure in all these houses will the succession devolve upon the eldest son of the chief khohlwa (wife of the left hand side or second in the order of marriage) in succession" (Krige, 1950: 180). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The eldest son of each wife inherited the property assigned to his mother's house. According to Comaroff, "a man's eldest son normally succeeds him as head of his household and to any political office that he may have held, and also inherits the great bulk of his cattle and such other property. The younger sons are likewise given a few cattle each. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The widow and daughters received no cattle at all" (Comaroff, 1953:42 ). Livestock was so important among the southern Bantu that a Zulu would sometimes compare the structure of his homestead with the body of a cow. Cook claims that a Zulu informant "drew with his finger an incomplete oval in the sand, which stood for the trunk of a cow. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Above, at the neck, he indicated the place of the homestead head. At breast height he indicated with his finger the uyise wabantu. At shoulder height, on the right side, he placed the heir, and on the right flank the junior right hand son. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The left hand and junior left hand sons were indicated on the left shoulder and flank. According to them the homestead thus presents itself, structurally, like a cow." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
(1940: 69; cf. Cook 1931: 26) Om Mntanga says about the Xhosa: "According to Xhosa traditional custom, when a man dies his eldest son usually inherits his social position as household head. He also inherits land rights, cattle and material possessions". Monica Hunter says about the Pondo: "From childhood there is a distinction between younger and elder brother. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
A younger brother is ordered about by his senior. After the death of the father the eldest brother, the heir, takes the place of the father, being responsible for the maintenance of the property and, if possible, of his younger brothers. They should give him their earnings, as they should their father. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
An elder brother is referred to as umkhuluwe, a younger as umninawe". It is said about the Venda:""Traditionally, all land is communal, under the trusteeship of the chief. However, every man has indisputable rights to the land he occupies and uses. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
His sons are entitled to the use of his land but may also ask the local headman to allocate fresh portions of land. Movable property—livestock, household utensils, and the proceeds of agriculture and trade—passes to the oldest son or, in the case of a polygynous marriage, the oldest son of the senior wife. This son becomes the undisputed head of the family unless he has disgraced himself in the eyes of the family, in which case the son next in line is appointed by the deceased's oldest sister with the consent of his brothers." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Among the Tsonga: "Women do not inherit. The eldest son of the principal wife inherits the bulk of kraal property such as cattle and ploughs. No two siblings have the same status". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
It is said about the Ndebele of Zimbabwe: "A husband will allocate land and livestock to his wives; the eldest son of the first wife is the principal heir and inherits this property". Among the Swazi, says Hilda Kuper in "The Swazi: A South African Kingdom": "The eldest son of each house is the heir to the property belonging to that house, and the heir to the general estate is the eldest son of the principal wife of the deceased. Often she is not pointed out as such until after her husband's death. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
the heir to the general estate of course is also special heir to the estate of his mother's house. These special estates become the general estates inherited by the next generation of heirs." Phakama Shili writes in "Social Inequalities: Inheritance Under Swazi Customary Law": "under Swazi customary law women are not considered to inherit the estates of their late husbands and fathers. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
In terms of Swazi customary law there is only one heir who succeeds to the whole estate of the deceased and such person is chosen by lusendvo. Where the deceased headman had one wife, his eldest son, in the absence of factors which may disqualify him becomes heir. This therefore means that his siblings will not inherit but only benefit from the estate through their brother. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
This preference of the eldest son over his siblings and mother goes against the dictates of the Constitution which provides for equal treatment and non-discrimination of women. If the deceased dies having married to two or more wives, the lusendvo will choose the principal wife and the oldest son of that wife or house will become the main heir".Customs of male primogeniture also prevailed among the Sotho. Among the Sotho, "The heir under custom is the first male person born of that family. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
He takes over the administration of the estate upon death of the head of the family. This is provided for under Article 11 of the Laws of Lerotholi. The heir under custom should inherit (assuming use of the land after death of his father) the land together with obligations attached to that land." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Adam Kuper says about all the Sotho peoples: "The basic principle is that siblings of the same sex are regarded as similar, but are ranked; while siblings of opposite sex are different and equal. ... A polygynist's first wife is normally the senior wife, and her eldest son is generally the heir. "Precedence within clans and tribes based on patrilineal primogeniture was also common among the Khoi and the Damara. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The Hausa didn't have the conical clan as their system of social organization (in Africa, this system predominated mostly among southern African peoples), but had a complex system of hereditary social stratification as well. The following excerpt is from Frank A. Salamone's "The Hausa of Nigeria": "The Hausa tend to rank all specialties in a hierarchical and hereditary system. Inheritance is by primogeniture. The Hausa prize wealth and use it to form patronage links. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
However, wealth also brings with it the burden of great responsibilities. The patron-client relationship binds all Hausa men to some extent. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The Maguzawa are organized into small villages of exogamous patrilineal kin. Conversely, Muslim Hausa local organization is somewhat more complex. The compound, his wife or wives, and their children is the smallest social unit. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Other family members, clients, and their families may also inhabit the compound. Therefore, patrilocal extended families or joint fraternal families often inhabit a compound. The mai-gida, or male head of the family, rules the compound. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The compound forms a joint agricultural unit. Occupational specialties, however, are at the discretion of the individual. As Muslims, each Hausa male may have four wives and as many concubines as he can support. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
... In conformity with the Muslim Hausa principle of hierarchy, wives are ranked in the order of their marriages. The Hausa prefer cousin marriage on either side, although patrilateral parallel cousin marriage in the Fulani style has greater prestige than any other form of marriage. ... The Hausa pride themselves on being a "civilized" people with strong urban roots. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
They display a genius for organization. Their wards have a village organization, which is under the leadership of the village head. Formerly, there would be a titled official in the capital who held clusters of villages in fief. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The emir would be the overall ruler of the particular state, which consisted of a number of clusters of villages. British rule which was consolidated about the beginning of the Twentieth century changed the system in a number of ways, providing greater power to emirs and local Muslim officials." Eleanor C. Swanson and Robert O. Lagace write: "Muslim Hausa social organization is characterized by a complex system of stratification, based on occupation, wealth, birth, and patron-client ties. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Occupational specialties are ranked and tend to be hereditary, to the extent that the first son is expected to follow his father's occupation. Wealth gives its possessor a certain amount of prestige and power, especially in forming ties of patronage. One's status is also determined by the status of one's family. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Finally, all Hausa men are caught up in a network of patron-client ties that permeates the society. Patron-client ties are used as means of access to favors and power". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
M.G. Smith also discussed thoroughly the Hausa system of social status in his work "The Hausa system of social status." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
In that article it is explained that wives are ranked according to their order of marriage: the first-married wife is the uwar gida or highest-ranking wife; she is most respected and has greatest authority over other wives. The lowest-ranking wife is the last-married wife or amariya and is the least respected wife and the one with least authority. Kent M. Elbow described the socioeconomic system of Hausa farm villages extensively in 1994. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
He wrote about the Gandu: "Gandu refers to the set of relations that collectively define the basic production unit in traditional Hausaland. Most often these relations express themselves among the members of the gida, the basic household unit of rural Hausaland. The gida corresponds roughly to the common understanding of the extended family. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Thus the nucleus of a gandu is an extended family, but accounts such as the classic Baba of Karo (M. Smith 1954) make it clear that the nineteenth century gandu also included slaves and descendants of slaves. Sutter's (1982) review of the literature points out that some writers stress the gandu's importance as a hedge against famine and food insecurity, while other writers emphasize its role as a defense against the slave-raiding parties prevalent during the pre-colonial era—and especially menacing in the nineteenth century under the Sokoto caliphate. Ega (1980) suggests that the traditional gandu probably consisted mostly of slaves, but stresses that the gandu was a work unit in which the owner and the slaves had mutual obligations. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The owner had the right to a certain number of hours of labor from his slaves each day, and in return he was expected to provide them with land and the time to cultivate it. The slaves had full rights over the product of their "private" plots. It is thought that the elaborate and detailed mutual rights and duties between the gandu head and his younger brothers and sons—such as those enumerated by Hill (1970)—have evolved from the traditional mutual duties characteristic of master/slave relationships in the nineteenth century. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
For example, in most gandu arrangements the father assumes the responsibility of paying the taxes charged to his sons and may even be obligated to pay his sons' brideprice". "The gandu system dictates that holdings are inherited in their entirety by the eldest son who will assume the role as gandu head", also wrote Kent M. Elbow. He argued that the gandu system had been on the decline for many years, and most scholars agree with this opinion. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
However, Poly Hill, researching a Hausa village in 1973, found that eldest sons or elder sons were still favored over younger sons in matters of land inheritance at that time. This greater transfer of property occurred during the father's lifetime: "But although many of the sons of rich farmers may be badly situated following their father's death, there are some who will be exceptionally well placed. As under systems of primogeniture, it may be that one son (or perhaps two or more) is effectively the father's heir and successor, while his brothers are not. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
This is not because of any blatant inequality in the division of physical property at the time of his father's death, but because a man's eldest son (or elder sons) may have had special opportunities ... of establishing a secure position in life, while under his father". Eric J. Arnould described the social organization of Hausa farm villages as follows in "Marketing and Social Reproduction in Zinder, Niger Republic": "Each hausa farm village was built up around a core family group (dengi) composed of agnatic kinfolk. The fundamental unit of residence, production, distribution, transmission, and reproduction was the gida. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
At a mature stage of the domestic cycle the gida was a patrilocal multiple family household of at least two generations depth and comprising the conjugal family units (iyali) of the household head (mai gida) and his married sons and their children. Some wealthier gida contained farm slaves. The gida was essentially a family farming unit (FFU) distinguished from other FFU by usufructory rights of tenure to dune (jigawa) and marsh (fadama) lands, control of its own granary, and disposition of the labor power of its active members. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The household hhead (mai gida) partitioned the household land into gandu (collective) and gamana (individual) parcels. Men worked together on the gandu five days a week. The mai gida held the fruits of gandu production in trust and was obliged to feed, clothe, and pay taxes and ceremonial expenses of his household from the gandu produce during the agricultural season. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
With the help of the extended agnatic kin group the mai gida ensured that his sons and daughters would marry. Individual and junior iyali fed themselves during the dry season from the fruits of the gandu produce during the agricultural season. With the help of the exntended agnatic kin group the mai gida ensured tha his sons and daughters would marry. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Individuals and junior iyali fed themselves during the dry season from the fruits of the gamana and, in addition, used gamana produce to participate in ceremonial events and exchanges (baptisms, marriages, funerals). Gandu produce could never be sold; gamana produce could be, but the bulk of production took place on gandu plots. On the death of the mai gida the inheriting sons did not immediately divide the land and slaves but continued to work together, the eldest brother assuming the role of mai gida. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
At this stage of the developmental cycle the gida became a frereche. As the families of the brothers grew, they divided the patrimony. Usually junior brothers were compelled to clear new bush lands". The British thought that the Hausa Law of Primogeniture was bad because it encouraged usury and mortgage. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
A system of ranking and patrilineal primogeniture similar to that of many southern African peoples seems to have traditionally prevailed among the Nilotic peoples of South Sudan with regards to land (the eldest son of the first wife was the heir of his father's land, residential and arable, and the land of each house was inherited by the heir of that house, i.e., the eldest son of the head wife in the house). Thus a similar lineage system prevailed among some Nilotic peoples like the Lugbara or the Dinka.However, it should be kept in mind that the system of social organization characteristic of most East African peoples was the segmentary lineage organization as described by Evans Pritchard's famous work on the Nuer. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Sahlins considered the conical clan typical of some central African Bantu lineage organizations. He didn't elaborate further on this point. According to him, "Called conical clan by Kirchoff, at one time ramage by Firth and status lineage by Goldman, the Polynesian ranked lineage is the same in principle as the so-called obok system widely distributed in Central Asia, and it is at least analogous to the Scottish clan, the Chinese clan, certain Central African Bantu lineage systems, the house-groups of Northwest Coast Indians, perhaps even the "tribes" of the Israelites". Éric de Dampierre found this type of social organization to be prevalent among the Azande. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
He discussed this in his work "Sons aînés, sons cadets: les sanza d'Ebézagui", where he explained that among the Azande elder sons and their lines of descent were ranked higher than younger sons and their lines of descent. Male primogeniture, a typical feature of a social structure of this type, also prevailed among many Cameroonian peoples (such as for example the Masa), eastern and northern Congo peoples (such as the Ngala), and the Gbaya and the Mossi, all this according to the Ethnographic Atlas. However, in Angola, Gabon and most of the rest of Congo, lateral rather than lineal succession was the rule, and most Chadian peoples commonly divided land and livestock equally between all sons. Patrilineal primogeniture also prevailed among the Songye and the Buduma, according to the Ethnographic Atlas. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
In traditional Austronesian societies (roughly those of modern-day Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, East Timor, Brunei, Madagascar and Oceania), seniority of birth and of descent generally determined rank, often leading to the fission of those lowest in rank (younger sons from younger branches), a fact often cited by anthropologists as the cause of Austronesian expansion throughout Southeast Asia, Oceania and even the Indian Ocean -Madagascar, Mauritius-. Other terms have also been used to describe this type of social organization, such as "status lineage" (Goldman) "apical demotion" (Fox) or "ramage" (Firth). Sahlins also created the concept of the "Big Man", a type of man in Melanesian societies who becomes a leader not due to his fraternal birth order as in Polynesian societies, but to his ability and charisma. Melanesian societies could either be dominated by the conical clan as Polynesian societies or by an egalitarian system of social organization as most Papuan societies (though even some Papuan societies were characterized by a predominance of patrilineal primogeniture, like for example the society of Goodenough island). In Micronesia, the system was matrilineal and brothers succeeded each other in order of seniority; when the line of brothers was extinguished, the eldest son of the eldest sister succeeded, and so on in each successive generation. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The social system of Polynesians was similar to that of the southern Bantu. As Sahlins writes, "The mode of succession is primogeniture; the eldest son succeeds to the position of his father. ... Not only is he differentiated from his younger brothers, but so also is every brother differentiated from every other, in accordance with their respective order of birth and the consequent prospects of succeeding to the position of their father. ... The seniority principle in the family is a microcosm of the ramified social system. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
... As a consequence of seniority, the descendants of an older brother rank higher than the descendants of a younger brother. ... Every individual within this group of descendants of a common ancestor holds a differing status, one precisely in proportion to his distance from the senior line of descent in the group. ... People descendent from remote collaterals of the common ancestor are lower in rank than those descendent from a more immediate relative of the chiefly line. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
People with the lowest status are those who have descended from younger brothers through younger brothers ad infinitum. The process of primogenitural succession and its consequent implication of seniority result in a ranking structure which encompasses the entire society. ... In every ramified society one can recognise groups of statuses or status levels which are functionally significant in terms of differential socio-economic prerogatives. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
These different levels are normally present in all the larger ramages." These principles of seniority of descent structured and organized traditional Maori society, for example. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Bernard Willard Aginsky and Te Rangi Hiroa write in "Interacting forces in the Maori family": "Primogeniture is well established as the method of passing wealth, honor, titles, and other prerogatives from generation to generation. The Maori desire to have their first-born be male. The desire is especially acute in chiefly families. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
If the first-born is a male, he is considered an especially "big man" and the people rejoice because "a chief is born." If a daughter is born first, it is a case of "bad luck," but it does not affect the right of the first-born male to primogeniture. He succeeds to his father's position in the normal course of events. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
But the sister is senior and all her descendants will, in each generation, be senior to her brother's descendants. The family and the people do not like this to happen. The man and his sons and daughters have to pay more deference to her and her sons and daughters than otherwise, because she is "senior." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
Thus a man would have to pay respect to a female when the desire was for the established pattern which was the opposite. The same holds true for families not of chiefly blood. ... This came about in the Maori culture due to the fact that the elder brother takes precedence over his siblings on the basis of precedence of birth which carried with it many prerogatives. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
There are times when a particularly brilliant younger male is placed in the position of the "first-born" by the father due to his superior abilities. This depends upon the first-born not being at all outstanding, in fact, being of decidedly inferior quality. Although this occurs, it is not the pattern for the younger males of a fraternity to try to compete for the position. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
In the vast majority of cases, the eldest male is recognized as being the male who will succeed and does succeed to the father's position. ... The most important distinction which was made between all individuals was whether they were junior or senior to each other. This was determined by tracing their lineage back to the time when they both had the same male ancestor. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
The children of this ancestor became the real point at which the distinction began. If "my" ancestor was a younger brother or sister of ((your" ancestor, then "I" would be of the junior lineage and ((you" would be of the senior lineage. The male lineages were the important ones in the society, but at the same time the female lineages had to be reckoned with. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
... The first-born, being of the highest rank and power, caused the people to want a male to be the first-born. The Maori are patrilocal and patrilineal and if a female was the first-born, in the vast majority of cases she took that prestige to her husband's tribe when she married. She automatically passed it on to his children. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
In this way, the female was taking away from the tribe what rightfully belonged to them and was giving it to another tribe which was a potential enemy. Thus the children of a female became the members of another group. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
In many cases hard feelings, antagonisms and even war sprang up between these two groups. Then these children, the male children of your own females, became enemies in policy and oftentimes in fact. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
... The Maori have evaded that possibility to some extent by tracing their main genealogy through the first-born males only. Thus, theoretically, there is only one line in each family which is counted, first-born males of the first-born males. This is the sociological tree of the Maori, not the biological tree. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_of_social_stratification |
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