Sick Societies

Sick Societies is a scholarly work by anthropologist Robert Edgerton, published in 1992. It has become controversial among some anthropologists for its deconstruction of cultural relativism. In Sick Societies, Edgerton questions the belief that cultures are naturally "adaptive", pointing out instances of violence, misogyny, and social malaise in pre-colonial indigenous societies. He intended the book as an attack on the "myth of primal harmony", and the idea of the noble savage in general; instead, he postulates, all human societies have been imperfect, and many have been quite inefficient at maximizing happiness and even health and strength among their members.

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