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French anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss died last week at age 100. Mr. Levi-Strauss, a central figure in the structuralist school of thought, changed the way we understand civilization.

Until the 20th century, people generally believed that there were “savage” people and there were “civilized” people and the two societies were essentially distinct. Mr. Levi-Strauss showed that there was no fundamental difference between the belief systems of “primitive” races and those of modern societies. In fact, basic structures of myth and thought guide all of us.

“Our sciences first became isolated in order to become deeper, but at a certain depth, they succeed in joining each other. Thus, little by little, in an objective area, the old philosophical hypothesis…of the universal existence of a human nature is borne out.”

Claude Lévi-Strauss, 100, Dies; Altered Western Views of the ‘Primitive’ [New York Times]
Claude Lévi-Strauss: The View From Afar [UNESCO]