Evolutionary Stages, Progress, and the Evaluation of Cultures

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Abstract
These are shown to be realistic and scientifically valid concepts in spite of their theoretical condemnation (as too subjective except in material culture) by functional lists, especially the Boas school. Cultural evolution assumes that traits do not exist unrelated but are organized into forms or patterns which undergo change in the course of time. Stages are the succession of significant forms in the developmental process, expressed not only in the sense of more recent forms but also in terms of higher and better by objective indexes: amt. of food and goods produced per unit of human labor; infant mortality; life expectancy; and especially amt. of energy harnessed per capita per year. The goal[long dash]security and survival[long dash]is also objective. Very few Boasians have lived up to their denial on principle of such ideas.

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