Note 518 — Chapter VI · [168] DISCUSSION OF KINSHIP

This definition may appear a commonplace and a truism, a mere formulation of what is obvious to every one at first sight. But it is liable to this objection only when taken formally, i. e. when only its form is considered, because it contains in the words parental group (individual family) the substance of all that has been said in the preceding pages about this social unit; and the other terms of the definition (collective ideas and collective feelings) will be determined more in detail in the following discussion.