Anthropology Relation with Other Social Sciences - 2821 Words

Anthropology (from the Greek word á ¼â€žÃŽ ½ÃŽ ¸Ã Ãâ€°Ãâ‚¬ÃŽ ¿Ãâ€š, human or person) consists of the study of humanity (see genus Homo). The discipline is a holistic study, concerned with all humans, at all times, in all humanitys dimensions. Anthropology is traditionally distinguished from other disciplines by its emphasis on cultural relativity, in-depth examination of context, and cross-cultural comparisons. Anthropology is methodologically diverse, using both qualitative and quantitative methods, such as firsthand case studies of living cultures, careful excavations of material remains, and interpretations of both living and extinct linguistic practices. In North America and other Western cultures, anthropology is traditionally broken down into four main†¦show more content†¦Anthropology grew increasingly distinct from natural history, and by the end of the nineteenth century, it had begun to crystallize into its modern form. By 1935, for example, it was possible for T. K. Penniman to write a history of the discipline entitled A Hundred Years of Anthropology. Early anthropology was dominated by proponents of unilinealism, who argued that all societies passed through a single evolutionary process, from the most primitive to the most advanced. Non-European societies were thus seen as evolutionary living fossils, which could be studied in order to understand the European past. Sch olars wrote histories of prehistoric migrations that were sometimes valuable, but often also fanciful. It was during this time that Europeans, such as Paul Rivet, first accurately traced Polynesian migrations across the Pacific Ocean—though some of them believed those emigrations had originated in Egypt. Finally, concepts of race were developed with a view to better understand the nature of the biological variation within the human species, and tools such as anthropometry were devised as a means of measuring and categorizing this variation, not just within the genus Homo, but in fossil hominids and primates as well. Unfortunately, racialist concepts were abused by a few and gave rise to theories of scientific racism, which died out by the middleShow MoreRelatedThe Origins Of Structural Anthropology1030 Words   |  5 Pages2015 Claude Levi Strauss THE ORIGINS OF STRUCTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Structural analysis, at its core, is an attempt to comprehend things beyond the system of human understanding. It’s meant to be an objective, purely scientific approach untarnished by human cultural and social systems. Claude Là ©vi-Strauss saw this pure science being applied in linguistics, among the social sciences, and applied its objective principles and methods to anthropology. Structural linguistics is a method of analyzing languagesRead MoreClaude Levi Strauss s Structuralism And Structural Anthropology893 Words   |  4 PagesClaude Là ©vi-Strauss a well-known French anthropologist and ethnologist whom was known for his structuralism and structural anthropology. He was also known as the â€Å"father of modern anthropology.† Là ©vi-Strauss was born November 28, 1908 in Brussels, Belgium. On October 31, 2009 in Paris, he died at the age of 100. Coming from a Jewish family, his father was Raymond and mother was Emma Là ©vi-Strauss. Most of his childhood years he lived in Paris, where his father became a portrait painter that eventuallyRead MoreEssay on Cultural Materialism623 Words   |  3 Pagesthese children theories that resulted from a coming together of social evolutionary theory, cultural ecology and Marxist materialism (Barfield). The goal of cultural materialism is to explain politics, economics, ideology and symbolic aspects of a culture with relation to the needs of that society. From a cultural materialist point of view society is indisputably shaped by the factors of production and reproduction. From this all other facets of society, such as government and religion, must be beneficialRead MoreEssay on Sociology and Social Sciences1144 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿The Social Sciences Complete and submit this assignment by the due date to receive full credit. (7 points) 1. Rank the seven social sciences (anthropology, economics, geography, history, political science, psychology, and sociology) according to what you believe is their importance and influence on the people in a modern society. Answer: 1.Psychology (How humans think influences most, if not all of the social sciences.)   2.Sociology (This helps figure out how society thinks. If you understandRead MoreThe Anthropology Of Cultural Anthropology1370 Words   |  6 Pagescultural anthropology, which seeks to understand the purpose and place of the humans in this world. It will include anthropology as a social science, the concept of culture, and it would also introduction the human evolution and to archaeology, ethnographic field methods. The importance of human language, human development, patterns, global economy, marriage and the family, gender issues, global politics and local political organization, social stratification, medical anthropology, ethnicityRead MoreAnthropology Is The Study Of Humanity1576 Words   |  7 PagesAnthropology is the study of humanity. Being an anthropologist is not just about digging up artifacts and studying other people. It becomes more when one takes that information and puts it to good use. However, how this knowledge is used is be up to the anthropologist and results in the occupation being very broad with many different opportunities. During my research, I discovered the basics about the career, how students can prepare for it, the advantages, and the disadvantages of being an anthropologistRead MoreEvolution of the Hominids1290 Words   |  5 Pagessolving, and culture through social learning. Human uses tools to a much higher degree of complexity than any other animal, and are the only known species to build fires and cook their food, as well as using cloths and also creating numerous other technologies and arts. Humans are also uniquely adept in utilizing systems of symbolic communication, such as language and art which they used for self-expression, exchanging ideas, and organization. Humans create many complex social structures which composedRead More Development of Anthropology as a Discipline in the United States1580 Words   |  7 PagesDevelopment of Anthropology as a Discipline in the United States I. Early History of Anthropology in the United States 1870-1900 â€Å"The roots of anthropology lie in the eye-witness accounts of travelers who have journeyed to lands on the margins of state-based societies and described their cultures and in the efforts of individuals who have analyzed the information collected. In the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, a number of anthropologists recognized that the practice of anthropology was intimatelyRead MoreThe Between Mccutcheon, Marx, And Nietzsche s Theories On Religion921 Words   |  4 Pagesurges terms like â€Å"religion† and â€Å"religious† should not be used by scholars when referring to the study of religion. McCutcheon even suggests these words should be abandoned and removed from our vocabulary all together. He claims studying social sciences like anthropology, sociology, and psychology and using appropriate terminology will lead to a more accurate understanding of why we as humans are religious and how our religion ultimately affects our behaviors. Feuerbach, Marx, and Nietzsche all suspectRead MoreIntro to Sociology1167 Words   |  5 Pagestest hypothesis like pink Floyd, Another Brick in the Wall (No M/C, small essays). What is a Social Science? Empirical, Systematic, Conceptual. There are other realms that people think like how people believe what a society is; i.e religion, theology - tests ethics of morality. Philosophy tries to derive truths about social relationships by deducing premises as opposed to social science. Empirical means evidence is based on experience, instead of having holy text, insight, contemplation