Transcript Introduction to Anthropology

Introduction to
Anthropology
What Is Anthropology?
 Generally recognized as the study of
man/humans incredibly wide-ranging
 Only about 150 years old as a field
 Relatively few are acquainted with it, except
for four major figures: Mead, Leakeys,
Benedict, others
 Linked to the idea of culture
 Pop definitions of culture are pervasive, but
anthropology definition is more inclusive
Tasks of Anthropology
 Description
 Most anthropologists
(ethnography)
 Comparison (ethnology)
 Explanation:
accept that there are
some basic human
natural behaviors—a
hard wiring—but that
these are overlain by
cultural behaviors
 Task of anthropology
are the same as any
science, but also deals
with human values

Leads to questions of
what is or is not natural
among humans?
Four Subfields of Anthropology
 Anthropological Linguistics
 Archaeology
 Cultural Anthropology
 Physical or biological anthropology
Anthropological Linguistics
 Language as a foundation for culture
 What you can tell about a culture by use of
language
 Variations of symbolic communication

Body language
Archaeology
 Studies the evolution/change/development of
human culture through time
 Problems of time
 Problems of preservation
 Problems of ethnographic analogy
Cultural Anthropology
 Examines living cultures and all their variety
Physical or Biological Anthropology
 Looks at the biological underpinnings of
culture
 Holistic perspective is key
Why Study Anthropology?
 Humans are just plain interesting
 Dangers: using the practices of another
culture to justify your own cultural practices
(Ethnocentrism & Cultural relativism)
 Humanistic reasons
 If we know what others do and why, we will be
less likely to rush to judgment about them
 Scientific reasons
 If you can predict how culture works, then you
can change it to make the world better