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    Dan Sperber - Explaining Culture - A Naturalistic Approach-Wiley-Blackwell (1996)

    Uploaded by

    Ayia Wolf

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Explaining Culture A Naturalistic Approach Dan Sperber O tise copyright© Dan Speer 996 ‘Thesigh of Dan Sperber be enfin be sss in codec ith Copii esp in Paes Aa 48 pubs 196 Repel 998 999 “teed ig pa 02 Bical Plate 108 Cone ond Oxo OXE HF, UK Bil Fable ne 350Main Sex en, Masses 2165, USA Alright reseed. xcepfrBe anton of th ps forte prone fet net ef ain ey bree tee te Sverre en orm rb any mean eee techanal, peeping eae terse eine ros mre ‘ie per xe the Uni State of i hook sl eth oie "hl a yaya ede eerie, ee rR ou ete ceed out te ebb pi cnet hay orn of Bodog ‘cover ter tan an plies a oa ents ‘eligi canton big ingore on fe bem: poche sh Lrary Casing in aban Dats | ciPcalope recon for isto sable ome Bah iy Lier of Congr Cte i Paton Dats ‘Speer Dan Expaing cre rie speach Dex Spe {edad bibiogapie recence an ines SBN estamos ata ps) Loar Coote port 2 Soles Lees 1 pie decree by tena aon neo ee sn Grn Mac Uy Rom Toernal Oxod Contents Prefice “ Introd 1 1 How tobe 2 Trae Maer in Amtcopology 9 2 lncerpreding and Explaining Calesrl Represemacons 32 3 AAthropeogy and Paychology: Toward =n Epidemiology of Reprewnatione 56 4 The Epidemiology of Beles 7 5 Selection and Atracuon in Css Evolution 98 {6 Menal Modality and Cultural Diversity 19 ‘Conclusion: What ia Sake? 1st Notes 156 References 0 Index 169 Preface A specu hanes the soci zens, the pete of naval cence ofthe soca Some wat for the ay ta the spec wl make ac town, and wil a lat make the soc scenes cul sen then denounce the heat of enti dao, Some ay they pe forthe spect. Othen nyu atone, Hes hae thnk im ke os pets, thee aes cd nino. A ature [Pogamme in the oc ener conceal ot kha Jett be {veloped In hs book, presen» agent of och programme Sansa proach to care “The ax ej collected inthis book teal) arguments for, and onubutons 1, an epienilogy of iepsenators: They wee cert tite sage in my Work over hep Sn yn Bt they were al in my minds pare of» single pjece Ao my On ‘Anheptial Kool (pesibed in Fens 1982, and Engl ia 985, sich wat mote on the ces I wanted conmbotepostvely to dhe wabioking of anthropology avocted boy Edmund Leach in his Simos inal Manowsks Memoral tae o 1950, "The Iecare on which she cape ate tid have bets. pee seated 10 4 vty of aiiencee nthroplogats arcaclopas, ‘holm in the humans, phlnophen, development pycele- {65a oc prycholog. The chptes do no presppoe3ny Speclzed competnes onthe prof ee, Cape f 2 ew Spon of to eer ns, and caper 9 eney new The far other chgten se bucd om peviouypublihed mace Coneied in telatomip fo one athe and writen py re | Pree wi these cher have been revised wo form a whole, They canbe read togetier on ifgpe pele, independety of each oe, since each ‘eenptltes the bse deus that ink it the projec asa whole “The bes part of my work, ding the past fieen years, ha Been done with Deidre Win, and ha been devoted co developing re ‘ance theory at theory of human communication and a2 gener Sppoach to many sue in cognition, My snd icaret i ont col [Bbonaive proert had to do with the rle communication plays in fue, One of my goal wil be to spell out the impliations of felevance theory for the epidemiology of represenations ‘Over the yes, many people have helped me wah thee advice cite, and encouragement, in pacar Danie Ander, Robert ‘Axckod, Mausce Bloch, Rads Boia, Francesco Cara, Pallp Carpents, Jean-Piee Changes, Berard Conn, Leda Coumides, Helena Cronin, Daniel Denne, Frank Diring,Jes-Pieme Dupuy, Catherine Eig, Hels Feldman, Alan Gibbstd, Marguet Gilbert Visorio Goto, Jick Goody, Giber Harman, Olle Jacob, Pere Jacob, Gérard Jolin, Jory Kate, Helen Lees, Rickard Nied, Gora Onge. Dorit Premack, Fangs Reins, Jenka Sperber Joho TTooky, Jean van Altea, Deidre Wilon, sn thee anony~ ‘ow reviewer The ideas developed here were is discussed with Scout Aman, Pat Boyer, and Lazy Hischeld: thir commens Inve always been partially hep and my work rates to hes in many obvious ways, Monique Catto Sperber as ha, i ll de sear the mo weleome iaiuence, not jst on my work, bus on my fit 1 shank you al. Introduction “The cent theme of this book is ute simple, Our individual trans are each inabied by nrge momber of sens hat determine ‘our behavioue. Thur my brani iaabited by among other) ides bout cuere that camed me to wre tis book Some ofthe bekav= jour of an individ ox some of the tices eft by chs behavious inthe environment are obierved by other. Here you te, eng this page which ea ence of my work: Observing behaviour Oi trees ives rie t ideas such as che ideas chat are at this ery moment coming f your ind. Someames, te iest cased by a behaviour eemble the idea shar have caused this behaviour. This willbe te cues raced in making msl understood. "Through material proce lke the one jum evoked an ide born inthe bain of one individ, may have inte bss of ther individual, descendants that esamble i. Ideas can be tasted, nd, by being wansmited om one pemon to another, hey m3) tren propagate, Some ideas ~ teipods belie, cooking eis, oF ‘iene hypotheses, for nsance ~ propagate so effectively tha, 9 ‘erent verion they may end up duly invading whole popcls~ ions. Culsre # made up, fire aod foremor, of sch eomtgious ‘dens. fe is made up aio of ll the productions (wating, artworks took, etc) the presence of which im the shared environment of 2 ‘human group pemits the propapason of ies. "To expan cult, then, tf expsin why and how some ideas happen to be contagious Ths eal forthe development of 2 eUe pies of mpreeitios "The word ‘epidemiology comes om the Gree edema which 2 Inteacton ‘meine Stay or aval in = county’. Ini most common sie, ep emi (well elated word) refered othe say oF si Of peo le, bri coulda refer to the ay or anal of thing sich sn, Aiseass, or even customs. Comparing the spread of dienes wich that of ideas a9 old commonplee and the word ‘contapon 0 frequen wed for mental ste chat the metaphorical character of this sage is barely recogiable anymore, Similarly, the wse of epi- Aemsology fora study of the dseibadon of mental sates in 3 pop Tason isa burly meaphosal extension ofthe tem “Though the word ‘epidemiclogy’ is long and mre, the Sea ic expres i ample and genera. Say you fave 2 popultion (r {reace, shurtan group) tnd sme feteing propery (or ance, being ben, having whste hair. or believing in witches) that the member ofthis population may or may aot have An epidemalog cal approach would consstin describing and explaining the diseibo- ‘son of this propery in thi popultion, Epidemiology is not resmced 10 contagious dese: dabete ot coneigour, beeing Im watches nota disease, and having white hair nether Epidemiology is eclectic in i we of explanatory model. Some model: ae borowed from population genetic, sme fom ecology, ‘ome from socal pryehology, and novel ones may be developed ‘he need aries. { have chosen the term ‘epidemiology precely ‘because ofthis general and ececocism. A naturalistic approach to culture reuies considering the ditebuton ofa varies of mental {nd envrenrentl phenomena, Forti dient cou odes re needed sillneouly All epdemioiogcal models, whatever their difrences, have in common the fect tha they exphin popultionscale macto- phenomena, such = epidemics he cumulative elect of mict>- proceses that bing sbout individual even, such 35 exching a d- fase In ts, epidemiologeal models contast sarily with ‘hoist’ txglaratioes im which macro-phenomens ae explained in Gams of| ther mace-phonomena ~ fr inmanee, sein in terme of tome sracat (or convene ‘While the idea of cules cootgion i ancient, the fine sous acempt ata sientic culeal epidemiology probably tobe found in the work of the French wocologie Gre Tarde (se Ler Late Fimiton, 1890), Though he sue karly wied the epiderisogy— Iron 3 ‘liom, be insted that cure ~ and ined soci ie in genera Shad to be expained athe cumulative lest of coun proceses ‘finer individual waneson through imation. ‘More recently, 2 number of auton — i parécuar Donat Campbel! (979, Richard Dawhine (1976, 1982), Califor Gand Feldman (1981), Lumen and Wikon (1981), Boyd and Richenon (1985), and Willa Dasham (1991) ~ have adapted the Darwinian model of election to the ee of elute, These ate ep erilogil pprcaches eo named by Cavalli-Sforza and Feldman, merely desenbed a ‘evolstionay’ by other) Richard Dawkins hs popularized the idea eat cue ie made up of unis be cals Fpemewhich, like gene, undergo repition and selection. ‘These Darwinian approscher, which borow their models fom pop aiton genes, grant only Himited ole to prycholgy. Yet the tiro-mechanims that bring about che propagation of ideas are Inosty prycholgial and, more spetcl, cognitive mechanisms Cognitive paychology has ondergone unprecedented developmen in the put tree decades Ie hs recently beefed from a Darwinian pespeecve on the paychologal evoluon of the human specs feveloped independently of Darwinian approaches to calure at (Courier and Tooby 1987) I believe that cognitive psychology provides ove of the main sources of insight for explaining clue. ‘The approach to eure advocated bere both epidemiolopeal and cognise, nd, 3 wil be seen is more clely linked fo Darwinism ‘on the cognitive side than onthe epidemiological Se think of the epidemiology of representations ar 2 matric reveatch programas inthe well cencer The social sconces ste 2 Inge, loo allance of reach programmes with very diferent oaks They range ffom soro-ingutes vo wodd tale economic, fon lea history to ethne-prychatry, fom the tady of Vic wexs to thar of vowed? choices Many social sence programmes have Tegonl or hetoncl topics. Many ae dhven by paca concer Even singe field such = anthropology (on which ¥vel oct, includes esearch programe on topic ae dverse 2 nship seman ts and fining technology, the posmodern study of pos-clonii= fim, the cular sad of tlece, nutnconal sndropalogy, and the snthropalogy of consciousness. “Amos leach progeemes nthe socal seieces nit che libel ‘scence’, Fonly beau science i where research money goes. Torin that they ate not mal sciences, asf iene’ were 3 Wel deined abel, she champagne oF imlecual rode, i often jus 2 ‘devious way of denying ther reipecbiisy and resources. Though not all reich progammer are equaly worth encourging temps at baiting the cca scence in general ignore he Caley oftheir eas, the competences they have accumulate, ard the ol they payin democrat ie, Let socal cients use the lake! ‘cence’ ee. The intreting quesion i noe wether the socal ‘Since ate seonee, but whether they are continous with he nat ‘ol scenes (aug, a6, cat the mtr seiencs are roughly ‘continuous with one aothe) ‘Revere progrmmes in the socal sciences tend 19 exhibit a heabhy eclecticism in ther methodology, avaling themelver of whatever took may help. In percule, when it pas to vse methods onowed fom the mtu sciences, they generly do. But, ofen fnough,nicual science methodology is cumbersome and unelpfl ln the punie of roca-acientfic geek. Psjchologcl Imagination, ommensemse compretemion, and experience-based expertise ae ‘fen the mom efits rol, ‘Anyhow, the we of narra sience methods may be necessary, but nor sfcient to make» reach programme a ntunl-cien= ‘cone (a ilsaed by the eof economic very sien ethos, but tat all murals). What maters moses the goal 1A proorypied mitualarenaiie goal & to dicover some natal Inethanis that explains 2 wide tage of phenomena in 4 teable tranner, Few research programmes inthe soil slences have that ind of goal Thou that do and are rexonably sccessls ie a5 for inaance in demographic history ~ ae about some very specific supecs of the toil domin, Tam not aware of any maturabstie pro= (game efecsvely outing &caus-mechaninie approach wo soc ‘henomens in general Why i thee no natal scence of the socal to date? Fist, ‘becaitfew socl sient have ever cared sboor developing suck 2 ‘cience. Second nd mare imporandy, beaus che things the social tence are about ~ sich pols, aw, religion, money, and 2 {ko nin any obvious way into the seul wool How cou one go abou yng > social ching nt naar, in ‘ther word, natural” eer? Here, cognitive sence relevant more ways than one. A nature programme is ne thas eases fandamental coatiuites between is domain and that of one ot sever neighbouring nit scence, Prychologeal ences ae the foci scence closet neighbour, and some of then programmes — oughly thot Gling under che ‘cogiive science” Label ~ are nthe proces of bring more of lew sueceaily mtunkzed. Naeobng the socal domain would pressmably involve esablshing sme com ‘Snuty wth programmes in cogs scence. ‘The development of cognave scence has put in anew light she qeetion, “How do mena tungs fit at nacae?” While i hs not Yet been answered wo everybody stction, tis queion eat Toc Better endentood than thet ofthe place of socal ings in ‘ature Iehat been approached in ence main ways. The fist ot to rue the menal tthe newrlogl, the naa character of| ‘whichis oncontoveral. Accomding to reductionism, any desenp~ tion of: ment phenomenon in prycholopel terms ould be ani luted azo neurlogcl term. The second i to grant nals more Healy. could be muinained that every token of meal phe nomenon i+ neurological hence nator, phenomenon, even ii dexripuon by mens of psychological categories canoe be tan lated into neurclogieal extegories, "Thos we fave 2 kind of rial avr, withou eduction. The third way of macralizing the rental to vaomaplalize the wiole domain, an eliminate a com eps that do noe refer to natural ene. This generaly described Inthe same spn, chose ways of maturing the social domain come t mind. Each has fificulies, however. One mgt rece the saa he natal Are sol thing 8 we Know them reducible to oatral thing? True redscons ae yea scientific achievements In the social setence, howeves, reductonst is used 3s. 2 word of shui, aif eduction were 3 genne option, which he, foe some Tenor, t0 be freed. In fer, no trout reducon of social ‘eience concep or thease 9 natu scence ones has ever Been fugzeed let alone developed. Reduction, then, s+ posi in Dpancple~ alone because of the role has plyedin other sciences, Sn even moce in phlowphy of scence ~ but not mach ofa ra hope or testi the presen cae 6 Indutin (Or one mit grat nities moe erally, fe could be argued (alepuing idee of Puram and Fodor i the philosophy of mind) that every token of soc thing ia token ofa natu ting, even ifthe types. oF categorie, Of sociology are reducible to shove any osher sence. But how would ths hip folate the kind of fereriizon 2 mature socal sence should produce? ‘Generation ae perforce abst types not tokens. “The third posbity i to maonepuslize the scl dain e could be tha the way wee eave the socal domain mises ts naturales Iso, then coda’ sui scence concepts mst be replaced ~ a east, forthe purpoe of mauris reserc programme = by anew ka tery ef concept, The socal domain must be carved erent, in Such a way thr che etepois of sola things that we recogiae be ‘come deity nasal eategonis, Bus how weuld you do that? Ane Supposing, You knew how to reconceprutze ehe domain, how ‘would you fin the benef ofthe competence expresed by means of dhe ald, now eliminated, conceal scheme? Te thew are the only thre conceivable ways «0 oncralze che social domain, and if they ar ll beset by soch dificult, thy not, [Bre up the whole idea? Why shoulda the roc sienees keep to themselves? ‘Reduction seems to me impowibie, nd a more ben! granting of the erm nara, vacuo i he es f the social cences, st the cave of the cogmsive sciences is diferent ~ see chapter 1). 1 believe onthe other hand, thatthe epidemiologeal approach makes, 1 posible ~ and even necesary ~ 10 reconeepraize the socal domain, My propo i at modest & posible for such an inn tally ambitoss project The new concepral scheme bean, 3 wll be shown systematic elton to the andar one, and this lows ‘to dan extensively on past achievers inthe socialsciences ‘The goal ofthe nature programme tus out f be not a Grand ‘Theory phys ofthe socal word, a Auguste Comte imagined uta complon of intrecking, middle rnge modes Human sci fei jut one spect of the life of one animal species among milion, on 3 ite planet somewhere. tis the out ome ofthe improbable cosunction of eountes micelaneous f- ton. There po eeton to expect human sociale wo exhib the Simplicity and systematic found in physics or che Ox, 1 2 raion lever extent, oleae blog. Many natal riences — geography, climatology, epidemiology, for tutance ~ have tather mesy ‘omnains and n9 Grind Theory. Ths would be the case abo with = tural soci cence understood aan epemioiogy of repraents- CChaper 1, “How tobe a True Mats n Anthropology’ intro ddces the project of an epidemiology of reprsetasons fom a PPhlovphical pont of view. A natunlie programme inthe social fciences can be pursued, but ie reqesredking the very cate- {gore by means of which we approach the domain ‘Chapter, 2, ‘erpreing, and Exphining Colurl Rep- rexenntont’, truce the project fom a more socialacienaiic pine of view. I considers the etlerent types of undesanding {worth ning st in anthropology. Fecontats n parca, inerpre= tive and cauml explananens. Ie locates the epidemologial projet among other type of causal explazaion. CChipter 3, "Anthropology and Prychology: Towards an Epidemiology of Represensations, expands the gene] idea of an cpulemilogy of representations inrodaced in the two preceding Chapters, and ilrater ie Billy Ie was fist delivered as 2 Matinowski Memoral Lecture atthe London School of Economies in 1984 and ha offen ben refered to sce. Lave therefore made ‘only minor evons the orga tx. Chapter &) The Epidemiology of Bee, develops one of the theme ofthe preceding chapter and ilarmates how payhology and tntropology may be highly selevat vo one anorher both in Anewenng some oftheir especie ealtionl questions and in fr- Inula new somsmon quewions. fe drws on earer work of mine ‘on'apparendy iaonal eli” (ee Sperber T985b: ch 2) and ine [gate within an epderiologalpenpecave ‘While the cena Mes ofan epidemiology of representations is relively simple to explain, some of dhe min ier which this pproach shoul felpominate are Siely complex. The Ls two Chapters del with och sues, and ae even more ambitious than the ‘ut preceding ons, but ao bit more diel. ‘Chapter 5, Selection and. Atraction sn Calunl Evolution’, is about the diferent ways of modeling cul evotstion. eons 8 Ineton the seletonst model of cau evoliton defended by Richa ‘Dswhins and erhets with a more genera epdemiologieal model of| ‘eat stuacton’ in wich » gente ole is given pyshologcal mechanism “Chopeer 6, ‘Mestal Modsasisy and Calral Dives’, ake a is sartng-poit an ea suggezed long ago by Noam Chomsky (ovhom I echoed on thie point im Sperber 1968 and other eal wit- inp). The human mind. Chomsky argued, i bewer viewed not 26 fice al-purpoe inteligence, but ae 2 combination of many (vices tha ain part genetically programmed. These ‘modules (0 twe the term made popular by Jeny Fodoe) ae diferent specl~ {acd ee of bh the copive domaine they handle and che f3pe of information procening they perform. There isa tension however, between ths rater nase view of cognition and the recognition of human culo vest, which sages, he cone tery, shat she mind indefinitely malleable. One way of resolving the temon would be to deny, or downplay, the molanty of the trun. In th chapter I do jse the oppose: | argue foe masive moda. I hen try to show tat azong. genetaly determined. Cogiive predsposisons, nor only ae quite compatle wih the ‘ind of cultural verity we encounter, bu even comtbute ro the explanation ofthis divers 1 How to be a True Materialist in Anthropology ‘Whar king of thing re socal thing? (Lee me pause smmedaly I done believe tha thee is any ai ference between social and cata things, and I. don’ wane © repeat throughout the phe “socal-cla 30 1 essa co tnd I il ope fr oc, al fo ‘clara I all From hee on “ultra” mens “ocal-cltun. I retain he right, however, ccciionaly we “wei and “oca-ealtun’ im parca when pirphrasing other people views) "What kindof things ace curl thing? How do clr things Sx imu the worl and how do they rte to things oter sciences ae about? These ae photopic of, more peciey,ontlogial ‘goesion (ontology, n dhe cascal sense, the branch ofpioso- By tha eso anrwer the queson, Whaeis sere inthe wl {er aburct level). Ontlogeal questions have practic mplice tone for anthropological research, At stake in paral is dhe way ntropoloiss may, of mst, collaborate with other dsciplnes, and the extent ro which whit they have to sy may Stn 2 general and consent (hough, of cone, Egrenty) pute af the Woe This capes cae (vith vert) of to ene ice, hh ‘nul oC fo puniedRcB, Maca fo ey hag sla So 7 tr Tae ne Pam 88, [Sp rcont wil vd “Cal and Meer, cone tin |, Cowed G5 ele i Rama Ay einen eyo 0 How bea Tne Meal in Arahpegy “The maura sciences achieve hgh level of mara consistency and interaction in pat because they areal grounded inthe sme Imateale ontology. For modern materials." everything that has ‘Chal powers ower these owes exlisively tit physical proper~ tes This taken tobe equally ue of molecules, str, iver, bate fi, animal populations, eat and brains. Materialism does not imply reluctonsm, Te does not commit scientists who espouse ‘Erbing te objec of thee diiptine andthe causal process in ‘which these objects eater inthe vocabulary of physics, What does Commie them deenbing objects and process a manne sch that entiieg the physi properies iavoled is aimately a trncable polem, not an unichomable per (0 ase Noam ‘Choris famous dancton ~see Chomsky 1975), ‘Anthropology and Ontology The world ofthe social scence ~ and in paral that of anthro pology ~ ices, on the other hand, fee of any ontcogial con ose, Troe, antropologs occasionally express views about ‘ntaogy, bu these views do not general cary any methodologic) Commie. These ontological ews are of three Spek CWO CyPE tf msenas, on emgey, ee otbersel-contaiciory, ands l= ‘Sor pra view acording to which there isan autonomous cul~ ‘onl level oF aby. The thes of the ontological autonomy of culture i generally expresed os sens of dein: eutual fics ae not biologi they ae nor pycologe few: they are nota sum of individual fics, Br what hen, are they? How are they located in space and time? Wh cus laws do they obey? How do chey relate to other Tins offacs? There ate no well argued answers to these quesions. ‘The obvious ret of asuming shat there 2 fundamental dscons- rity between the Biologia or te mena onthe one side and che Culural on the oxer ito ile anthropology fom both biology ind pjchology, and to eect» poo mistaken any contbution “nd. even more any cam coming Gm outside. To achive this Subiou outcame, one nee! nt develop in any deal the idea of the ‘utonomy of eure poseasing it enough | | He to be Trae Mails Anbenplgy " Empey materialism const in eating eat, of come, eventhing materi including wehi-eataral things and in leaving ia hat. ‘Well and ine; but a long 8 you do not beg to elect about he Imateral exeence of these thing, 1 long ar you Beep invoking usenet eelaionships among them without even eying 0 imag ine what material proces mghe bang about there relonshis, you ae merely paying perce to materaliem. Vou may exe for {hat numberof mandard metaphor which evoke the materi chat acter of socia-ctrurl things the mechcial metaphor of sci fore’, the sronomical meuphor of ‘revolution’, the geologic rmeuphor of stasfieston’, and the many bilogeal mesphom of alr ie’ "eprodcton’, and 20 on. None of these metapon, however, ha ever been developed ino 2 matenalsecay place model, Such empty materialism helpr one evade accittons of Heals or of dais. But oderwise, i emains without eect on one's reach pace, Sel-conaadirory miterlsm ie 2 by-product of Undated Maras. fe ones of two clas the fst clam the sme a hat of empy materi: everything tha & inciting soca-calor phenotens, mutral, The scond echt che material ade of ee focal domain, rooghly ecology and economy, determine i non ‘mater de, oughly poles an culture. The coneadicion is la tune the second chim, which concass a materal and a on-materal oF less mater, oie side ofthe soil domain, i das. 1s ncompaubl, therefore, with mares inthe onto logic seve of he tem. IC material i sigh, shen everthing is ‘mater a eligion andar no lex than forces or celasomipr of production. rom tly mater pois of view, effets canet be Kesar tha ther ense, “These ae evo ways to avid the conradicson of eis Kind of mater. The fine const in giving up ortlogial materalism {nd in sdopring woe form of ool pluralism: there ae inthe tock world both materl and non-material thing At hpi, Imig be conceivable (but don’ atk me how) tat maze things ¢eserine non-material ones. The second way ou ofthe contdic- tio rer eo Mien Engels version ale) Ie comin rob bing the second chim, that of economic deternism, of any tontologcl impor: one aspect of the mater world determines 2 How bet Tie Matis in Amioopolagy nother aspect ofthe material worl. Maybe so, but ontlogy, and in particle the kind of mates on which the awa cence te founded, hat nothing t9 do wath ie What remains then, om the ‘ontological side, ithe fst claims everthing ta s,s mater Bot (his joe andar empey materials. ‘Locking atthe way in which oc sess themselves occion- aly arsculite chronological commitment not the only 62 — {nly not even the best way ~ of finding ot what thse commat- mene te. Right be mot eling to look social sient’ practic. ‘Are ahropologits commited to the exitece of inedacy colt! thing? Wel, they tal with obvious expertise of can, n= tage mamages, Kinship system, ageultual techniques, myth tals sacrifices eigousintiaons poll stems, lel codes snd {0 on There cul ype ae Bot and do Rot comespond to the ‘ype of thing talked about in nono sciences, In parscue, they do not conespond_to biological or psychological types, [Anthopologits hive good rounds, therefore, for opposing 5ny kind of reductionism ~ biologie or pychologalredseons parscolar—in the study of elt, and good rounds for wenng aloe a tonomous ‘Anthopologie® and-redactionim, and thie commitment the autonomy of este, need ao, however, be inerpreted 3 eve Gas. Antesedactonsm is quite compruble with + modest form of material that acknowledges dierent ontlogcal level na \oholly maternal word, a recent development inthe pilsophy of chology show. Could the example of psychology help anhropol- ‘go beyond the unappealing choice Between lay dua 20d mpty or econtadctony materlon? The ontaligy of pyholgy an example follow? In psychology to, the choice had long seemed tobe berween dal~ ism mental fe and material, so paricelarnewologeal, fs ae of ve radically irene nasarer~ and empey materialism. There ‘were msterilit meaphon~ the bislgial metaphor of Freud he Inechanical metaphor of Piagetian “equlibeation’ or instance ~ but tho materalist model. Only some behaviours drew peactcal con ‘ons fom their mana, bue what conclusions! Unable 0 How ob a Trt ManriltinAntoplgy B {Sve 2 materiale acount of mental phenomens, hey tied to banish them fom the poyeholegal domain! In the mid-1930., the mathematician Alan Tung conceived of matnaly iplementble device that could proces informason. [Even more imiporant, « Tasig machive the device ame © be nown, cay demonstnbly, pefoon any opertion on encoded information that any other finite physical Seve, ehstever org ition and whacever the way it encodes information, may per fcr, To put ic blutly, Turing covery, and more generally the mathematical theory of automata, seamed t provide a way of Uindertanding how mater can dink I took anther eweacy Yeas the development of computes, and imponant advances im neural ‘fy forthe impact of Tung covery om peychology to be fk, find or uly meri approach to copnion to begin emerging ‘After decades of behaviours szcere, ment proceses could again be wced, without blag reduced to behavioural or neuro- Tegel procenes, but studying them now implied eaabthing the pouty of their materal exten. Thi sn tom imped devon Posing hem into elementary sebprocencs the mater smplementa- on of which, far ince "on 2 computer, had. become smprstlemate sablsing che mater possibly of ype of mental proces — the remembering of a sound pazem, say — i not ident With Aesrbing sel implementation i human bai. The proces ‘of remembering these information may be performed by means of ifeene pes of material process sn lees brains, anal of Ihuman, or even in the ame human brain on difree ccesons ‘The proces can be proganed in diferente ways, and erent onpled on diferent compaten. A material model of 2 Ope of mental proces may not look at alike the bin processes that sewslly implement thee meatal processes. Sai such 2 model can tho serve a4 more ofl fine-grained hypothe about the atl trates for of the rin procencs represented (with eae imp ‘one for resco dimes, breskdowen puters et). ‘Wheres sooges versions of mata imply thi prychologis ‘ypu canbe ether redsced to, o eimiested in vou a, newolop- ‘aloypen the more modest marl involved in everentcopmive research does not imply redueonim. 1 merely spies that kes “4 Heo be True Matlin Archepsogy ‘of mena procses ate iemtcl to tokene of new proceses (ee Fodor 1970, Ths mode matraism, when combine’ wick dvaces in the fora dheory of automata and in neurology, is nev= cele + form of trae materi with praca consequences: Spones tong contrat acepate psjebological model. Is» Imutealin wh theoresel impbeasons! mena proceses ate Gesbued caual power, in vie of their materal properies, Taenefjing these properties, however ica, Becomes an nei ble ask. This modest mmersm, neverhees, grants» modicum of ‘nroogil autonomy tothe psychologal evel ‘Up toa point, antrepologis might be tempted ro follow the sale of the cogaltve sins. They might be tempred wo ame that on the one fang, every fokn of «calla thing is a token of a Inucial thing while onthe eter and, type of clara things do ot comespond or reduce topes of material things. This hovtever, Srould be hardly tore than an wpésted reformulation of empty Truccaln Why should the anthopologcal ase be diferent fom the piehologal one? Fortwo reasons. To begin wit, the materi locus of psychological procewe is obvious enough, andi is homo~ igneous! token peychological procases are token neurologic ‘process and the ter have become much beter underood. By nasi elurl proces ave a mater eeaiaton, then i mote one: i valves all Kinds of pryebologia, biological and Crvtonmencl proces. Secondly, thete sno formal discovery skin {0 Turing’ dhe would prove us wih aicaly novel insight nto the materl relnason of cull things The material character of the pps of cular things recognized by anthopologss remains as “Ther ss deeper danalogy sl berween the case of nhropol- cay and tht of oyehology. The main reson for wanting t adopt ‘modest mater in psychology is he fc thu there ia nich body Gt accepted knowledge, some of commonsenscl some of more ‘ophiodcxed. the formation of which requires seknowledng 2 umber of pjchoogia types wich a bebe dese, memory iner= nc, inagination and 08 eseems unwise fore this body of Knowledge, aod untae to se these types as mee terminological Insremens without reference in the worl. Though not everybody fess (or fren reacons, philwophen such 2s Charchand 1 How bea Tru Mats n Anhpolgy 18 (0988), Denner (1987) or Sach (1988) do na), payehalogy 2 i ‘ems valuable enough for one co accept i onflogeal ommit= ‘ent. Modest materi isa way to combine chesecommiemen, ‘tha more general commie fo mactlsm “The quesion now ie whether there iin sntropology 2 body of knowledge worth holding to, and that forces ut acknowledge the enixence of imeducible clr pes. David Kaplan arged that fc it indeed the ce Anthoplag bs formed concep theca ens, ws or if ‘ep Greranasos) and tenes wih donot nm PE. ‘Fee thee apr poco td cannot Be eaced ‘The lp tu fer meting lire an stones aber Af pheomers esl In wean of ae. Te wy Bee he fein nina ta rool canoe proceed a way. Sr {Bebe tof he manera hepa eee, the wy they do mt in prc Rapan 1965-979), Kaplan's rpumen sin eduction ress, quite appropsaely, on an evant of antropology’sachievemen. Ths evahaton fi be challenge in wo ways, ove Which Iwill medion but not putue since UBeliewe itt be ua and unproductive, and spother Ishich Ihave developed ekewhere (Sperber 1985), wich 1 will ‘nyt show, hat some unexpected entologial implication, "The fc is hr there is very ne agement among anthropolgss shout anything beyond recng a Fw old ioned there, sch = ‘meteorological iterpreuson of resgious symbolam, spd defending (Ge profenon pine external atacke No singe concep sited By allpractiioner and no theory generally aceped, Under sch con~ ‘Sion, could be argued, noehng cn be ifered aboot the auton tomy of eure fom the tate of the arc I won't pune tis line of fepument, beau Tam convinced that andopologis, witout tniving ony Kind of theoresa comenns, hive, somehow, devel oped 3 genuine, ch, common competence inthe study of clue Phencnens. An eraluaion of andropolgy’s acieverens which “doce not inca an expicaon of thi compecece is incomplete, 2nd therfore fice refs Kaplan's angirnene ‘What {want wo sugges, ater, i hat what Took ke ‘concep, Ho 19 bea Te Matt in Anoplgy theoretical ents, ls and. cherie’ of anthropolony are really inteleral fol of another Kind, They are interpre tool. From their existence and useflnes, iis impossible © daw extlogcl conelons. One may acknowledge the expertse of anrapologss fn mates cultural and yet deny that they know (or eae) what ods of cular thingy rely ext. In this respect agin, the ese of snropology is quite diferent rom chat of pschology. An inten scabliry {eis not 50 much that anthropologists don't shu there con cep iis that they don't hae theoretical concep of eit own, ‘What they do have is colton of technical tem ~ echnical in he tense tat chey ate tems of the ede, rather than ord lh fzage terms (or they are ondnary language terms wid in 2 non— fovdnary way). They ate nor theoresca, hough, in tha their ong, polit Pack Menge, kes place among the Tika of Bex [At the end of ny aero, Ope came bck ome amying = fie math inh a cpa in nes He pt doen wou Wont nono Tuba, one af be fur ly en $e clemedt and pct on ook, Ut the il fn iby Hel aml mouth unde she ieee ee of Che tite inhibins of he howe, No ane che touched the man, 36 Imercing end Explaining ‘sor showed ny die to have ome oft, Yet th esl and de Aah of te matin tetany Ge oe ily ne. Menge 192° 199). = So rth is essently an oxdnary description: every sentence in 1k expenses proposion preered by the anthropologist a te. ‘The station detribe, however, ie gute puzding: “Why, sk Menge, this general abstention?” And be goes on o answer. “The faherman, Opes, poucsoe of ising magi, could not eon sme bi cath wih the rk o damaging de mage The ter ily eae sou te es ofthe atau fr ft of nang eh Sine thei we were ning hey Rad Sain fr the sn roan. The ce, Hay, wou ave sorbed he paac ity ingroup of sper) This time the anthropologist ~ who does not himself belive in magic or opicts~ i not presenting» tue that Opote was running the nak of damaging ht magi, or Ut the children would have voted spuriculy dangerous ep. He is presenting these ae tent ae sma in conens ro the belies mosiraing the abstinence of Opote's peopl. Thee are inarpentions, Such lnverpeetaion of | individual thoughts are nether harder to comprehend nor mores pciow thin the interpretons we all eal the me fo alk of ech ote However, the amhropologi'ulimate goal not to report par sical event Menge sim, for instance, i eporing the anecdote ‘of Opote's marinas, was wo dhstne some hypotheses onthe cou ‘ade fist among the Takao themselves, then among the South ‘American Indians, and slkmatly oa de couvade ip general ‘Covvae’, i wil be remembered, refers in antropologcl lier ture toa tet of preiutons (eg ring, ying down, food rnc tion) man is expected to tke dong and ot aer the bith of 2 child of his preeasbone simi t those smponed, more wnderstand- Shly, on the mother of the child fee Rive 1974, “Menger proposes» sbte anal ofthe relevant Tao views on Ife and manmison, and conciaces Intern nd Expl og 2 [Ehvrtingppen a if atgoniepncils aed ove the Iie precesss A scoog poate, Ged lod. chess ted ements eats Eom the cantar oma wasteraation of (Peer nbcnces weer lk ype, whe oun, lean mec. Bat {Geet de aman body in ye ta ary with ae, ae Condon, arabes she ong sabwance abd neal he dking in the ouvde dh hee of ceupationasimerty. sexo comes wa nthe end avldng either an exes oF {Foe tna of show man being atte the whole ules proto of wunfomaton of brane, bur ak th prion of + Fr ofthe sored beac the gen andthe isn eae Tradl yy ener 182 202-0) Amin, the ethnogrpher i inereeing he does not himself for instance, bee or tend to sere hat "the human body snabolies Strong subuance, the non-smiaton of which "ead to sweling dense, He i offering sich Formations at sar i. content f0 tall ipresetaions underlying the Tekao couvade piacces. ‘However, while ie exy enough so imagine Opote thinking oF sayings in eoaghly sma em that he could not conse hi etch fwihout damaging his magi, is hard to conceive of Txikao thoughts or oterances invoking notions of sy, the somatic ean mation of weak subaance” or the “aabolzaton of 0g sab- seins The cemblance i content besween the ierpreaion 3 the eptesenaionsinteeted mandy weaker here than in tiny inerprenion of individual thought or wterznce, andthe Segoe of merblance is hard or even impossible wo evaluate (What isa she & not the work of an sndiadsalanthropologst on the entry, have choren to dics Menges esa because Tee is 2 food example of today's best ehnography. At sake bere ate the i= Fe inheree inthe inerprenve approach to cutaral repreenatons) [An ethnographer i fied tne with reat dvesty of behav- fours whch he progresivesy comes to undersand by discerning “inderyng intentions that, by Becoming able to conceptualize thse behaviour a8 actons. He Becomes adep, in paruculat, at di ening the imentons govern spech at of im other terms, 3 ‘comprehending whe hs itedocutors mea, Imepreing ond Explaining Incertions thos undestood sil cll for farther, deeper under standing. Let us accept thatthe oder Fal heads voided he Hesh ofthe matin for Far of endangering the hel and the lies of ‘heir young children, o her own Reals” But how ae such means sippoted 1 serve rich end? A deeper ndertanding of intentions Involves grsping how they could be ronal, or im ober word, secing how they might flow from dering dees and belie 1, fo the Todo, the Besh of the matinhae i ‘Seong’ and haz ardous for nes health, if ier and hid ate of one andthe same subsance, a subsance which, contary 19 appesances, does not ‘vide ot two independent beinge unl some time se ir, then ive begin to pup bow the behaviour of Opot's people might be ‘ABonal To grap turer, we sould tye etablsh the ratonaliy ofthe underying belief chemseltes ~ thei, not jus ther mati ‘onssency, Bo ao thee compactly with Takao experience In oar every sing to undemtand others, we make do sth arta and spective lterpretatons he tore diferente fom us the ‘thes the nore speculate dhe iterpreasons). For al hi incon ‘ete and encenainy, hee icerpresions help ~ ainda {sus peoples ~ co live with one another, Anthroplogen. have Contbated wo a beter undentnding, and ths greater lance, of faluraly diren oer, To dos, they haves’ relied on sientic ‘theories or rigorous methods, which ate not pat ofthe anchropele- {gis eandard tool kt, Given the curl aitance, the comprehen- Son ges of antropologias are piroclnly abou and arduous Sul, the form of comprehension invalved is quite ory: anthro- ologis ierpet behaviour = veal Behaviout in pric ~ by [nbuting bebe, desires, and intenons ro individ or collective {etom, in manner that makes thee behaviour spas ron ‘One might sume tat dhe bes interpret the mos hf cone ~ that i, the one whose contene most resembles eh ofthe inerpreted representation. On eleston, however, thing ae not that imple, If her tim were jos to manimice Githfunen, the sethropologst would publsh only tanlatons of seualy utered ‘work However, most uaerances heard by che anthropologist make seose only inthe very specie conzext im which they were pro- Giced; they rely on shared curl representations which they do sotexpren ety nee nd xl 9 “The andropcloget mus, for her own sake to begin with, 20 beyond mere mation: only then can she hope co snetand hat the hea, and this be gensinely able to wane She most pect lt, sydhesize, reconcepraize. The inepreations thatthe anheo- slope consrucs in er own mind or in her notebooks ae 100 omplex snd detled wo be of terest he fate readers moreover ‘hey tend to be Formulated ina ihnyri jargon in which mae terms, echnical ems sed in an a hr way, and peronl mesphon ‘mix rly. Laer, wing for readers who wl spend 3 few hour 08 3 trad to which se as devoted years the ahopologat mse yah fae her own shes, reuaate her own jroo, and, unavday, Epidemiologist: have consmucted sophisinted mathematic model of the tansmison of diets, snd it tempting to ery and ply them to varios forms of cara aims. Th he tne taken by Cavali-Sore and Feldman (1982) While their work ‘worth paying attention to, especially given the devth of explanatory ‘model inthe study of clear, they underetinate imporant ifr. ences berween the tansmision of dienes and clu taniision. At the same te they fil to appreciate deeper simulates betwee the epidemiology of sewer and that of epeenations The ansmision of infectious dienes is characterced by roceses of repletion of vise: or baer, Only oceionlly 0 You gers mutation intend of replistion Standard cpdemilopel ‘model picture the eansmision of table dieses oof dees with limited and foreseable vaiasons. Representations, on the ther hand, tend to be eansormed each tite they ae Gane For instance, yout undestndig of what Tam fig HOT prod. oma yaur mind of my thoughs, but the corstuction of tough of your own which ate more of le closely reed to mine. The replication, or reproducon, of representation, i ever occ ss exception So an epidemiology of representations sist and fore ‘most a Soly of thee wnsfoematons consider the eepreduction of represenion aiming ee of transformation. Anes ad Py 2 Tpidenisog of dieu eceaonaly hs 0 expin why a dene isedafomed ne proce tm. Epidemiology of ere fesoton by coma hs to exp why some reproenttons ‘Eman race mab tho why ome tepresenans Become opel curl. Ass rent, and when we need matt esses anaamen |ak f we ean brow oes [Epes epemiolge med Sm commen wood “yo otter bloga! mde of ewe such thom pot Tint Dawe 196 and by Larsen ed Won (1981) Tra pou, ugh, o pers he epdemlogial algy i 2 dive ore evn econ, Epson depen See scenes which sui ap ttommons level of ey Endenisgy ses the ton of dene and das se nine! by ply. he dboton of dene anos be ined hear go acount te manne in hich they Het om turnin oon nd ptsiogy more per, nl Solgy Convery, epiemlogy STmforsence efnidence and sogeton fr ploy “Wt pubclgy Be pdensgy o deanery of hug shel eo eprnlogy of epee expec te “htmilogy of eprstnutone and soci the eal Sn ever ekunl Gearon he on hans andthe pchogy tough oe oe to sand in eas f pt nepen= non nd tal ene toa dacusiow of te aotipbeowcensnopology and poppy the gore ie we oe poy Conese Ie tect in ers of dnt von an-redoeonm, 3 thoe wee wly nani sherver nthe ol aval aera ura For educa cls ie ne pcologea Bs © scoped in pyeisopel tems fr anetorsonss oad Sa flng tatoos fel of ay an 0 e ancl ienly mt foe ava | Bln ht reer ‘ctonism nor an-redctinii make sch seme inthis case 1S tur te spams aogy provides mor ase sor "Te mation af he rection of ne hot anther iy wel nda snted y ows ene sch the resto hemody tsa eis ee Naga 196 ch 1). o Antrpalogy ond Prycolgy Te nodon ofthe reduction of one ld of ingury vo another, such ithe decton of antucpolgy to prebology, iach vague parc s0 wen ner El ich bya wel frabinbed theory. In sch ce, sucrons to the lst tat one fd can ot cannot be redced to another ace general based on pod convtone ether thn specie saimens sone, people ete in he unity of went oten emergent evloson Relitonsips between flat, however 00 vased snd be fo ‘eared solely, or even primary in ten of diction o nom redocooe.” Epidemiology, or itace, the ecologic dy of poli pPheromens, Is ele in ooolgy ecalogy fe Ie sno ‘ore omologialsrnomy thn logy ha dec fot ccs to Fathlogy, yee can be defined or developed independent of Pathology, Of coune, one could have an epdemiology of good Fealth or of anyother condon; on I tm sggesing, ene cn oven epideioigy of repression: Dut whatever eplemly c's covserng at be defined in eon ce some et Secipine ‘Whar { wane to sgt wih the epidemislogicl analogy is hat prycbology i neesary but not suse forthe charceizson {8d expanaton of ell phenomena. Cinta pRSSSRES 3 ecological pauers.o€ paychologial phenomena. They Sin wo an sotonome level of ray aan sedasonits would hve nor do they mately. belong © phology redone swostdhave “The epidersogil analogy is appropiate in yet another ay. The divbuoon of ecen descr" say ra ung ence nd lass flown erent pers nd fill onder ite ier te expunaions So, whie there B 3.geenl epidemologel toproach chancesined by specie guewons, process snd toy thee inno sich thing #4 geen theory of epidemiology. Bach typeof diene cla fron af theory, and hough amis ae Erquent and sugesive, here no prince ton on how tiuch diferent cen igh ier Suma he projet opener theory of cle seems tome mingded. Dilton cal phe- nomena ny ney ita, mys pater and aout esas dora ~ might wel 6 under gute dierent explanncry model Antrpogy and Pytloy “ ‘War the epidemiological analogy sugges 6 gener approach, ‘ype of question o ik, ways of construcang concepts, anda pie ‘ly of noe to grand theoretical ims [Representations “The nocion of representation often used in sadies of clue, but ver since Datkheim’s ‘collecvesepresenaon, ie has been left in {kind of ontological hase. Thi wil no do sf we sei Want to Gevelop an epidemiology of representations A represenanon Involves relitonsip benween dee tems: an objet represen- tation of something, fr some infornatiorprocening device. Here, tne shall only conaderropreseraion for human inde, igor ing other informaion-procesing devices, sch 3 telephones and ‘computes, even though they afer the ditsbuson of represent Sone in human populations” We shall consder repesenacons of nyhing we plete: ofthe environment, of tons, of ation, rp festons of representations and 20. on, sgronag the esenuions sconce, phys! objec loested in sme and space. [Acts concrete level, we mas sunguish evo kinds of vepresertar Sons there se eepresentssons internal f0 the fformaton-proces= ing device ~ moval roesmatons and here are representations ‘erenal to the device std which the device can proce rps tha ple epeettion “Tale, for nuance, the Moray stuce ceipe in cookery book. It iss public epeentason, in ths ee an ink pacer on a piece of per which cen be reid ~ dats, proceed asa inpot of 3 cersin Kind The reader oil fom a mena representation ofthe recipe, ‘whic he can then remember, forget, or wanform, and which he in ako flow ~ tht iy convert ito Bodily behaviour. Or tke 2 nother teling her dighver the sory of ‘Liele Red Rusing Hood ‘We have here» pobierepretenaion, in this case a sound pater ‘which choses the cid to Consoct# mental epreenston, which the may semember, forges, efor snd tell ter taen~ tha $2 Auhopegy on Pre conver into bodily, and more specify vost, behaviour At hit ‘concrete level here are millions of tokens of the Mornay s2ace recipe, millions of tokens of “Lede Red Riding Hood! ~ malons, ‘ats, of both puble spd mental epresenatons. ‘An epidemiology ofreprevenaons ia wy ofthe cau chains In which these mena and puble representations ae involved: the onstricton of tevieva of mental repeentsons may exuie ind vidual to modly thir phytel eovironment = for ance 89 produce a public repraentason. There modifissons of the environment may cause other individuals o consract men repte ‘entasons oftheir oes these new repesentcons may be sored ind later seve, and in tam, cute the individ who Bol ther modify the environment, tnd 0 on There are, then. two clases of process relevant co an epidemi cology of repreteniiont int-inividual proces of thought and ‘memory and iver.ingiidel process whereby the repreveniatons lof one subject alec thre of other mbjecs through modficrtons of theie common physi environment. Inea-individial proceues sre purely prychologcl Inerindvidul proces have ca do withthe Input and outpat ofthe bain ~ that with the intere between the bain and is environment they are para pychologia, pay _scoogial ‘Representations can ako be considered a purely bse eel, without refering ether to thee mental frm in human brunt ort thei public forn in perepable physical pater. At this aburact level formal properties of rpresenations can be diased: we may notice thet the Momay sauce recipe contains tht of bechamel ace, tu dics ies an example of Freach bourgei sine ~ another sburaction. We an analyse the plo of Lite Red Riding Hood’ compste i with tat of other tle and ty to argue, in 2 Lev Stan Euhion, tat Litle Red Ring Hood sands in re Uonhip of symmetnal iavenion to, sy, Jack and the Beanslk” (ore realistically ean Hamlet ~ see chapter 2) As abaract objects, representations have Formal proper, and eer into formal elasons among themselves. On the other hand, shamct objecs do not ctely ener into caval restons, What Caused your indigetion was not the Mornay ace recipe in the sce, Dut Your host havi read a public epresenaison, having Anil and Ploy o Tormed a menial eprentaton, and having followed it with gener fo lever succes, Whe ened she cls enjoyable Far was not the story af ‘Lite Red Riding Hood! in the aba, but hee under Sanding of her mother's words More t0 the pretent point, wht, fused the Moray sauce ecige or the tory of ‘ile Rea Riding, od? co become cultural representations ot ~ oF rahe, ot Aiely~ thi formal properos ic he consraction of milions of Imena epresenons cal inked by millions of public repre- “Thee is a reationship between theve concrete process and the foxmal properies of the repeentins proceed. Formal propeacs of reprreniasions can be considered im oro way (which ae not Incempaubl) at properie f aberact cjecs coset in them faves (ePatons spprosch) or 8 proper hata processing device, {human mind in particu, could arte to them and explo Porchologial approach). In ocer werd, rma properties of eepre— fenton or at less some of them) cab be considered as potential prcholopralproperes. Potent prychologicl proper sre rele= ant to an epidemiology of cepetentaone, One can at, for finance, what formal properier make ‘Lisle Red Riding Hood ‘more exily comprehended and remembered ~ and therfore more Tey to become eur ~ than, aj a shore acount of what hap pened today onthe Stock Exchange. “The Paton approach nay be of great nti ners” but i isnot the appropriate approuth s one i nerezed in providing 2 foal explanation of alr fc, Bodh mental and pubbe repre tention have tbe considered, and formal properies have 10 be teen in pcholoical terms Misconceptions Mort dcuions of cual represenaons, whether in anthropo~ ogy in eid of eelpion, orn the hsor of des, cose them imac tem a myth, 2 regio doczine, 2st istrvcton, 2 legal ule or even a technique i daused without any consderzion othe peytclogial process ie may undergo or of he sntepay of {metal and pbc representations, Tea! omP o a os Antaplgy 4 Pyhoagy Even selprochimed materialise dicus representations without comsidention of their mater exstence a8 payeholgie smal, proceacs and sates The diferene benweensleproclaimed ate ling and those Whom they accuse of weal shat ten ee Fepresntions move a eft of matenalcondstons, while deli see them more ance of marl conditions, Both ‘mate tne ideal’ talk of represenations considered inthe aburact fering inc causal elaonsips wih the material wo whatever the order of castes and effect Gvoued, ht pesppous 9 very ‘unsound fom of ideale ontology, Tes conezvabe, of coune, that cul exphnaions of cola fe could be formulated at 3 Sy abarat level, ignoring thereby the micro-mechansms of cogntion end communieaton, This i ceraily what antropologss and sociologists have tried 10 do, linking, for instnce, economic infsractre and lion, But however good i might be, any such explanation would Be incom= plete, For economic inftricture wo alec eligon it mst ace yhuman minds There ae only two ways one cognive, che otber shon-cognsve,i3 which human minds can be aed, The sind an be afected by imal hae by very specie modifications of| ‘he brin's physical environment. Or the mind can be aected ‘trough aon-cognive physical and, in patclr, chee toi ation ofthe bran resin omy, nottonal defieny or lee ‘woshock. To sow that economic cndions afetreigion, one rr be capable of showing how economic condions alt the Jnzercaion of brain and environments in ether cognitive or onvcognitive way. Moreover, thi ion mut be shown #0 cause the cognitive and behaviousl modifitions which, at 2 mor sheratlevel, ar dese ae region, For the time being, we hive neither convincing general expan sions of cultural fas at an abstract level, nor an epicemiology of ‘epresenatons, The question i, therefore, ow should we allocate ‘ur flora? OF cous ie 4 god thing that we each fellow our Aierent hancher and that we do not ll give the sme arwer to ‘dat guesion. In arguing for an epidemiology of represetaton, 1 fm noc waning to tum all anthropologis ito epremiologs ‘etely want rise an intrest inthe alteratve approach Imagine eats sce explanation of cara phenomen i Anteploy and Pre ose can abate. wos bet be incopie. eo Torrence a epidemiology of epreneom aired in ye Cheogy whi woul have tbe evopedsnybow.Imape tow, atest peng repression OF oe, a te know it night prove ony incl or nedety cme Tore expaacons of eutcd fee Bt thee sho the psy Tavis cold encompass enasonr we need. Anes ‘Seey cf repenetons ceclynecey, a pou sa Ginecol elnaon of cand ct. Ur at 384 Song son fr developing the perl posh To nc hope, by th pune to comme atropine sacl whe ae quis comes ona a sbrat eve snd igre Pchloped ec. The ane I would gies, bed ter ans muconceived onolgy than on 1 micoesved poeho- ly They mi gn ha ee bs be bpm ox aly, yee minum tha te hema sd sch ht th opemcnotion en ackeved and dvs a ales te comer core In owt fhe tere in md nein proces te atumed, eer inl x esl, cour on te wie te Siee and eny ceanton of ut ay conceive teprenesion “The postin a hans copltve ood commletve sie ight wort bce on ome reprennsons han te gene SI} ipored. The tarfomatons cased by songe and rel ae inept ino coun rss el were sere veal oe fice of nog, Smy, rnd proces ken Conan sgn nision, on the somes encoding sid decoding of epreetatons thee anmpson were comet ie cal mite-michanone of he seo eprestons ou bea mga ron ony rprseton col Thuleced dough he chisel ofl Connon, wih Srowth een beer inde repented mental od able fern An epdemilogy of epee wid thn be ding si wl mowers Nong reerele wold te lost come ine cual eprsenaon im prc amet tem. However, tlng aut ths pycolape aeumpson i enogh how at Teyare one abe Without even taming to schol pcoloy ach oo ows “ Anhpsligy ond Pabalegy Through peronal experience that some repreenations, sy Gide’ oot are very hed to comprehend, however mach we might like to undestand them. Some repretenttiony, sy a mune of twenty igi, though not bard fo comprehend, ae hard to remember ‘Some deeply enon representations ae hard or even impose convey without lo and sorson. On the ather handy thee ae some representations 2 the sor of Lie Red Riding Hood! or a popula tune, which we cannos help remembeaing, eves though we righ wh o forge chem ‘What east makes some representations harder to intemal, remember, or eneralse than eches? One might be tempted fo taser, “Thee complene, and to undentand ‘complex 220 Atseact propery oftepeesenttions. But dh answer wll not do. A romber of twenty dips is not more complex than the sory of| “Lite Red Riding Hood’ any andar comporer can proce he omer much mete easly and with much lest memory space han the later In ft, wie i is esy enough to provide 2 computer swith the text of verson of ‘Litle Red Riding Hood, ie not ‘lea how we could provide it withthe sy ince Human beings fon the her hand, emember a story mach nore ely than text So, whit i complex fora human ba difers om what complex for computer compleiy i not a explanation, bx something (0 be explined. What makes some representations hander cinema ize remembe, or exteralze tan oben, what makes hen, here fore, more complex for Imani, 8 WHE Ongiesdon OT Maman cognitive snd commoniave sbi Dispositions and Susceptibilities In onder to sgest how, in an epdemiologiel penpective,anhro- ology and pryeology canbe muta elvan, Tak nodace ‘xincoon beranen daposione and suceptbiitis, and, very Irie, go over few sand es in the sad of calor, Haman, genescaly determined cogicive abies are the out= come of proces of natural selection. We are ended 0 astme that they ate aprive: tha i, that they helped the species survive and spetd Tt ne co my tata hee ees are apie Ansieslgy ond Pro a ‘Some of the fees of our genetic endowment can be described 2s deposition, other as sceptics, alough the daneson fot always ety to daw. Disposioons have been postive selected In te procs of biologial evalton; sepals ae side-efece of dipestions Soscepabltes which have srong advene effects on Mapaion get ciminated with the susceptible organi ‘Swseepebiles which ave strong pote ec may over sme, be portwely selected and become, therefore, indsinguishable fom Eiposisons. Mou suicepsbies, hough, hive oniy marpnal ees fon alapation; they ove thet exience mo the selective presse that his weighed, not on them, but onthe dipsion of which chey ae fideo: Both dspostions and suscepubliies need appropete favironmental conditions for their oniogenedc development ispontons find dhe appropriate condor i the envzonment in ‘which they were phylogenecaly developed. Stscepubiites may ‘well evel themicees only tarsal of change ia environmental condisont Tome spins, fo instance, tas x sposton to ext weet food. a ‘he natural environment in which che species developed, dus was of ‘bviou adiptve vale in helping individuals to elect the most Spproprate usiens. ln the modern enviroment, in which vga in arsfcialy produced, this beings our a suscepibiry to over ‘onsirapion Of sugar, ith al its wel- known detent ees Basic Concepts With the distinction between dispositions and sxcepsies in ‘mind, let wt consider, int, the problems raed by stems of con ‘eps, Each culture i charctened by = ire system of concep Ieivan anthropologial problem how much tem of cance en ‘ay from culture to culture, Are cher, thie, univenal contains fn the urucare of these stems? Tes = prchologel problem how ‘oncept ate formed in nda mind ‘Ont view of concepe formation, which has inpied componen- til analy in anthropology, "and ex studies of concept foreton in prychology "that a new concept i formed by combining sev trl previ avaiable concept. or instance 2 ch lead hs _ Andi and Prcagy he concep os paren and that of femal, she can form the con ept ota mother by combining el’ and paren ‘On chit view of concep formation, concepts which cnnot be ecomposed into more elementary one cannot have ben aeqird, sed must therefore be innate. Now, mow of our conceps cannot be So decomposed: yt decompose for instance, elon”, ae, ‘gol, ‘leticin’.ackadaseal’ “igi. You cannod? Then. on this heory, thee coneeps snd Fundred or thossnds mere, mast ‘oe inate which, except fr a Few such a "yellow, seer ily implauible Mottover, even when a concept cin be formed by fombining mote elementary ons, there may be reasons to doubs that hi the way i formation sem aks pce surely, children do not farm the Concept of x mother by contracting the nteee tion of mae’ and “paren” Rather, they form the concept of 4 parent by constucting the union of mother and ater “Another way in which concepts might be taughe and leamed is ty oiterson. You show sch bid yo ell ee, Ths ita bi 2 alr 3 few such expenances, she acquires dhe concept of bird ‘nension aes well-known probes you may well point inthe rection ofa bird, bot you ate simultaneous poatng inthe dec fon of a matel object, an animal 3 crow, this pal row, 2 feattered body, the undeie of bid a thing on we, a source of nos, 2 black thing and an infinity of ocer things. How is the eh to reise tha what you intend ro di her aeison toi only one thee thingy and dat the word you uter comeyponds 0 ony ome sf thee ooenpe? Logical combination and oatesion are not macallyincompai- be, hough, Some admire of them might provide a more pla ble hypothesis. Ostenson works st opents under strong loge constants Inapne tat a chld, vathout having a9 inate concept fof bird, has an Innate schema fr aoologiel concep and an innate ‘dapoon to apply and develop thi schema whenever she # pro~ ‘ied with inormaon which come tslevan 1 the tase. That if ‘you poin: so an animal and tera word, then une the context bigest otherwise, the child's fine hypotheds wil be tht you ae promding her with 2 name coresponding to 1 zoological concep End more speialyt 2 sologal axon. She wil expect the con eptshe it develop to have the logic properseschancteniie of Aopen Dye o tern concep. IFyou wete having coring et expee- tacos, en sbi be on te igh tuck nd you were no what indo parent te ou?) "The anivopolopil or epdemilogicl impissons of this view of concept formson se lear humans have + poison to evap Coney sch ata os tra el sch concep “Sich. es renaaiy lite experience sed prompting for ther 0 develop tem and apply tem appropri and nee they re prose ns aguae hy sve tea Sore Awe of toch concep thercee oon in every ngage Tes ne speculate more gery |e tat we have an anate upton to dislay covepe coding fa seen schemas. We Ie itron hema order domain oor concep of bing Ue tend ee Geto, ovr concpe of aneien tad 10 be ‘Saiaed ioe feo Dur come ou Ted wo be ‘ued on fol hues and on, Conceps which confor f tee ‘Slama aren interme and remembered. Let cl them es CBG Ng boy of ane corey found a ey language Sf cure, bus concepe afer fon one ngange t another, Bt they do note very mach. The bac concep: of another n= fag tend be compurivey esto ps ea nd ate “Phere a growing body of etch on base concep both in eycholgy aol athropclogy, wth tore calaborsion beeen ewe dines n dy domin thu in any other This work {end to show chat nd! conepe formation, ad therefore at tual vabiy ar inded governed by inate chem nd ips “Tis as been shown f couse, ony fr a fv seman domains. Could ibe geet Ava conepfomsed sccotng frei ona chemat I dobt very uch, Fink, eee isn {por veon fo asume Hat concep fomaon ic away ahve inte ue way sod thesis Under» soe nod. Second, thie seme conep ar nly aegued wh very ele prompting {Thich Suge dt hee fa tender thei sequen the or Inaion of her comrp ay see or rehpous one, es # {ge del otine,nertton Sod even formal ching Tse hb ‘re concep ar arqued within the amore of complex ree- Stns 0 he wend Thewe teprsenaions and hrf, tbe » Anirplgy and Poyegy concept which are chaactertic of them, are bated ar much of ‘more on sepsis tan on disposions. CCaltaral Representations “The social developmen and individual formation of presentations ofthe wold are he net er I woul ike v0 comune pon om 12 epidenilogial point of view. Homan cognitive sles ach, fmoog other thingy, at 2 Hiker on the representations capable ot likey tobe widely dsebuted in human populason ~ that op bie or likely to become cultural represenatins l-away, ds ter ing funcson bat long been recognned. Ie generally scepted among sothopologes thar an adequae acount of ocular’ bebe Imai show them tobe somehow rational in dei conte. ‘Waris mean by aionaiy is nther dear nr eons. A gner= ally undessood, however, aionaiy imps cern degree of cons tency benven bee and experience and among belie Ratna, ‘hen, preuppois copie mechanisms which tend to prevent ox © ‘iminate empirical incontencie and opal conrad ‘Many ancopclogise, ftom Durkheim to Cliford Geert, ave explicitly or impiety ssumed that athe bei of cule, Whether banal oF mysterious, are mental epreented in theme ‘mode, and therefore achieve faonalty in the same way. In out ‘erm, they ae fered by the same cognitive mechanisms, Hote ‘oF dss view, when they Want © explain spptently rational eli, tend to urn to cognive relive: the ypoten at eiera of ‘tional wary fom clare o uae ‘Other antropologss have insted thar everday empl! nowledge of the word ~ sy, the repetentaton that honey sweet ~ and religious bell ~ sach atthe dogma of the Holy “Traity~ and scentc hypotheses ~ such as the theory of relativity = are not the same kind of mental objec. Diferen ype o ep sentation achieve sional in diferent way. They ate cognitively ‘ered by dierent proces. Let me bey contrat everyday empl knowledge with re {pour belief. I amume that we havea dsprion eo develop a cenain form of empincal knowledge which could be chanced a fale owe Amhrolgy ond Prcogy n +e conion in represnations which ae simply sored "| tncycopaedie memory and which ae weated by the mind {S eue dewriptions of the world just because they ate $0 sored 1+ These represensasions ae formated inthe vocabulary of basic concep thas, you cannot have thie kind of Knowle fege about atoms vines, mana or democracy (whch, 1 SSvune, donot fll under base concep’) + They ae stomatal teed fr mail consistency anny paca, for consistency wih perceptual inp. Beryny empl Knowdge developed ander aren. con sean Sng Togas pesca. Ara rn ach Know ‘ar end tobe empineay aden ad coitene On the oder Tanda only to some copie domi, and dot 0 rater aay. Othe fons of ment epsentins re developed with exer feiry and weaker fing mechan They involve otet opoiive sie, in parca Ow of forming represention of "ttomans en mentally represent not just environmental and semate es but sa ste town ment st, rep So and preceses The human intra teprsestion per = he Engage ef thoghs to we Jey Fodorsexreion For 1975) — sce ssi own mesg. "Tub metatepeematina sy, a we wight cl ig ental oman segue af ambedge dso to veal communic” Si ough I wil ocx dacs hs her), Eng alsa bumanso doubt and fo dabebve, Dosbsing ad dabeeving nal ene teal 1 pstnation a being tproable or fk. Presably Sher nina nt have te sy vo bce wa hey Pete teie or what they decode, ‘Secondly, met-representatonl abies allow humane to proce pn information which they do not Gully undertand, infornation for © ‘which they are notable the time 0 provide # well-frmedeepre~ Senaton, Ian information-procesing device withoos meta-epe ‘enatons siices finds sul unable to repretent ome formation by means of + well-formed formals of ts ineral ngage, then i wdsieP 2 Antreplgy and Payliey ‘cannot we of teen the infomation ata A device with met ‘epresentional abies, om the other hand, can embed a defective ‘epresenation in a wel- formed met-epreseeaon. ‘Cslren te ths abiny all she time to process halandemtond Informaaon, Tey at od thing that hey do noe gute undertnd by speakers whom they trast. So they have grounds ro believe shat what ‘hey are ld sue, eventhough they donot know exactly what tit hat they ae fl A chs a fe nance, eat Mr So-nd-o has id, bu she doesn ye have any conept of death The best repre senaiion she car form defective, since it coma 2 halfundersood concep, i order to procs that dele represents, she bas tO ‘es epresent that embed ie a representon ofthe fom {ea fc that Me So-and-s has "ded" whatever “ied” maa “This allow the chido resin the infomation, eventhough she doesnot ily undentand ao gies her an ncenive © develop the concept of death, and, a te sme time, provides ber With piece of relevant evidence forthe development of this concept. ‘Adule 00, of coure, when meting new concept and idesr hat they only haléundersand, embed hen in ret eprsentaions Humane have, Iauume, + dsposon to use their meeorepreien= ton do expand ter now sb thr one reperite, Mes-repesenrasonsl_ alts, -hoseeet. ao cieate remarkable sscepubiiies The obviows fancton served by the 2i- iy to entrain all-indentood concepts and Wass 10 provide Imtefinedate eps towarde ei Bl undereanding Bute alo cre azes the posbiley oT concepral mysteries which oo-amoune of proceuing could ever can, svading human ming ‘Rational cosa Go alr understood iss ae not very sine gene che intralconsstency of halt-undestood wes and is con Swency with other belie and astumpions cannot be propedy texed sf any fconstency appean, st may be de to 3 mutaken Interpretion ofthe belief To the dl, the very idea of dea and, therefore, che cain that otneone i esd may sem el-oneadio= tory: yet she may neverheles, and without imatinaliy. accep them on the asimpaon shat the fal is th her undentnding athe thn with the concept or the ca. With hal underto0d ‘eas, what i knowe asthe argument of authority’ cates fll wweighe Anthropology and Pacey Ey “The fot that myseniou es and concepts can easly meet c= ten of rationality not suliient co guntaner their eka ecco “Thee ae ifntly any myers comping fr mentale, sod fence fr clr pace. What advantage do the winning mysteries, poses? They ae, [want 0 URGES, PTE EVOCRIVE apd, ares, ‘be scen a form of problem salving: she problem more pre interpret fr some hal understcod ‘This done by sexching encylopaedic memory for asmmp- Gone an belief in the context of which the falfindentood ies ne senie, Sometimes the problem rated by 2 bal-andestood idea for itzne, by» cramword cie ~ is easly solved with 3 shore evcatn, In other cae the Hea 39 pooty encemood, 2nd {0 unrelated othe subj other mental epresentions, ha thee i nome forthe evasion ro tart ‘The most evocstve represen tations ae hove which, on the one hand, are closely related 10 the fubjets other mental representations and, nthe other hand, can never be given + final ierpretation. Kes.hese aa ‘heyoasldbe decribed, nbich ate colsraly succes ‘Appureninaton cll belt are quite remaslable: they do not apes atonal by deparing sgh fom common sete, o by ‘imily going beyond what he evidence alow, They appen,her like downsightprovocaons xine common-teneesomaly- They inde bei about cestues which can be in two places atthe ‘ne tine or whch canbe here, ye femain vibe es a con trading universal asumpsons abowr physest phenomena; about freauce which can tendo fons one animal species another, th Aly contradicting wnivenal asumpsons abou biological phe omens; sour creatures which know what happened and what will happen without having tobe cere orc be tld, dus fly conta ding univer asumtirs about pychologeal phenomena ‘Some of thee purdoccl beige coold be given well-formed presentations but then sey Would hive to be ejected on grounds of inconszency. Moreover, rejecting thm would ental mother lind of incomtency. fe would be inconsetent with the asampton thatthe source ofthe Beef ie raxnworthy. Over consitency can be achieved only by testing these belli se myst. For 35 my (Eo, they achieve tlevance Beaute ofthe paradoicl character 1” Antplgy and Prey that is, because of the ih background of everyday empirical Ienowledge fom which they aptemaciealy dare By achieving rel= vance, they occupy people's sention, and become beter dnb Me an reno wih we myo ey Oy ng ‘Arempss 1 expin religious bee and other cultural mysteries in terms of some univer pychalopeadipsion have been Snconvincng I belie they were miguided. Unlike everyay cempiial knowledge, religious belies develop not becaute of ‘oso, buc becase ofa usepaily Memory and Oral Literature Upto nom, I hve conideed the rl oly of cogiv proces of formaton ‘of conceps and representations, Othe cognive rcromn pct of ogy 20d eal pec, and prceors {fcommanetion weno le ene othe explanation of cals See, Comidr de ne oft ontntssciy wthort shoot ter leasing insitusons There, ose ling i spontaneous Most mencl rpreentcont ate consiucte, and sored. and ‘etseved, witout delierston | would keto pat forwards law of ‘he epedeisogy of epcenaion which sples to sch society In an onl edition, al cultural representations ate exiy remembered ones; hard-to-renember reprenttons a fe fomen, or ansormed inso more easly remembered onc, ‘etre veaching a clr evel of dstbion Thi Law tas immediate application, for instance, co the study of ‘onal naeaves, We can ake for granted that ls, myths and so on Se optimal objec for human memory, or alse they would have been frgorten. What it abot thew naive that makes them 10 rmemonbe? What is about buman memory Chit make 40 ood atememberng thew ale? Heve the muna relevance of pycho- logy and anthropology shouldbe obvious. Yet the amhropoiogsal stody of on tenure i with a few exceptions,” done without Aivepalegy n Pycolgy 13 ‘concern for pachology. ln cogiive pjehology, on the other fang there growing body of eseuch onthe szuctte of ma tives ands eer on memory," bat Fle or no advantage i taken ofanehopologcal experts Wen new communication technologies appear, wing in pat= icles more things can be commniated, and ingeoal memory i Ioplemeneed by exseral memory mores” AS res, memorizi- tion and communication have weaker Sling eects For instance, totes forms of iterate cn develop, snd the parsolar fos found {nol taion need not be masnaied 2 all Concluding Remarks 1 would ike ois again dha 1am not oferng an epidemisogy of reptecnatons 22 subsite fr other andvopolegalenterpris, bor ava firther underaking which I sce as esenzal co the casa Cnpanason of calfoal Bt and to ffeil relasonsips berween rteopology and pychology. Even so might be objected tat the feope | am Caing for an epiderclgy of representations it t00 Tange. Ie might be pointed oot tha al the examples Ihave diced fo fir concep, ble nraves~ concer represerains which Ga te inernaeed idvidully, and which sre clr 2 rl of {eve many individuals ineraising then. But what abou insti {Sone Surely, 1 schoo,» al, jie pte ae cla hing. Jetty ate not dhe Kind of thing a cam be intemal by che Tesvidel Do thy not il hen, ouside the cope of an epidei- tSgy of represenaons, and snot the claim thatthe cas exp ‘pion of coltunl fice has to. be encompased in sich an cpidemilogy groaly exaggerated? ‘Wal here the counter-elyection, An epidenilogy of repre~ sections, doesnot sey epresentadons,s seudes disubusions of feprecrations (and therefore all the modieations ofthe environ fmeve which ae cally involved im these dsbutiony), Cua ‘nestions, belief, myth, and + forth ae indeed characterized by bomogencows dtibusns clolysimlar venions of the sme Teprecnaion are ditibuedtroughowt + human populadon. (Other clara dstnbucon ate diferent he dstabution of ve 6 AushoplgyandPayblegy ‘representations in cerain ways cates oter representations to be

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