MODULE 2:
THE DISCIPLINE OF ANTHROPOLOGY
Anthropology
 Came from the Greek words:
o anthropos (human)
o logos (study)
 Holistic study of human beings and their
culture.
Scope of Anthropology – everything about
humans:
o Biological and evolutionary past
o Ways of life and traditions they
uphold.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
 The Rise of Empires and States
 The Dawn of Colonialism and
Imperialism
The Rise of Empires and States
 Expansions of territories among ancient
civilization brought a convergence of
people of different physical
characteristics and cultural practices.
 Herodotus
o “Father of History”
o One of the forerunners of
anthropology
o Work focused on the culture of the
people under the Persian Empire.
o Compared and created analysis of
the Western civilization (Greeks)
and Eastern Civilization (Persian).
o Analytical process of comparing the
“self” with the “other” arises and
pervades the anthropological
research agenda.
 Ibn Khaldun
o Published extensive documentation
of early civilization and the factors
that affected the rise of power and
their eventual demise.
Book:
Muqaddimah
 Examined the social,
psychological, and economic
factors that led to the rise of
ancient civilizations in the
Mediterranean.
o His works lies on his use of the
scientific approach instead of a
commonly accepted religious
framework.
Dawn of Colonialism and Imperialism
 During the Age of Exploration,
Europeans explorers seeking new
territories started to encounter people
from other part of the world.
 “Exotic” cultures were documented by
European sailors, missionaries, and
scholars.
 Western perspective was used as the
point of comparison.
 Produced a highly Eurocentric view of
the world.
 Jean-Jaques Rousseau
o French philosopher
Book:
Discourse on Inequality
 These “primitive” societies can,
later on, be expected to
 progress toward the stage of
civilized societies.
o Argued morality of “primitive”
societies is characterized by peace
and harmony, unlike those in the
civilized European Society which
was laden by inequality.
o Was credited for the germination of
the term ‘noble savage’
Noble savage – a representative of
primitive humankind as idealized in
romantic literature, symbolizing the
innate goodness of humanity when free
from the corrupting influence of
civilization.
 Rise of imperialism pushed the Western
world to engage in cross-cultural
research as they encountered societies
different from them.
 Global powers in Europe, that were in a
race to extend their political and
economic control outside their
territories:
o Belgium
o England
o France
o Portugal
o Spain
 Territories that were subjected to
Western domination:
o Africa
o Asia
o The Americas
o The Pacific
 The shift in the socioeconomic and
political landscapes also shaped how
Europeans interacted with foreign
peoples.
 Another form of migration significantly
affected the distribution of the human
population in the world.
IMPORTANT PERSONALITIES IN
ANTHROPOLOGY
Before anthropologist, earliest individuals who
inquired and investigated about “other”
cultures were:
o Museum collectors
o Physicians
o Historians
 Edward Burnett Tylor (1832-1917)
o “Father of Cultural Anthropology”
o Defined anthropology as the
“science of culture”
o Argued that culture can be studied
with proper methodology and
theoretical framework.
Book:
Primitive Culture (1871)
 Concept of unilineal cultural
evolution was introduced,
where culture is believed to
have progressed from one
stage to the other.
 Discussed animistic beliefs.
o The modern forms of religion
present in civilized societies are
mere survival of past cultures.
Animistic beliefs – belief in
innumerable spiritual beings concerned
with human affairs and capable of
helping or harming human interests.
 Lewis Henry Morgan
o Iroquois
Book:
League of the Ho-de-no-sau-nee or
Iroquois(1851)
 Documentation of the kinship
systems of the Iroquois.
3 stages of societal development:
o Savages – chiefly utilizing crude
technology.
o Barbaric – defined by the
metallurgy, domestication of
animals, and agriculture.
o Civilized – characterized by the
development and a system of
writing.
 Franz Boas
o “Father of American
Anthropology”
o Did not use science to justify
racism.
o Pioneered the importance of
actual framework rather than
the armchair anthropology.
 Armchair anthropology –
meant sitting and reading
the accounts that were
already written by travelers,
missionaries, and explorers
about cultures.
o Cultural Relativism
 Boas’ scientific method of
doing anthropological
research.
 Promotes the study if
people and their lifeways
based on the context of
their culture not the
researcher.
THE FIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
The American School
 Applied anthropology
o New sub discipline
o Uses the interdisciplinary
approach in resolving
contemporary issues or in
applying the discipline to
practical use.
 Biological/physical anthropology
o Engaged in understanding
human and their nature as an
animal species.
o Primatology – the study of the
behavior, biology, evolution,
and taxonomy or nonhuman
primates.
 Archaeology
o Branch of anthropology
o Attempts to reconstruct the
cultures of past civilizations and
of anthropology.
o Fossils – biological remains of
plants, animals, and human
species.
o Artifacts – man-made material
remains that human groups left.
 Linguistic anthropology
o Examines the relationship of
the language and culture of a
group of people.
Subfields:
o Historical linguistics - traces the
development and evolution of
languages.
o Descriptive linguistics – focuses
on understanding the syntax
and grammar of a particular
language.
 o Social linguistics – identifies
how worlds and their usage
represent the cultural norms of
a society.
 Cultural Anthropology
o Studies the lifeways and
traditions of human groups
which may include their belief
systems, economic activities,
material culture, and even
political system.
o Ethnography – holistic study of
one culture.
o Ethnology – cross-cultural
comparison.
KEY CONCEPTS IN ANTHROPOLOGY
 Evolutionism
o Charles Darwin
Book:
On the Origin of Species by
Natural Selection
 Highlight specific concepts
like natural selection and
gradualism.
o Theory of unilineal evolution –
states that human groups go
through stages of development
from simple to complex.
 Cultural Relativism
o Promotes a value-free analysis
of other cultures.
o Contrast to ethnocentrism
 Relies on the
anthropologist’s
background.
 Produces bias against local
culture.
 Culture
o Defined as “the totality of the
lifeways of a group of people
which may include their beliefs,
traditions, norms, and mores
that guide the behavior of
people within their society.”
o Can be tangible or intangible.
RESEARCH METHODS IN ANTHROPOLOGY
 Ethnography – describes culture, or one
of its segments based on interviews,
and through participation and
observation of the locals’ lifeways and
beliefs.
 Key informant interview – collects data
from individuals who are
knowledgeable in the topic.
 Judging sampling methods – visits the
community and have conversation and
referrals from the locals. (10-20
participants)
 Participant observation – the process
of actual daily encounters with the
locals of an anthropologist‘s are of
study. (takes 6 months – 1 year)
CURRENT APPLICATIONS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
 Applied anthropology – includes
forensic and medical anthropology.
 Forensic anthropology – concerned
with the identification of
unrecognizable remains of human that
may have been burned, mutilated, or
decomposed.
 Medical anthropology – concerned
with the process by which culture
influences people’s way of seeking
health care and well-being.
 Public anthropology – allows the
general population to access
anthropology explanations to issues.