ANTHROPOLOGICAL

PERSPECTIVE

GROUP 3​
PRESENTATION TITLE

W H AT I S
ANTHROPOLOGICAL
PERSPECTIVE?

Anthropology is the study of people, past and present, that

focuses on understanding the human condition both
culturally and biologically. Other than culture concept,
Anthropology has different distinctive ways of thinking
about the world, human cultures, societies, and people.
Anthropological Perspective focuses on the study of the full
scope of human diversity and the application of that
knowledge to help people of different backgrounds.

2
 W H Y I S I T I M P O RTA N T ?

 Some of the aspects of the Anthropological Perspective are

culture, cultural relativism, fieldwork, human diversity,
holism, biocultural focus. The four main perspectives of
Anthropology are the cross-cultural or comparative
emphasis, its evolutionary/historical emphasis, its ecological
emphasis, and its holistic emphasis (Dudgeon). From an
anthropological perspective, these concepts are related to
each other and they are also seen as integrated with one
another.

3
 FOUR MAIN
PERSPECTIVES OF
ANTHROPOLOGY
 1 . C R O S S - C U LT U R A L O R
C O M PA R AT I V E E M P H A S I S

2 . E V O L U T I O N A RY / H I S T O R I C A L
EMPHASIS

3. ECOLOGICAL EMPHASIS

4. HOLISTIC EMPHASIS (DUDGEON).

5
CROSS-CULTURAL OR
COMPARATIVE
EMPHASIS
 CROSS-CULTURAL OR
COMPARATIVE EMPHASIS
Cross-cultural studies involve the
systematic comparisons of different
cultures that aim to understand
variations of human behavior as it is
influenced by cultural context. This
research approach is primarily
concerned with examining how our
knowledge about people and their
behaviors from one culture may or
may not hold for people from another
7
culture.
EVOLUTIONARY/HISTORICAL
EMPHASIS
 EVOLUTIONAR
Y/HISTORICAL
EMPHASIS
Evolutionary anthropology studies
both the biological  and the cultural
evolution of humans, past and
present. Based on a scientific
approach, it brings together fields
such as archaeology, behavioral
ecology, psychology, primatology,
and genetics. As a dynamic and
interdisciplinary field, it draws on
many lines of evidence to
understand the human experience ,
9 past and present.
ECOLOGICAL EMPHASIS
 ECOLOGICAL
EMPHASIS
Ecological anthropology focuses
upon the complex
relations between people and
their environment. Human
populations have ongoing
contact with and impact upon the
land, climate, plant and animal
species in their vicinities, and
these elements of
their environment have
reciprocal impacts on humans

11
HOLISTIC EMPHASIS
 HOLISTIC EMPHASIS

Holism is the perspective on the human

condition that assumes that mind, body,
individuals, society, and the environment
interpenetrate, and even define one another. In
anthropology holism tries to integrate all that is
known about human beings and their activities.
From a holistic perspective, attempts to divide
reality into mind and matter isolate and pin
down certain aspects of a process that, by very
nature, resists isolation and dissection. Holism
holds great appeal for those who seek a theory
of human nature that is rich enough to do
justice to its complex subject matter.
13
THANK YOU