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The Nature of Anthropology
Nature/Nurture Controversy
Plato
The Rulers, Plato said, must tell the people of the city “The Noble Lie”--that
In his best
known tract,
"The Republic,"
Plato
347 BC) described a
the categories
of Rulers,
Auxiliaries,
Farmers, etc.
was(427
not BC
due–toca.
circumstances
city whose
inhabitants
were
organized or
into
categories:
Rulers,
within
the people's
control,
upbringing,
education,
butThe
because
of Auxiliaries,
God's
Farmers, etc.
Thethe
Rulers,
he said,
be chosen
fromiron
the into
military
(called
intervention.
God,
Lie went,
hadwould
put gold,
silver, and
eachelite
person’s
soul,
Guardians)
because
they were
good at station
shepherding
and
those metals
determined
a person's
in life and
. caring for the interest of the
community.
The Auxiliaries
would be
in training.
The Lie is necessary,
Plato argues,
in Guardians
order to keep
a stable social structure. In
The Rulers
told the
of the city
that iffed
their
ownmasses
children
Plato’s mind,
The Noble
Liepeople
is a religious
lie that’s
to the
to were
keep found
with
bronze
orcontrol
iron in and
theirhappy
soul, the
dropindown
the ranks
accordingly.
them
under
withchild
theirwould
situation
life. Plato
did not
believe
And
if apeople
farmer’s
child
wasenough
born with
goldafter
in his
soul,own
he would
rise upbest
to the
most
were
smart
to look
their
and society’s
Guardian
Thesmart
Rulerspeople
also said
people
different
metals
in their
blood
interest.level.
The few
of the
worldhad
needed
to lead
the rest
of the
flock,
stream,
Plato and
said.therefore
And The could
Noblenot
Lieintermarry.
had to continue.
The Nature of Anthropology
Nature/Nurture Controversy
Aristotle (384-322 B.C.)

Whereas Aristotle's teacher Plato had located ultimate reality in
Ideas or eternal forms, knowable only through reflection and
reason, Aristotle saw ultimate reality in physical objects,
knowable through experience.

Aristotle emphasized experience (nurture) in forging human
behavior.
The Nature of Anthropology
An artifact of late 19th Century Western Civilization
The Beginning of Anthropology
Shift in Weltanschauung
from idea that human
Weltanschauung
beings are “apart from nature” to the idea that
we are “a part of nature.”
Just a little shift in prepositions!
Charles Darwin exemplifies this shift….
The Beginning of Anthropology
The Enlightenment
Precursors
John Locke (1632-1704)
Locke's metaphor of the tabula rasa, "white paper” illustrates his
idea that, without experience, no characters are written on the
"tablets" of the mind; except through the "windows" of sensation
and reflection, no light enters the understanding. No ideas are
innate; and there is no source
George
of new
Berkeley
simple(1685-1753)
ideas other than those
two. (Currently under challenge….Sociobiology, Evolutionary Psychology,
Behavioral
Genetics)
idealism:
nothing,
including material objects, exists apart from perception;
external objects are ultimately collections of ideas and sensations
The Beginning of Anthropology
The Enlightenment
Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)
When in the Course of human events, it becomes
Jean-Jacques
(1712-1778)
necessary for oneRousseau
people to dissolve
the political bands
which haveonconnected
them
with
and to
Discourses
the Sciences
and
theanother,
Arts (1751)
assume
among
the powers
ofGoethe
the
earth,
the separate
Johann
Wolfgang
(1749-1832)
A Discourse
upon
thevon
Origin
and
Foundation
of the Inequality Among
and equal(1755)
station
to which
of Discourse
Nature and of
Mankind
- known
as the
the Laws
Second
“We
seeentitle
only what
know.”respect to the
Nature's
God
them,we
a decent
opinions
of mankind
The Social
Contractrequires
(1762) that they should declare
the causes which impel them to the separation.
The Beginning of Anthropology
Other disciplines with similar origins:
Sociology - Auguste Comte 1798-1857;
Emil Durkheim (1858-1917)
Economics - Adam Smith (1723-1790);
David Ricardo (1772-1823);
Karl Marx (1818-1883)
Psychology - Wilhelm Wündt (1832-1920;
Wm. James (1842-1910)
Anthropometry
Physical
Primatology
Osteology Human Genetics
Cultural
Ethnography
Ethnology
Linguistics
Social Anthropology
Archeology
Forensic Anthropology
Anthropometry
Google: Anthropometry
Biometrics
One of the earliest specialties
Concerned with empirical
description of many aspects
of the human physical
condition…..
height; weight; skin pigmentation; skull
shape; girth; ratios of measurements,
Never
good source
of theory…has
i.e. the aCephalic
Index.
been mainly descriptive…important
part of modern science of ergonomics.
Osteology
Until
recently
our
knowledge
of to
osteology
has
Tibia
Study
(shinbone)
of
bone….in
provides
anthropology
a
model
with
Now recognized in prevention of osteoporosis
been
relatively
ignored
illustrate
emphasis
the
process
on
of
primates
boneofdevelopment:
and in identification
human remains.
(i.e. Clyde Snow and Forensic Anthropology)
At
birth,
skeleton
is very
small
andaonly
There
arehuman
two
kinds
of tibia
bone
cells….essentially
Long
bones
such
as
the
grow
the way
treehard,
partially
calcified….the
skullone
and
other
as
outer bone
cells
thatthe
overlap
another,
andsuch
a soft,
grows…that
is from
ends.
Using
databones
from
the
tibiainterior
consist of a cartilaginous
model, along
and proceed
spongy
whosetocells
develop
stress
various
bones, it bone
is possible
determine
with some
to
harden
as calcification
proceeds
withapproximate
age.
lines
and
provide
housing
for marrow.
degree
of confidence
such things
as the
age, sex, population group, represented. Based on
skeletal material alone, positive I.D. is rare.
Primatology
Study of Primates
Beforestudies
the 1930’s
knowledge of free ranging
Early
included:
primates was riddled with “sea stories.”
Clarence
Ray Carpenter’s
of HowlerGorilla.
Monkeys on Barrio Colorado
Harol\
Bingham’s
studies ofstudies
the Mountain
island in the Panama Canal Zone.
These were essentially studies in comparative psychology
that employed anthropological field techniques….These
studies were interrupted by WWII.
Primatology
Among these were:
After the war studies of free ranging primates
were resumed with renewed vigor.
Jane
studies of
among
the Chimpanzees
DianGoodall’s
Fossey’s studies
Mountain
Gorillas in
ofRuwanda’s
the GombeVolcanic
Stream Preserve
NE Tanzania.
National in
Park.
Human Genetics
“Bokanovsky's Process,’ repeated the Director, and
the students underlined the words in their little
notebooks.
One egg, one embryo, one adult-normality. But a
bokanovskified egg will bud, will proliferate, will
divide. From eight to ninety-six buds, and every bud
will grow into a perfectly formed embryo, and every
embryo into a full-sized adult. Making ninety-six
human beings grow where only one grew before.”
-----Brave New World
Aldous Huxley
wrote Brave New World
in four months in 1931.
Human Genetics
aka Population Genetics (Microevolution)
Species
Largest set of individuals who can mate
with one another with genetically viable
offspring as a result.
Human Genetics
aka Population Genetics (Microevolution)
Population
(Mendelian population;
breeding population)
Set of individuals who mate with one
another more often than with others.
Human Genetics
Barriers that divide species into populations:
Geographic barriers
Temporal barriers
Psychological barriers
Sociocultural barriers
Human Genetics
The total genetic material of a population is
the Gene Pool of that population.
Evolution is operationally defined as change
in the composition of a gene pool.
Human Genetics
Processes that effect changes in composition of gene pools:
Genetic Drift/Sewell Wright Effect
(founder’s principle is related)
Natural Selection
(i.e. Kettelwell’s pepperback moth study)
Mutation
Cross breeding
Cultural Anthropology
Ethnography
Ethnology
Social Anthropology
Linguistics
Forensic Anthropology
Archaeology
Psychological Anthropology
Ethnography
(ethnos, a people+graphos, a writing)
An attempt to give an accurate, objective,
valid, reliable account of the way of life
of a specific group of people.
This is the basic descriptive level of cultural
anthropology.
Participant Observation is major feature.
Laura Tamakoshi’s (above) work in New Guinea is another.
Margaret Mead’s work with the Samoans is a good example.
(Margaret Mead also worked in New Guinea.)
Ethnology
(ethnos, people+logos, word)
An attempt to give an accurate, objective,
valid, reliable account of the way of life
of a larger set of people.
The Science of Culture.
E.B. Tylor,AFranz
higherBoas
level of generalization….
Ethnologists try to find patterns of behavior that
are common to the various groups under
investigation.
The Comparative Method is an important tool.
Cultural Universals…cultural traits manifest in religion
some way in all cultures under study.
language
kinship systems
Social Anthropology
Area of anthropology most
like sociology.
Differs mainly on areas of emphasis
and the professional identification
of the individual.
Social Anthropology
Social
anthropologists
been
Sociologists
have been have
concerned
concerned
mainly
with
mainly
with
own
society.
Kinship and Descent
traditional society.
Be sure to use the supplemental Powerpoint
presentation for more information on social anthropology topics
such as kinship and descent, geneaological space, kin types and
terms, etc.
Linguistics
Study of Language
Language is a system of vocal symbols
by means of which human beings interact in
terms of their culture.
Be sure to use the supplemental Powerpoint
presentation “05WHATDO” for more on morphemes, the 3
“S’s” of language, different specialties, etc.
Forensic Anthropology
Application of anthropology to law.
Clyde Snow, Laura Fulginiti, Gill
King, Kathleen Reichs
Archaeology (Archeology)
Set of techniques and methods to
study material remains.
Prehistoric (before writing)
Paleoanthropology
Historic
(depends on writing)
Garbage Project (U. of Arizona)
Psychological Anthropology
Largely began as “Culture and Personality”
Margaret Mead and Ruth Benedict
Has morphed into much broader areas:
Martha McClintock’s work on menstrual synchrony
New think tank at UTD called antÉ…..
Institute for Research in Anticipatory Systems