Questions and Answers
What is the primary goal of cultural relativism in anthropology?
What is the opposite of ethnocentrism?
What is a potential challenge of cultural relativism?
What is the methodological role of cultural relativism in anthropology?
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What is a key goal of anthropology in relation to cultural relativism?
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What is the name of the astronaut who is mentioned in the context of cultural relativism?
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What is the etymology of the term 'culture'?
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What is the definition of culture according to the text?
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Who developed the Geertzian Concept of Culture?
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What is one of the challenges of the Geertzian Concept of Culture?
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How does culture affect the way we perceive nature?
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What is the process by which a child learns their culture?
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What is an example of how culture affects the way we express biological urges?
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What is the primary focus of anthropology?
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What is an example of cultural advances overcoming natural limitations?
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What is ethnocentrism?
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What is the purpose of comparative fieldwork in anthropology?
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Which of the following is a key comparative concept in anthropology?
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What is a potential obstacle to understanding in anthropology?
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What is the goal of anthropologists in balancing the universal and the particular?
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What is a common feature of anthropological fieldwork?
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Which of the following is NOT a field of anthropology?
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Study Notes
Anthropology: Definition and Scope
- Anthropology is the comparative study of cultural and social life using participant observation and ethnographic fieldwork.
Four Fields of Anthropology
- Sociocultural
- Biological
- Archeological
- Linguistic
The Universal and the Particular
- Anthropology seeks to understand the diversity of human social life by balancing the study of similarities and differences across cultures.
- Debate: to what extent all human cultures share common features (universality) versus the degree to which each culture is unique (relativism).
Key Comparative Concepts
- Kinship system
- Gender role
- System of inheritance
Ethnocentrism
- Definition: evaluating other cultures from one's own vantage-point and describing them in one's own terms.
- Placing one's cultural values at the center makes others appear as inferior imitations of oneself.
- Serious obstacle to understanding.
Cultural Relativism
- Definition: each culture has its own unique logic and shouldn't be ranked against others.
- Essential for understanding other societies without bias.
- Implies all cultural practices are equally good, potentially leading to nihilism.
- Anthropologists practice cultural relativism professionally but have personal moral beliefs.
Configuring Anthropology and Its History
- Anthropology is a method for studying and comparing societies without using a developmental scale.
- Helps identify unique and shared aspects of human societies.
Culture: Definition and Concept
- Etymology: comes from Latin 'colere', meaning to cultivate.
- Complex: over 160 definitions, contested for decades.
- “Abilities, notions and forms of behavior persons have acquired as members of society.”
- Ambiguous term: universal human trait, and systematic differences between humans.
Geertzian Concept of Culture
- Developed by Clifford Geertz in the 1960s and 1970s.
- Depicts culture as: an integrated whole, a system of shared meanings within a group.
- Challenges: variations within groups, globalization's impact on cultural boundaries.
Culture and Nature
- Interaction with Biological Urges: culture teaches expression of natural urges (e.g., eating, eliminating wastes).
- Culture affects the ways in which we perceive nature, human nature, and “the natural.”
Culture is Learned
- Enculturation: process by which a child learns their culture.
- Methods: direct teaching, observation and imitation.
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Description
This quiz explores the role of women in the workforce and the definition of anthropology, including its etymology and research methods.