Questions tagged [anthropology]
Questions about the study of human societies and cultures.
21 questions
10
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Does the current “ruling ontology” deny any possibility of a social causation of mental illness?
Mark Fisher in his book Capitalist Realism writes:
The current ruling ontology denies any possibility of a social causation of mental illness.
Fisher then goes on to say that the construct of “...
- 358
9
votes
8
answers
4k
views
Is it true that a technological society has to weaken family ties and local communities if it is to function efficiently?
From The Unabomber Manifesto by Ted Kaczynski:
The breakdown of traditional values to some extent implies the breakdown of the bonds that hold together traditional small-scale social groups. The ...
- 349
3
votes
2
answers
324
views
Sociological-philosophical theories of society’s tendencies to react against itself, inescapably biased in some way
Basically, in case it comes up, I mean something more than Hegelian (?) “dialectic”, an idea of society or knowledge moving forward through refutation, synthesis, progress.
I am thinking about how ...
- 5,502
3
votes
2
answers
312
views
What is the distinction between "experimental philosophy" and Anthropology?
My first thought is simply 'time frame', but then Anthropology isn't exactly bound to the past...
A second look makes me wonder if "experimental philosophy" is not simply some area of overlap between ...
- 2,493
3
votes
1
answer
206
views
Psychoanalytic anthropology
How did Freud explain the phylogenesis of mankind? I am having a hard time understanding the perpetual cycle that he speaks of.
On my most likely faulty interpretation, the most dominant male ...
- 31
3
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Definition of social personality from Dennett still working with digital Identities?
I am not sure how familiar you are with the definition of social personality from Dennett. It consits of 6 steps, like you can read here.
(1) persons are rational. (2) they are the subjects of ...
- 153
3
votes
1
answer
130
views
References regarding the relationship between Horkheimer-Adorno and ethnology
I'm reading Horkheimer and Adorno's Dialectic of Enlightenment (1947) and in the first chapter the authors refer to mana.
Are there some references regarding the relations of H&A with ethnology: ...
- 54.4k
2
votes
4
answers
925
views
What makes something a tool?
Bataille write about tools in his Theory of Religion. For example,
As one can see, I have placed tool and the manufactured object on the same plane, the reason being that the tool is first of all a ...
- 393
2
votes
5
answers
851
views
Why are the "problem of human being" and philosophical anthropology absent from contemporary anglophone philosophy?
I did a search in Google Scholar and it looks like in contemporary anglophone philosophy there's no problem of human being (problem of man, das Problem des Menschen), no significant studies of ...
2
votes
1
answer
426
views
Is the doomsday argument flawed?
Through the doomsday argument people try to calculate the number of humans that will ever live based only on the number of humans that have lived until now. To me this arguments seems very flawed, but ...
- 131
2
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Are humans artifacts?
In the beginning of the SEP article on artifacts, the following is said straight away:
An artifact may be defined as an object that has been intentionally made or produced for a certain purpose.
...
- 1,124
2
votes
3
answers
254
views
Are children naturally religious or is it inherited? [closed]
It seems to me that religion and a belief in God is merely a cultural artefact inherited from those around us. If no one on Earth was religious, would our children seek out some sort of belief in a ...
- 39
2
votes
1
answer
186
views
Has anything been written to add to Taussig's work on shamanism?
Taussig is a contemporary anthropologist, who has worked on 'shamanism'. Apparently.
He seeks to do away with the idea of the shaman as someone who has been individualised through unity of self and ...
user6917
2
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Why do tribe members cover their private parts [closed]
I find it perfectly logical, that the humans felt cold and began to wear clothes. However, In many tribes in Africa, South America and Asia, where the traditional clothing is a Loincloth only, which ...
- 121
1
vote
1
answer
76
views
The idea of recording an exact conversation
In a post on whether or not Socrates actually said the things in the dialogues (post linked to here), one of the answers made the following statement:
This, however, should not surprise us because ...
- 311