Is Anthropology Possible?

Authors:

DOI: 10.23880/aeoaj-16000259

Volume 8, Issue 2

Abstract

A fundamental premise of anthropology is that humans see, experience, and act in the world on the foundation of concepts, beliefs, and values—their “world view”—given to them by their culture and society; and that, therefore, in different cultures and societies, people see, experience, and act in the world differently. Given that anthropologists themselves begin with their own world view, how, then, do they come to understand a world view based on differing concepts, beliefs, and values? Their own world view limits the differences they can find in the world views of others. In addition, there is extensive evidence that human infants worldwide develop basic foundations for a world view prior to the acquisition of language. This foundation is thus innate. While world views may differ in detail from society to society, differences are constrained by processes by which humans come to know each other and by the innate roots of the human mind.

Keywords: Anthropology, People, Beliefs, Values, Society, Knowledge, Ethics

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