01:070:111 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Margaret Mead, Participant Observation, Franz Boas
27 Mar 2018
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Document Summary
What people do in their culture is relative. Ethnological phenomena are the result of the physical and psychical character of men and of its development under the influence of its surroundings. Surroundings are the physical conditions of the country and the sociological phenomenal, i. e the relation of man to man. The history of the people, the influence of regions through which it has passed on its migrations, and the people with whom it came into contact, must be considered. Historical particularism- refers to the idea that understanding a physical phenomenon can only be explained by analyzing its history. The present gives way to the past which dictates the future. Culture relativism- recognizing that culture and people need to be judged by their own terms, not ours. Empiricism (with skepticism of attempts to formulate scientific laws of culture . Cultural relativism as a methodological tool while conducting fieldwork. Study literate and nonliterate societies in the same way.
