ANTH 201 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Edward Burnett Tylor, Human Behavioral Ecology, Trobriand Islands
16 Sep 2016
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Document Summary
Tylor- father of anthropology influenced by darwin"s survival of the fittest and evolution. All culture passes through 3 stages (unilinear evolution: savagery- no agriculture, wild food only. Least rational : barbarism- primitive form of agriculture. More rational : civilization- some form of written language. Believed culture was rational and all people had equal intellectual capacity/potential (psychic unity of mankind) Historical particularism- culture is the result of traits coming together by historical accident. Had to stay on trobriand islands during ww1. Symbolic/ interpretive anthropology: all behavior is symbolic and the goal is to try to understand the meaning behind observed behavior. Evolutionary psychology/ human behavioral ecology: based on how natural selection affects how we think and act.
