ANTH 206 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Franz Boas, Social System, Environmental Determinism
5 Feb 2016
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Document Summary
Anthropologists make the unfamiliar familiar and the familiar unfamiliar. Culture is a complex whole which includes: knowledge belief art. Morals law custom any other capabilities/habits acquired by man as member of a society. Material culture = subsistence strategies and technologies developed by humans as they adapt to environmental conditions in their localities. Symbolic culture = the information (cognitive, emotive, etc. ) that one must know to act effectively in the environment. Environmental determinism is the view that environmental and material conditions determine culture. Ex: ppl wear jackets cuz it"s cold, so climate determines ppl"s behavior. Therefore, it"s not just what is explained by environmental factors oversimplification. Culture does entertain some relations with the environment, of course, but not exclusively (it"s not the only thing that shapes culture). Climatic determinism is the belief that the climate shapes man"s progress (huntington), shaped his history.
