ANTH 3020 Midterm: ANTH 3020 midterm review
29 Nov 2016
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ANTH 3020: Midterm Review
Samuel George Morton: 1799-1851
• Physician who compared the skulls and brains of different races
o He linked cranial shape and size with moral and intellectual ability (phrenology)
o He created a ranking scheme that placed large “Caucasian” brains at the top
o Influential as understanding race as a biological construct
▪ Caucasian, Mongolian, Malay, American, Ethipian
Craniometry:
• The scientific measurement of skulls, especially in relation to phrenology
Presentism:
• Banton warns of the danger of presentism as being the interpretation of views in terms of
perspective and context of a later period.
• “…As new modes of explanation of human variation have arisen, so the word ‘race’ has
been used in new ways, but the old uses have continued side-by-side”.
The Great Chain of Being:
• A widespread ancient out look , philosophy and metaphor for a divinely inspired
universal hierarchy- ranking all forms of higher and lower life
o God > Angel > Heaven > Human > Beast > Plant > Flame >Stone > The ladder
of intellect
▪ The belief that everything in the universe, particularly all life forms can be
arranged into a hierarchy from simplest to most complex.
▪ In the category of human white men while beasts referred to blacks and
natives
Decent vs. Types:
•
Monogenism:
• Meaning single source: mono + genie
• the theory of human origins which posits a common decent for all human races.
o following the bible, believed that all human beings were decedents of a single
primal pair – Adam and Eve
o The neglect of monogenism is polygenism
Polygenism:
• Meaning multiple sources: poly + genie
o Theory that humans evolved from several independent pairs of ancestors
o Also professed adherence to the bible- held that the story of the bible was only
the story of white people , and that the various major human races are thus
actually a separate species with different creation stories.
Comte De Buffon 1707- 1788 =Theory of Degeneration:
• 19th century influential concept at the crossroads of social and biological sciences
o The idea that civilization might be in decline and that the causes of decline lay
in biological change.
Linnaeus: 1707-1787
• Swedish botanist who formalized the modern system of naming organisms- taxonomy
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• Traditionall- rank based scientific classification
• Devised the formal two-part naming system we use to classify all living things
o Pushed the science of biology to new heights by classifying homo sapien-sapiens
in the same way that he classified all lifeforms.
▪ Other people of the time demanded that humans be classified separately as
special cases in biology, different from animals.
o 4-part classification:
▪ Europus, Americanus, Asiaticus, Africanus
Johann Friedrich Blumenbach: 1752-1840
• Expanded on the work of Carl Linnaeus- he introduced one of the race based
classifications in On the Natural Variety of Mankind- birth of othe scientific concept of
race
o 5 Categories:
▪ Caucasian, the white race
▪ Mongolian, the yellow race
▪ Malayan, the brown race
▪ Ethiopian, the black race
▪ American, the red race
o Although he retained geographical names for his categories, the changes from his
previous 4 categories marked a shift from geography to physical appearance.
Georges Cuvier: 1769-1832
• “Father of Paleontology”- his work is considered the foundation of vertebra paleontology.
• Cuvier believed that here were 3 races: Caucasian, Mongolian and Ethiopian- adam and
eve were white and the other 2 races were born from survivors escaping a major
catastrophe to different places that hit earth 5000 years ago, with survivors living in
isolation of each other- birth of catastrophism
o These divisions he called race and ranked them as Caucasians being the most
beautiful and Ethiopians being the least beautiful.
▪ “the white race, with oval faces , straight hair and noses, to which the
civilized people of Europe belong to and which appear to us the most
beautiful of all , is also superior to others by its genius, courage and
activity.”
▪ “… is marked by black complexion , crisped woolly hair, compressed
cranium and a flat nose. The projection of the lower parts of the face , and
the thick lips, evidently approximate it to the monkey tribe: the hordes of
which I always remain in the most complete state of barbarism”
o Held a polygenism stance. Fixity of species; limits on environmental influence,
unchanging, underlying type; anatomical and cranial measurement differences in
races; physical and mental differences b/w distinct races.
• As a surgeon for Napoleon Bonaparte, Cuvier received Sarah Baartman after she was
taken to paris and given to a travelling circus where she was subject to scientific study-
one of the scientists was Cuvier who was fascinated by her “ape-like” features.
Immanuel Kant: 1702-1804
• Race as a permanent type
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o construction of race as a fixed category of human identity followed the reason and
scientific phenomenon of his time and was constructed through what he defined
as taxonomy
o Kant’s taxonomy illustrates that race is perpetuated through socio-biological
dispositions developed through variations that follow what he believes to be
natural law.
o He cites racial difference as reduced to the fact that there are sets of natural
biological deviations that spawn from a single human genus that constitute the
entire human race. These deviations are varied through hereditary traits
Arthur de Gobineau: 1816- 1882
• Races is a heirachy of fixed attrivutes
o “..the various branches of the human family are distinguishable by permanent
and ineradicable differences, both mentally and physically . they are unequal in
intellectual capacity, in personal beauty, and in physical strength”
Fraz Joseph Gall 1758-1828
• Phrenology: the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed
indicator of character and mental abilies.
Biological Determinism:
• Refers to the idea that all human behaviour is innate, determined by genes, brain size, or
other biological attributes
o In contrast to Cultural determinism that believes that the culture in which we’re
raised determines who we are at an emotional and behavioural level- opposes
believe that biologically inherent traits are what dominate human nature
Lewis Henry Morgan 1818- 1881:
• Ancient society: Interested in what holds societies together, he proposed the concept that
the earliest human domestic institution was the matrilineal clan, not
the patriarchal family.
o Morgan develops his theory of social evolution, namely the three stages of human
progress, i.e., from Savagery through Barbarism to Civilization.
E.B Taylor 1832- 1917:
• Founder of cultural anthropology
o Taylor maintained that all societies passed through three basic stages of
development: from savagery, through barbarism to civilization.
James G. Frazer 1854- 1941:
• His most famous work, The Golden Bough (1890), documents and details the similarities
among magical and religious beliefs around the globe. Frazer posited that human belief
progressed through three stages: primitive magic, replaced by religion, in turn replaced
by science.
Franz Boas 1858- 1942:
• “Father of American Anthropology”
o Boas was one of the most prominent opponents of the then popular ideologies
of scientific racism, the idea that race is a biological concept and that human
behavior is best understood through the typology of biological characteristics
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Craniometry: the scientific measurement of skulls, especially in relation to phrenology. In the category of human white men while beasts referred to blacks and natives. Comte de buffon 1707- 1788 =theory of degeneration: 19th century influential concept at the crossroads of social and biological sciences, the idea that civilization might be in decline and that the causes of decline lay in biological change. Fraz joseph gall 1758-1828: phrenology: the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indicator of character and mental abilies. E. b taylor 1832- 1917: founder of cultural anthropology, taylor maintained that all societies passed through three basic stages of development: from savagery, through barbarism to civilization. James g. frazer 1854- 1941: his most famous work, the golden bough (1890), documents and details the similarities among magical and religious beliefs around the globe. Frazer posited that human belief progressed through three stages: primitive magic, replaced by religion, in turn replaced by science.
