ANT 201 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Edward Burnett Tylor, Neoevolutionism, Western Culture
Document Summary
Debate over whether anthropology is a science (like biology) Some anthropologists believe fieldwork = data; science guides investigations. Views of people"s culture being studied is not enough information. Each culture is unique because of different pasts. Because objectivity is impossible, the term data is misleading. Debate over who can legitimately describe different cultures. European established colonies in africa, asia, and americas. Earliest tools: stone // later tools: bronze and iron. Three ages: stone age, bronze age, iron age. Until mid-1800s: people considered everything in terms of a biblical account of world creation/human history. Mid-19th century: geology + biology lead to a new worldview about life (scientific worldview) Written accounts left by westerners who visited other lands. Unilineal evolutionism: the 19th century theoretical orientation that held that all human ways of life pass through a similar sequence of states in their development. Investigated origins + development of religions beliefs. Religious beliefs originated out of attempts to explain experiences (i. e. death)
