The universal and the particular

The universal and the particular

Ryan Schram

ANTH 1001: Introduction to anthropology

Wednesday, February 26, 2020 (Week 1)

Available at http://anthro.rschram.org/1001/2020/1.1.2

Required readings

Thomas Hylland Eriksen “Anthropology: Comparison and Context,” in Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology (London: Pluto Press, 2015), 1–11.

Thomas Hylland Eriksen “A Brief History of Anthropology,” in Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology (London: Pluto Press, 2015), 12–31.

Anthropology is holistic. What does that mean?

Google “define holistic” and you get

holistic /həʊˈlɪstɪk,hɒˈlɪstɪk/ adjective

The opposite of a holistic explanation is a reductionist explanation, which would describe something in terms of a single, ultimate origin.

People are the same and different

For instance, I argue that everything about human beings can be located somewhere in a space with two dimensions, like a Cartesian plane.

The horizontal dimension is better labeled as “particular” on the right (+) and “universal” on the left (-).

The vertical axis is better labeled as “acquired” on the top (+) and “innate” on the bottom (-).

Human life in a two-dimensional space

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Q

uadrant II (top left) contains all the traits that are <html><strong></html>universal<html></strong></html> and <html><strong></html>acquired<html></strong></html> [-,+]. <HTML

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uadrant I (top right) contains all the traits that are <html><strong></html>particular<html></strong></html> to groups of people and also <html><strong></html>acquired<html></strong></html> by them [+,+]. <HTML

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uadrant III (bottom left) contains all the traits that <html><strong></html>universal<html></strong></html> and <html><strong></html>innate<html></strong></html> [-,-]. <HTML

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uadrant IV (bottom right) contains all the traits that are <html><strong></html>particular<html></strong></html> and <html><strong></html>innate<html></strong></html> [+,-]. <HTML

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Y

ou can see a version of this table on page 54 of (Eriksen 2015c).

Quiz! (Or, rather, Survey!)

Let’s take a survey in the Canvas section for quizzes.

Go on the class Canvas site now. Go to Quizzes and take the in-lecture survey for today, February 26. (Scroll down for the “Surveys” section on the Quizzes page.)

This question does not have a right answer. We are using the question as a survey to see what you all think.

The key word is “culture”

Many, many things people do are acquired patterns, and are particular to their environment. They are cultural, not natural.

Examples:

Taking back the culture concept

Culture is often an overused word. For anthropologists who are interested in the acquired and the particular, it is often a misused word. This class is about taking back the word culture.

References

Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. 2015a. “A Brief History of Anthropology.” In Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology, 12–31. London: Pluto Press.

———. 2015b. “Anthropology: Comparison and Context.” In Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology, 1–11. London: Pluto Press.

———. 2015c. Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology. London: Pluto Press.

Rosaldo, Michelle Z. 1984. “Toward an Anthropology of Self and Feeling.” In Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self and Emotion, edited by Richard A. Shweder and Robert A. LeVine, 137–57. Cambridge University Press.

Rosaldo, Renato. (1989) 2009. “Grief and a Headhunter’s Rage.” In Death, Mourning, and Burial: A Cross-Cultural Reader, edited by Antonius C. G. M. Robben, 167–78. Malden, Mass.: John Wiley & Sons.

A guide to the unit

 

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