Anthropology

Anthropology (/ænθrɵˈpɒlədʒi/) is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος), "human being", and -logia (-λογία), "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German philosopher Magnus Hundt.

Anthropology's basic concerns are "What defines Homo sapiens?", "Who are the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens?", "What are humans' physical traits?", "How do humans behave?", "Why are there variations and differences among different groups of humans?", "How has the evolutiona Anthropology (/ænθrɵˈpɒlədʒi/) is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος), "human being", and -logia (-λογία), "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German philosopher Magnus Hundt.

Anthropology's basic concerns are "What defines Homo sapiens?", "Who are the ancestors of modern Homo sapiens?", "What are humans' physical traits?", "How do humans behave?", "Why are there variations and differences among different groups of humans?", "How has the evolutionary past of Homo sapiens influenced its social organization and culture?" and so forth.

In the United States, contemporary anthropology is typically divided into four sub-fields: cultural anthropology also known as social anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and physical (or biological) anthropology. The four-field approach to anthropology is reflected in many undergraduate textbooks as well as anthropology programs (e.g. Michigan, Berkeley, Penn). At universities in the United Kingdom, and much of Europe, these "sub-fields" are frequently housed in separate departments and are seen as distinct disciplines.

The social and cultural sub-field has been heavily influenced by structuralist and post-modern theories, as well as a shift toward the analysis of modern societies (an arena more typically in the remit of sociologists). During the 1970s and 1990s there was an epistemological shift away from the positivist traditions that had largely informed the discipline.During this shift, enduring questions about the nature and production of knowledge came to occupy a central place in cultural and social anthropology. In contrast, archaeology, biological anthropology, and linguistic anthropology remained largely positivist. Due to this difference in epistemology, anthropology as a discipline has lacked cohesion over the last several decades. This has even led to departments diverging, for example in the 1998–9 academic year at Stanford University, where the "scientists" and "non-scientists" divided into two departments: anthropological sciences and cultural & social anthropology; these departments later reunified in the 2008–9 academic year. ...more

New Releases Tagged "Anthropology"

How to Kill a Language: Power, Resistance, and the Race to Save Our Words

Magnifica Humanitas: Lettre encyclique sur la protection de la personne humaine à l’ère de l’intelligence artificielle

Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World

Most Read This Week Tagged "Anthropology"

Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity

Proto: How One Ancient Language Went Global

Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution

The Bone Hacker (Temperance Brennan, #22)

Pathogenesis: A History of the World in Eight Plagues

Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations

Estuve aquí y me acordé de nosotros: Una historia sobre turismo, trabajo y clase (Nuevos cuadernos Anagrama, #61)

Native Nations: A Millennium in North America

Unstoppable Us, Volume 1: How Humans Took Over the World

Peak Human: What We Can Learn from History's Greatest Civilisations

More most read this week tagged "anthropology"...

Anthropology Books

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies

The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation

More anthropology books...

Lists

The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins

Curious Minds

184 books — 156 voters

Ley Lines, Ancient Roads, and Nemeta in Fiction

66 books — 10 voters

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick

Philosophical Science Fiction

473 books — 460 voters

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson

A Brief History of Time by Stephen W. Hawking

Big History

272 books — 112 voters

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony

480 books — 173 voters

In Search of Respect by Philippe Bourgois

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

Death Without Weeping by Nancy Scheper-Hughes

Argonauts of the Western Pacific by Bronisław Malinowski

Good Ethnography

141 books — 103 voters

Related Genres

Nonfiction
Archeology

Featured News & Interviews

It’s Literally Summer! 93 Topical Titles for Your Seasonal Reading List.

Read »

Quotes Tagged “Anthropology”

“ The task of the modern era was the realization and humanization of God – the transformation and dissolution of theology into anthropology. ”
― Ludwig Feuerbach, Principles of the Philosophy of the Future

17 likes

“ If two people stare at each other for more than a few seconds, it means they are about to either make love or fight. Something similar might be said about human societies. If two nearby societies are in contact for any length of time, they will either trade or fight. The first is non-zero-sum social integration, and the second ultimately brings it. ”
― Robert Wright

63 likes

More quotes...