The Perspective for Fundamental Research in Anthropology
| Autor: | Gene Weltfish |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 1956 |
| Předmět: | |
| Zdroj: | Philosophy of Science. 23:63-73 |
| ISSN: | 1539-767X 0031-8248 |
| DOI: | 10.1086/287462 |
| Popis: | I. Anthropology as Culture-History-Culture Philosophy and/or "Social Engineering". It has become a matter of concern, especially to older anthropologists that the character of the subject appears to have changed radically and that certain vital aspects of it may be completely submerged or divorced from the rest to the genuine detriment of the science. I should like to describe a situation that occurred about two years ago that will illustrate my point. In the graduate seminar at Columbia, A. L. Kroeber as the senior and most distinguished member of the faculty gave a paper on "Research Opportunities in Anthropology" which was as a matter of course well attended by students and faculty. Among other things he mentioned specific opportunities for field work in the Arctic and after the usual request for discussion or comment, none was forthcoming. He was very much disappointed and told the group that in the past a graduate anthropology student would have made major sacrifices for such an opportunity. Even a man of Kroeber's insight and sensitivity found it hard to realize the gap that had grown up between the student body of ten or twenty years before and the one he was addressing. Of the group he was now talking to, many had had several years of service in the armed forces and had meanwhile acquired or had delayed acquiring family obligations and their presence in school was now requiring further sacrifices of their young families so that they had to get a job as soon as they could. A fellowship might provide a temporary stop-gap, but to remove oneself from the "job-arena" by going into a remote area for research was a luxury that few could afford. The next day at the faculty luncheon, Kroeber repeated his concern at the apparent lack of eagerness for field research, but as the majority of the faculty were rather recently drawn from the ranks of the same student group, they too had no comments to offer. Partly as a result of these experiences I imagine, Kroeber in the October 1954 issue of the American Anthropologist offers a classification of the various aspects of Anthropology showing that historically the "social science" aspects are a relatively recent addition to the subject whose major content is of a "natural history" character, while some parts overlap with philosophy and the |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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