Lecture 2 Flashcards
For most of human prehistory, we have contemplated our biological origins in terms of…
For most of human prehistory, we have contemplated our biological origins in terms of our respective religions and cosmologies
Prior to the 17th century, Western consideration of our origins was based primarily on _______
Prior to the 17th century, Western consideration of our origins was based primarily on the Old Testament
In the West, 2 ket assumptions underpinned all inquires into the natural world what were they
Humanity is unique amongst living things and has dominion over all “lower” forms of life, just as god had dominion over humanity
humanity in its current form is as it always has been, and is physically unalterable
who was Archbishop James Usher (1581-1656)
an Irish anglican bishop, he was one of many who developed a biblical chronology
when did Archbishop James Usher say the world was created
god created the earth on October 23, 4004 BC… at 9am
he gets this time from counting the decedents of all characters in the bible (Noah, etc)
this was 6000 years only
why was Archbishop James Usher’s beliefs a problem
this statement constrained the time that evolution could occur
what is the Young Earth Hypothesis
humans were considered separate from the natural world
this c. 6 000 year chronology left no time for slow processes like evolution to occur, and implies that there should be no extinct ancestral species
In the 16th century, advances in astronomy and human anatomy were establishing what
- conventional wisdom can be challenged
2. empirical investigation is necessary to know the truth
around the 16th century, what paradigm shift was happening
around this time was the shift from a geocentric model to a heliocentric model— this was a paradigm shift
what was the enlightenment of the 18th century—
a gradual movement away from churches and monarchies towards emporium and scientific endeavours
what was the enlightenment a time for
progressivism
what is progressivism
is the idea that foreword movement and betterment of societies is possible through the advancement of knowledge and industrial capacity
what does progressivism imply
it implies prehistoric and historical social development is both linear and progressive
Adherents of progressivism believed what
Adherents believed that improvement of the human condition has a universal solution— knowledge and innovation— and that a culture could move from “savagery” or “barbarism” to a civilized state
what is the problem with the progressivism mindset
these thinkers would subscribe to the thought that other countries were less developed and that they were behind
this idea assumes the existence of a cultural hierarchy
so this was both a good and bad mindset because that assumed some civilizations were better than others
what was the order of the Ladder of Being
the great chain of being god angels heaven humans beasts plants flame rocks
Scala Naturae: Racist and Eurocentric
why is The march of progress; Early Man (1965) a misleading image
misleading image: unilinear evolution
the idea that things can only move and progress in one upper direction… the humans are the result of perfection and have had one straight line of evolution
who came up with the The march of progress
Anthropologist f. Clark Howell
what did many naturalists attempted to do
reconcile their scientific observations with a universe created by God
deists believed what
that there was a supreme being ordering the workings of the universe, but doubted divine revelation and rejected organized religion defined by it
believed that through science we can better understand what the bible tells us
many deists adhered to the loose concept of what kind of philosophy
mechanical philosophy
what is mechanical philosophy
which imagines the universe as a complex machine— like a clock— designed by god, but with each component moving in response to another force not necessarily compelled by god
who was John Ray (1627-1705)
an english clergyman and amateur naturalist, he conducted extensive comparative research on plants
what did John Ray do for anthropology
he was the first to develop the categories of “species” and “genus”
