the development of anthropological thought

Question 1

unilineal evolutionism

Answer 1

the nineteenth century theoretical rientation that held that all human ways of life pass through a similar sequence of stages in their development

Question 2

historical particularism

Answer 2

the theoretical orientation emphasizing that each unique culture is the unique product of all the influences to which it has been subjected in the past, making cross-cultural generalizations questionable

Question 3

configurationalism

Answer 3

theoretical idea that each culture histrically develops its own unique thematic patterns around which beliefs, values, and behaviors are oriented

Question 4

functionalism

Answer 4

theoretical orientation that analyzes cultural elements in terms of their useful effects to individuals or to the persistence of the whole society

Question 5

neoevolutionism

Answer 5

th emid-20th cetury rebirth of evolutionary approaches to the theoretical study of culture

Question 6

scientific approaches

Answer 6

theoretical notion that human cultural differences and similarities can be explained in the same sense as biologists explain life and it evolution

Question 7

evolutionary psychology (sociobiology)

Answer 7

scientific approach emphasizing that humans are animals and so are subject to similar evolutionary forces as other animals; assoiated with the hypothesis that behavior patterns enhance inclusive fitness

Question 8

materialism

Answer 8

theoretical orientatio claiming that the main influences n cultural differences and similarities are technology, environment, and how people produce and distribute resources

Question 9

humanistic approach

Answer 9

theoretical orientation that rejects attempts to explain culture in general in favor of acheiving an empathetic understanding of particular cultures

Question 10

Interpretive anthropologists

Answer 10

contemporary theorists who analyze cultural elements by explicating their local context; generally emphasize cultural diversity and the unique qualities of particular cultures

Question 11

postmodernists

Answer 11

those who follow the philosophical viewpoint that emphasizes the relativity of all knowledge, includig science; focus on how the knowledge of a particular time and place is constructed, especially on how powwer relations affect the creatio and spread of ideas and beliefs