Objectives:

At the end of this module, I can;

 Connect the discipline of anthropology

with its historical and social
foundations.

 Trace the historical foundations and

social contexts that lead to the
development of anthropology as a
social science discipline.
Compare and contrast the social sciences
according to their fields, main areas of
inquiry and methods.

Determine how anthropology can be used

to address social concerns.

Recognize multidisciplinarity and/or

interdisciplinarity as an approach in
looking at society.
Articulate the key concepts in and
applications of anthropology.
Anthropology
comes from the
Greek word
anthropos
(human) and
logos (study).
• This etymology relates to the scope
of anthropology as a discipline, which
includes everything about humans.

• In other words, anthropology is a

holistic study of human beings and
their culture.
The
Development
of
Anthropology
• In order to trace the history of
anthropology as a discipline, one must
consider two historical events:

1. The rise of empires and states

2. The dawn of colonialism and
imperialism.
• The expansion of territories among
ancient civilizations brought about a
convergence of peoples of different
physical characteristics and cultural
practices.
• This convergence prompted the scholars
of this era to document variations in
human population and its characteristics.

• Comparisons of cultures were also done

between the more powerful and
subservient societies.
 • The Greek historian
• One of the
forerunners of
discipline of
anthropology
because of his
works on the culture
of the peoples under
the Persian Empire.
Herodotus
(484-420 BCE)
• Persian Empire- consider as the
biggest empire.

• When the Greeks defeated it in 479

BCE, Herodotus encountered a
plurality of cultures and peoples.
• As a form of analysis, Herodotus
compared the Western civilization
(Greeks) to the Eastern civilization
(Persians), since he believed that both
were the dominant cultures of their
geographic spheres.
• This analytical process of comparing
the “self” with the “other” would pervade
the anthropological research agenda
until the early parts of the 21’st century.

• In 14th century, another scholar made

history by publishing an extensive
documentation of early civilizations and
factors that affected their rise to power
and their eventual demise.
•
• In, Muquddimah,
he examined the
social,
pyschological, and
economic factors
that led to the rise
of ancient
civilizations in the
Mediterranean.

Ibn Khaldun
• The strength of Khaldun’s work lies on his
use of scientific approach.

• The use of such approach was considered

ahead of his time because he based his
arguments on logical reasoning and
detailed documentation of the traits of the
civilizations instead of basing his
arguments on the commonly accepted
framework.
• Khaldun’s and Herodotus works are
still considered as forerunners of the
ethnographic method, although both
often utilize secondary data and
previously written documentation of
other cultures.
• In the 15th-18th century ( the Age of
Exploration), European explorers
seeking new territories started to
encounter people from other parts of
the world.
• Referring to these people as having
“exotic” cultures, they were
documented by early European sailors,
missionaries, and scholars.

• In such a way that cultural analysis and

generalizations used Western
perspective as the point of comparison.
• This Western-centric analysis, in
turn produced a highly Eurocentric
view of the world and launched
forms of labeling that gave primacy
to Western civilizations as being
more advanced culture as compared
to the “exotic culture”.
 Said on his work
Discourse on
Inequality (1755)
that this
“primitives”
societies is
characterized by
peace and harmony
in contrast to that of
the stage of
civilized European
society. Jean- Jacques Rousseau
French Philosopher
(1712-1778)
• Such stance led to Rousseau being
credited for the germination of the term
“noble savage”, which would pervade
the discourses in the discipline of
anthropology until the 20th century.
.
In the 18th-19th centuries, the rise of
imperialism further pushed the western
world to engage in cross cultural research
as they encountered more societies that
were utterly different from them.
.

• During this time, global powers

situated in Europe (Belgium,
England, France, Portugal, Spain,
and The Netherlands) were in a race
to extend their political and
economic control outside of their
territories.