Author Question: Describe and contrast two ways anthropologists have approached the definition of culture. What ... (Read 138 times)

jon_i · **on:** Jul 10, 2018

Describe and contrast two ways anthropologists have approached the definition of culture.

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Define the concept of holism and provide a cultural example.

What will be an ideal response?

diesoon · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 10, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Answer: The ideal answer will include:
1. Sir Edward Tylor defines it as a complex whole of acquired habits.
2. Karl Marx and cultural materialists consider it a product of material circumstances.
3. Clifford Geertz and interpretivists argue culture consists of elements such as beliefs, symbols, and moods.
4. The text uses the definition of learned and shared behavior and beliefs.

Answer to Question 2

Answer: The ideal answer will include:
1. It is related to the idea that cultures are internally integrated.
2. It teaches that a focus on individual elements of culture may be misleading because no one element can be properly understood without understanding its context in the greater whole.
3. The example given, of warfare in highland Papua New Guinea, describes the links between warfare, wives, and political power.