ANTHROPOLOGICAL

PERSPECTIVE
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ANTHROPOLOGY

• promotes a holistic study of humans.

• Derived from two Greek words
–Antropos (Human)
–Logos (Study)
• Anthropology seeks to answer this primary question:
✓ What does it mean to be Human?
• Anthropology studies human as both
-Biological and Social Creatures.
ANTHROPOLOGY

• Another Key Element that makes Anthropology holistic is its Research Time
Frame, which ranges from the evolution of humans as species to our current
development.
• Anthropology study also -Ethnic Groupings and Geological Locations.
• It can be defined as “the study of people—their origins, their development, and
contemporary variations, wherever and whenever they have been found on the
face of the earth” (Ember, Ember, and Peregrine, 2010).
ANTHROPOLOGY

• Anthropology is the scientific study of the origins of

humans, how we have changed over the years, and how we
relate to each other, both within our own culture and with
people from other cultures.
5 Subdisciplines of Anthropology
✓ Archeology
✓ Cultural Anthropology
✓ Linguistic Anthropology
✓ Physical Anthropology
✓ Applied Anthropology
5 Subdisciplines of Anthropology
✓ Archeology
Examines the remains of ancient and
historical human populations to promote
an understanding of how humans adapted
to their environment and developed.
5 Subdisciplines of Anthropology
✓ Cultural Anthropology
Promote to study of a society’s culture
through their belief systems, practices, and
possessions.
5 Subdisciplines of Anthropology
✓ Linguistic Anthropology
Examines the language of a group of
people and its relation to their culture.
5 Subdisciplines of Anthropology
✓ Physical Anthropology
Looks into the Biological Development of
Humans and their contemporary variation.
5 Subdisciplines of Anthropology
✓ Applied Anthropology
Attempts to solve contemporary problems
through the application of theories and
approaches of the discipline.
• During the 19th century,
anthropologists, were often from
Western Societies.
• One of the Classic studies in
Anthropology, Tristes Tropiques, was
made by Claude Levi- Strauss, A French
Anthropologist. This work Presented the
lives of a non-modern society in Brazil.
Tristes Tropiques (the French title translates literally as "Sad
Tropics") is a memoir, first published in France in 1955, by
the anthropologist and structuralist Claude Lévi-Strauss.[1] It
documents his travels and anthropological work, focusing
principally on Brazil, though it refers to many other places,
such as the Caribbean and India. Although ostensibly
a travelogue, the work is infused with philosophical
reflections and ideas linking many academic disciplines, such
as sociology, geology, music, history and literature.
• In the Advent of 21st century, human
experiences diversified, and as
globalization’s effects were felt in almost
all societies. Anthropology extended its
study to cultural and subcultural groups
in industrialized societies.
CULTURE
CULTURE

• is everything that a person learns as a member of a

society.
• CULTURE IS EVERYTHING.
• It is the person has, does, and thinks as a part of
society.
• Implies all Belief system, Set of Behavior and material
Possessions.
• Culture is a powerful agent in shaping the decisions
and actions of humans, given situation.
• Consist of the Material and Non-Material
MATERIAL CULTURE

• Includes all the tangible and visible parts of culture,

which includes foods, clothes, and even buildings.
Material culture differ, as each society is configured
by its environment and history.
NON-MATERIAL CULTURE

• Includes all Intangible parts of the culture such as values,

Ideas, and Knowledge.
• Just like Material Culture, the belief and value systems of
societies differ from one another based on their
environment and history.
• Values are concept that are culturally determined; it
separates what is acceptable from that which is taboo.
NON-MATERIAL CULTURE

• On the other hand, beliefs are culturally approved

truths that deal with the specific parts of human life,
for example, the belief in the phrase “bahala na”,
which was derived from the older phrase “bathala
na”, supports the religious values system that is
present in the society.
CULTURE IS LEARNED

• Culture is a set of Beliefs, Attitudes, and Practices

that an Individual learns through his/her family,
school, church, and other social institutions.
• Enculturation- The process of learning your own
culture
▪ As you interact with your immediate family and
peers, you learn the values and accepted behaviors
in your society.
• Acculturation- culture can be modified to
accommodate desirable traits from other cultures. Ex.
Inclination of some Filipinos towards some elements
of Korean culture has led to the acceptance of Korean
Pop songs despite they performed in a foreign
language
• Decculturation- when the culture of the older generation
comes into conflict with the needs and realities of the
younger generation.
Ex. Tradition in Japan that imposes immense obligation of the
first born child to be the model child for his/her siblings has
been found as an instigator of two phenomenon: high child
suicide rate and high educational attainment rate among
adolescents.
CULTURE IS SHARED

• Implies that a particular behavior cannot be considered as a

culture if there is only one person practicing it.
• Shared Inter-generationally.
• Hence, to share a culture, it must be taught to members of
contemporary society who will, in turn, teach the younger
generation.
• One of the most popular traditions
in China is that FOOT BINDING
among women that ensures their
potential for Good marriage.
• Other name for Foot binding is
“Lotus Feet” with the ideal 7.5
length centimeter(3 inches).
• This disfigurement renders women
who underwent the procedure
crippled and unable to participate in
many social events of their
communities.
• The Interaction between Physiology and Culture is
not Unilateral.
• As Culture affects the physical traits of a Person,
culture can be defined by the normative physical
characteristics of humans.
CULTURE IS ADAPTIVE

• Culture is a tool for survival that humans use in

response to the pressures of their environment.
• Material and Non Material both influence by the goal
of humans to address their needs as dictated by their
biology and environment.
• The Inuits of Arctic Region are
well- Known for building
Igloos during fishing and
hunting Expeditions. This
Dome-shaped homes provide
shelter for the mobile group
• During Summer, they
use tupiqs, which are
tents made of animal
skin, as their
contemporary homes.
• According to Marvin
Harris, these taboos are
responses to the
environmental pressures
on food supply in these
areas.
CULTURE IS MALADAPTIVE

• Culture can also cause problems for the people who

subscribe to it. These problems arise when the
environment has changed and culture has remained
the same (e.g. car culture) present in most societies is
getting maladaptive as the environment gets
polluted.
CULTURE IS MALADAPTIVE
CULTURE CHANGES

• The final characteristic of culture is that its never

static.
• This dynamism of culture is due to the changing
needs of humans as they interpret and survive in
their environment.
ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

• The key strength of Anthropology as a discipline of

the Social Science is its holistic approach to the study
of humans.
ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

• It is Holistic in the sense that it studies:

(1) Humans, both as biological and social creatures.
(2) Human Behavior from the time the species existed to
the time that it will desist,
(3) Human Behavior from all regions of the world, and
(4) All forms of human actions and beliefs
ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

• With the discipline’s engagement with the ordinary

and the mundane parts of human interaction,
ANTHROPOLOGY provides a degree of keenness to its
learner such that everyday things are contextualized
and understood within the frame of culture.