the anthropology of magic, witchcraft, and religion

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The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

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Page 1: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

The Anthropology

ofMagic, Witchcraft,

andReligion

Page 2: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

anthropology

• ánthrōpos (Greek)= human

• lógos (Greek)= word

= the “word about humans”,the study of humans,the organized and systemizedbody of knowledge about humans

Page 3: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

four field approach• cultural anthropology• anthropological linguistics• archaeology• physical anthropology

• plus: applied anthropology

Page 4: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

cultural anthropologystudies “culture”

• learned by individual as part of a group• passed on from generation to generation• three components– material (artifacts)– behavioral (actions)– ideational (cognitive, affective elements)

Page 5: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

cultural anthropologyand the study of religious systems

• investigates the functions of religion, both for the individual and for the group

• looks at how religions change through time, and why

Page 6: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

cultural anthropologyand the study of religious systems

• studies manifestations of “religion”– objects– activities– beliefs and emotions

Page 7: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

anthropological linguisticsstudies the role of language in culture

• historical linguistics• evolution of language• relationships between languages

Page 8: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

anthropological linguisticsstudies the role of language in culture

• Sapir-Whorf hypothesis• does language mirror reality? OR• does language shape reality?

Page 9: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

anthropological linguisticsand the study of religious systems

• how has “religious” language changed over time and why are their linguistic similarities in different cultures?

Page 10: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

anthropological linguisticsand the study of religious systems

• relationship between conceptual constructs and reality

• religious concepts as universal components of cultural systems

Page 11: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

archaeologyextends the study of humans into the past

• based on evidence preserved in the ground (and elsewhere)

• emphasizes material aspect of culture, but also looks to behavior and ideation

• attempts to reconstruct the past, both as an end it self and as a way to understand the present

Page 12: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

archaeologyand the study of religious systems

Chauvet Cave(31,000 – 24,000 yrs. B.P.)

Page 13: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

biological anthropologyconsiders humans as animals

• how do modern humans differ? = variation

• how did humans arise? = evolution

• what is the relationship between biology and culture?– how does our biology shape us?– how does our culture affect our biology?

Page 14: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

biological anthropologyand the study of religion

• views religious systems as adaptive mechanisms

• studies ritual in non-human species

• looks for genetic bases – of belief (“gullibility gene”)– of “trance” and other altered states– of human need to be in a group– “neurotheology”

Page 15: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

four field approach• cultural studies– cultural anthropology– anthropological linguistics– archaeology

• biological studies– biological anthropology

anthropology is a biocultural discipline

Page 16: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

anthropology

• is “holistic” in its approach

• views its phenomena as interrelated and integrated

• views societies both in their own rights and from a comparative perspective

Page 17: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

anthropology• eschews ethnocentrism

(the practice of using one culture as the standard to evaluate another)

• based upon cultural relativism(cultures can only be evaluated and understood on their own terms)

Page 18: The Anthropology of Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion

“Religion is a fact in nature and, to be understood, must be seen as a product of the same laws of nature that determine other natural phenomena”

Anthony F.C. Wallace 1966