Post anthropology is the science of man. Anthropology

23.12.2020

The first contributions were the works of Hippocrates, Herodotus, Socrates, etc. In the same period, Aristotle introduced the term "anthropology" itself. Then he described the spiritual life of a person, and this meaning was preserved for more than a thousand years.

Changes occurred in 1501, when M. Hundt, in his anatomical, first used the term "anthropology" in describing the physical structure of the human body. Since that time, anthropology has been perceived as a science that combines knowledge about both the human soul and the human body.

This approach has been preserved in general terms to the present day. There are two areas: anthropology biological (physical) and non-biological (socio-cultural). The subject of biological anthropology is, respectively, the biological properties of a person, and non-biological - his spiritual and mental world. Sometimes philosophical anthropology is singled out as a separate branch, the subject of which is a person as a special kind of being.

Anthropology is closely connected with many other sciences, while occupying a special place. Studying the process of transition from the existence of human animal ancestors in accordance with biological laws to human life in accordance with social laws, anthropology touches upon both natural-historical and socio-historical issues. In this sense, anthropology is, as it were, the “crown” of natural science.

Since the second half of the 19th century, anthropology has been acting as an independent scientific discipline. Scientific anthropological societies are established, the first anthropological works are published. Science developed intensively and by the 20th century general and particular anthropological methods had been developed, specific terminology and principles of research had been formed, material concerning the issues of human diversity had been accumulated and systematized.

Sources:

"Anthropology", D.V. Bogatenkov, S.V. Drobyshevsky

Social anthropology is an interdisciplinary discipline that studies man and human society, as well as the patterns of their development. Its emergence is associated with a number of researchers.

Marcel Moss

The term "social anthropology" itself was introduced in 1907 by James Fraser, who headed the first chair of social anthropology at the University of Cambridge. The French sociologists Emile Durkheim and Marcel Mauss are considered the founders of social anthropology. In the essay "On the Gift" (1925), Mauss first turns to the study of man as a social being on the basis of ideas that have developed in "primitive" communities.

Moss developed a holistic approach to the study of social interactions in an archaic society. Turning to the topics of sacrifice, primitive exchange, he draws attention to the fact that different societies have their own specific physical and physiological manifestations. Thus, in his works of the first half of the 20th century, Mauss makes a transition from purely sociological interpretations of religion to the study of human thinking, which becomes a hallmark of social anthropology.

"Anthropologists in armchairs"

The formation of social anthropology was influenced by sociologists who were not ethnographers themselves and used other people's observations in their analysis. Such scientists are classified as "arm-chair anthropologists" (anthropologists in armchairs).

Among them, Claude Levi-Strauss, the founder of the structuralist approach to the problem of "man and society", stands out. Turning in his works "Race and History" (1952) and "Structural Anthropology" (1958) to the study of primitive cultures, Levi-Strauss concludes that any observation necessarily includes a comparison of modern and traditional society. Therefore, it is necessary to move to a comparison of the model of man and society within the same criteria and structures, which allows avoiding hidden Eurocentrism.

To do this, it is necessary to develop a special conceptual apparatus that allows one to describe the phenomena of different cultures without inserting them into the concepts of Western society. Social anthropology attracted many Western researchers to the development of this apparatus (E. Fromm, M. Weber, K. Lorenz).

ethnographers

The formation of social anthropology, in addition to structuralist sociologists, is also associated with the names of ethnographers - A. Radcliffe-Brown and Bronislav Malinovsky.

Unlike many other anthropologists, Malinovsky lived among the natives and personally knew their way of life, which influenced the theory of participant observation, which is one of the key ones in social anthropology. Departing in 1914 to the British colony of Papua, the scientist conducts the first research on Mailu and the Trobriand Islands. There he also meets Radcliffe-Brown, who gives him advice on field work.

Declaring that the goal of the ethnographer is to understand the worldview and way of life of the aborigine, Malinovsky develops the doctrine of culture as an integral organism with a clear function.

ANTHROPOLOGY

(from the Greek ἄνϑρωπος - man and - teaching) - about the origin of man and his races, about the variability of the structure of the human body in time and territory. Man is qualitatively different from all other living beings: being biological. an organism, it is at the same time a society. creature. Correct biological. human evolution is impossible without analyzing the patterns of human development. society. Because of this, A. is closely connected not only with biological, but also with societies. sciences. Engels pointed out that anthropology is a science that "mediates the transition from the morphology and physiology of man and his races to history" (Dialectics of Nature, 1955, p. 146). Abroad, especially in England and the USA, archeology and ethnography are also included in Armenia. Actually A. is defined there as a physical. anthropology. Despite close A. with ethnography and archeology, owls. researchers do not share this point of view. and adhere to a strict distinction between these sciences, stipulated. the specifics of their tasks and methods.

A.'s formation as independent. discipline dates back to the 19th century. The earliest signs of the origin of A. are considered to be anatomical. knowledge of the ancient Egyptians, their ability in wall painting and sculpture to reflect the tribal and racial differences of the groups of people known to them.

Means. development A. reached in Dr. Greece and Rome. The term "A." belongs to Aristotle. His merit is the development of the most important morphological. criteria for characterizing a person, many of which can be taken in present. . Lucretius in poetry form outlined the history of natures. development of man and his material culture. With the name of Rome. doctor Galen contacts the expansion of the anatomical. knowledge. In the Middle Ages, Antich. were preserved in the Front and Wed. Asia. Stormy rise of nature. Sciences, incl. and human anatomy, is associated with the discovery of new countries, the continents of Australia and America and acquaintance with unknown peoples and tribes. Important was the wider acquaintance of Europeans with various types of monkeys, especially anthropoids, with their anatomical features. structure and behaviour. The ordering of the accumulated materials caused in his classification. There were systematic constructions embracing man and him (Bernier, 1684, Leibniz, 1700). Linnaeus (1735) singled out a detachment of primates in his classification of the animal world, where he included man as a special Homo sapiens, divided into four races.

A.'s questions interested Lomonosov, Radishchev, Kaverznev. Radishchev, for example, spoke about the proximity of apes and humans, about the influence of climatic. racial conditions.

Mid 19th century is the most important period in the history of A. Evolution. Darwin ["The origin of species by means of natural selection" (1859), "The origin of man and sexuality" (1871)], prepared by the ideas of Lamarck's transformism (1809), archeological. studies of Boucher de Perth, geological. Lyell's work, dealt a blow to creationist ideas about the origin of man. Since the 60s. 19th century increased sharply to the base. anthropological problems (the origin of man, the origin and human races, the resettlement of mankind). Created anthropological. societies in Paris (1859), London (1863), Moscow (1864), Berlin (1869), etc. They become scientific. and propaganda centers in the region A. At the same time, methodological ones are being developed. techniques (Brock, Baer), special is being designed. tools. One of the forms of popularization A. were anthropological. Exhibitions. Anthropological exhibition in Moscow (1879) was organized on the initiative of one of the founders of the Rus. anthropology Bogdanov.

Late 19th and early 20th century – the period is more or less over. the formation of A. as a science (the unification of the main methodological methods of research is being carried out, methods of statistical analysis are being introduced). In 1914, a major summary manual of the Swiss was published. anthropologist Martin "Textbook of anthropology in a systematic presentation" (R. Martin, Lehrbuch der Anthropologie in der sistematischen Darstellung, 1914), which retains its scientific. and methodical value up to now. time.

In the USSR, the anthropological research (including primatology) is carried out at the Institute and the Museum of Anthropology of Moscow State University and at the Department of Anthropology of Moscow State University, in the anthropology sector of the Institute of Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Moscow and Leningrad), at the Institute of Morphology of the Academy of Sciences of Georgia. SSR, in the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences Est. SSR, in the Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy of the Academy of Medical Sciences. sciences in Sukhumi, in the high fur boots of Tomsk, Tashkent, Tartu and other places. Scientific enlightenment. Work in the field of A. is carried out by the Museum of Anthropology and Enthography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Leningrad, the Museum of the Institute of Anthropology of Moscow State University in Moscow, and also by the Department. exhibitions in other cities. Personnel training is carried out by the departments of anthropology of the Moscow and Central Asian universities. Owls. Anthropologists publish their works in periodicals. edition of "Problems of Anthropology".

Lit.: Marx K., Capital, vol. 1, M., 1955, ch. 5; Engels Φ., The role of labor in the process of turning a monkey into a man, M., 1952; his, the Origin of the family, private property and the state, M., 1952; VI Lenin, Imperialism as the Highest of Capitalism, Soch., 4th ed., vol. 22; his, Worker and neo-Malthusianism, ibid., vol. 19; I. V. Stalin, Marxism i, Works, vol. 2; his, National and Leninism, ibid., vol. 11; Anuchin D.N., A cursory look at the past of anthropology and its tasks in Russia, "Russian Anthropological Zh.", M., 1900, No 1; Bunak V. V., Anthropometry, M., 1941; his, Experience in the typology of body proportions and standardization of the main anthropometric dimensions, "Uch. zap. MGU", vol. 10 - Anthropology, M., 1937; Bunak V. V., Nesturkh M. F., Roginsky Ya. Ya., Anthropology, M., 1941; Gremyatsky M. A., Human Anatomy, M., 1950; Ch. Darwin, The origin of man and sexual selection, Soch., vol. 5, M., 1953: G. F. Debets, Paleoanthropology of the USSR, "Tr. series, vol. 4, Moscow–Leningrad, 1948; his own, Forty Years of Soviet Anthropology, "Sov. Anthropology", 1957, No 1; Debets G. F., Levin M. G. and Trofimova T. A., Anthropological material as a source for studying the issues of ethnogenesis, "Sov. Ethnography", 1952, No 1; Levin M. G., Ethnic anthropology and the problem of the ethnogenesis of the peoples of the Far East, "Proceedings of the Institute of Ethnogr. of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR", vol. 36, 1958; Ηesturkh Μ. Φ., Human races, M., 1954; his, Origin of man, M., 1958; Plisetsky M.S., Class in science, M., 1951; Roginsky Ya. Ya., Theories of monocentrism and polycentrism in the problem of the origin of modern man and his races, M., 1949; Pginsky Ya. Ya. And Levin M. G., Fundamentals of Anthropology, [M.], 1955; Cheboksarov N. Η., The main directions of racial differentiation in East Asia, "Proceedings of the Institute of Ethnogr. Academy of Sciences of the USSR", Nov. series, vol. 2, 1947; Yakimov V.P., The Neanderthal problem in the works of Soviet anthropologists, "Sov. Anthropology", [M.], 1957, No 2; his, On two morphological types of European Neanderthals, "Nature", 1949, No 10; Yarkho A. I., Altai-Sayan Turks, Abakan, 1947; his own. Against idealistic currents in racial studies of the USSR, "Anthropol. J.", 1932, No 1; The science of races and, [Sat. articles], M.–L., 1938; The origin of man and the ancient settlement of mankind, "Proceedings of the Institute of Ethnogr. of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR", vol. 16, M., 1951; Theory and methods of anthropological standardization in relation to the mass production of personal items, , 1951; Coon C. S., The races of Europe, N. Y., 1939; Martin R., Lehrbuch der Anthropologie, 2 Aufl. , Bd 1–3, Jena, 1928.

V. Yakimov. Moscow.

Philosophical Encyclopedia. In 5 volumes - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia. Edited by F. V. Konstantinov. 1960-1970 .

Synonyms:

See what "ANTHROPOLOGY" is in other dictionaries:

The field of scientific knowledge, within the framework of which the fundamental problems of human existence in the natural and arts environment are studied. In modern science meet different. options for systematization anthropopol. disciplines. So, to A. include: ... ... Encyclopedia of cultural studies

- (from the Greek anthropos man, and logos the word). The science of man from the physical and spiritual side. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. ANTHROPOLOGY is the science of man in general, both in relation to the body, and ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

- (anthropology) Literally means the science of man; in a broad sense, this word has been used in the English language for several centuries. In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries Anthropology was primarily related to research ... ... Political science. Dictionary.

anthropology- and, well. anthropology f. The doctrine of the origin of man and his races (religious mythological and naturally scientific), of the physical and spiritual characteristics of man. Sl. 18. Anthropology is the science of human nature in general. Corypheus 1 22. And, not being ... ... Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

Anthropology- (gr. antropos - adam zhane logos - іlіm) - ken magynada adamnyn shyguy men damuy turaly, onyn tabiғaty men mani turaly ilim. Ol negіzіnen аleumettik, medicinalyk, madeni, teologiyalyk t.b. zhәne philosophic anthropology bollyp zhіkteledі. Kazirgi… … Philosophical terminderdin sozdigі

English anthropology; German anthropology. 1. The science of the origin and evolution of man, the formation of human races, and the normal variations in the physical structure of man, also referred to as physical anthropology. 2. Science studying ... ... Encyclopedia of Sociology

ANTHROPOLOGY- (from the Greek anthropos man and logos word, doctrine), the science of man. From the beginning 19th century in the definition of A., its content and place among other sciences, two main ones have been outlined. trends. The first, rooted in the system of views of the French. enlighteners 18 in ... Demographic Encyclopedic Dictionary

anthropology- The biological science of the origin and evolution of the physical organization of man and the human races. Sometimes the term is understood broadly as a set of human sciences. Dictionary of practical psychologist. Moscow: AST, Harvest. S. Yu. Golovin. 1998.… … Great Psychological Encyclopedia

Anthropology as a science

There is nothing more interesting and important for a person than himself. “Know thyself,” taught the ancient Greek thinker Socrates. The problem of human knowledge permeates the entire history of philosophy and natural science. Socrates and Epicurus, Hippocrates and Spinoza, Linnaeus and Darwin, Kant and Engels - these are just a few in the galaxy of outstanding scientists for whom the knowledge of man was a necessary, paramount task.

Among all the sciences, there is one that is not known very much, although it is about a person, his appearance in the past and present and, of course, in the future, about the diversity of human individualities, about those amazing changes that many generations of people have undergone in the process of a long development. This is anthropology - the science of the origin and evolution of the physical organization of man and his races; science of the past, present and, to some extent, the future. Studying the present, trying to penetrate into the past, looking into the future, anthropology stands at the center of human knowledge, and this is the essence of its necessity and power.

So in a broad sense anthropology - the science of man (from the Greek. anthr?pos - man).

The prehistory of the development of the science of man is quite large. Anthropological knowledge accumulated gradually, simultaneously with general biological and medical knowledge, and anthropological views and theories developed in close connection with social and philosophical thought. For the first time the term "anthropology" was used by Aristotle, the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist, studying the spiritual principle of man. Scientific information about man is found in the works of ancient philosophers: Anaximander, Democritus, Empedocles, Socrates. Questions of human morphology and anatomy, its place in the system of nature, bodily differences in the physical type of individual peoples, the customs and way of life of numerous tribes and peoples that travelers encountered during their wanderings, were the subject of research by many scientists of ancient Greece and Rome.

In the works of Western European scientists, the term "anthropology" had a double meaning: as an anatomical science (about the human body) and a science about the spiritual essence of man. At the beginning of the 18th century, when the word "anthropology" was just beginning to enter into everyday scientific use, it meant "a treatise on the soul and body of man." Subsequently, this term was deciphered in the same way, combining a comprehensive study of man: his biological, social and spiritual qualities. In the first decades of the XIX century. anthropology was not yet an independent science, even the definition of the term "anthropology" was not clearly formulated. However, many purely anthropological issues, such as the origin of man, race and their differences, have been the focus of attention of society, scientists and philosophers. Interest in natural science, in particular in anthropology, arose among natural scientists, doctors, progressive students and other groups of people with progressive views.

The formation of anthropology as a science in its modern sense dates back to the middle of the 19th century. During the 19th century and to this day in many countries (England, France, USA) the interpretation of anthropology in the broad sense is widespread - as a general science of man. Anthropology in this sense is divided into physical, or somatic, and social, or cultural, i.e., ethnography.

In the twentieth century the position of the anthropological sciences in the general system of biological knowledge has changed significantly. First of all, as a major anthropological science formed theoretical medicine, having accumulated the most important achievements of the biological sciences in relation to the norm and pathology of the human body. Accumulated data on individual classes of natural properties of a person - this age physiology, which includes the doctrine of growth, maturity and aging. An in-depth biochemical, biophysical, morphological, experimental genetic study of age characteristics allows us to consider them as the primary properties of an individual.

The special discipline is sexology, which studies the patterns of sexual dimorphism in phylogenesis and ontogenesis, including the most complex psychophysiological characteristics of this dimorphism in humans, associated with the history of the natural division of labor, marriage and family, as well as with education.

Somatology considers the constitutional structure of a human physique as a combination of humoral-endocrine and metabolic characteristics with a more accurate complex definition of the parameters of the morphological structure of the human body.

Typology of higher nervous activity forms the general basis of such sciences as psychology, medicine and pedagogy. Physiological and psychological studies of the neurodynamic properties of the human body contributed to the knowledge of the natural characteristics of the individual. To reveal the relationship between the primary properties of a person is the main task of modern applied anthropology. The promotion of the problem of man to the center of all modern science is associated with fundamentally new relationships between the sciences of nature and society, since it is in man that nature and history are united by an innumerable number of connections and dependencies.

Of the new humanitarian disciplines, it should be noted axiology- the science of the values of life and culture, exploring the important aspects of the spiritual development of society and man, the content of the inner world of the individual and its value orientations.

On the basis of psychology, logic and epistemology, on the one hand, neurophysiology and biophysics, on the other hand, heuristic- a general theory of mental search and creative thinking of a person. The border disciplines are psycholinguistics, uniting the psychology of speech and communication with the general theory of language, characterology, which unites personality psychology with sociology and ethics, as well as all areas of applied psychology.

Compared with the 19th century, when the whole complex of scientific knowledge about man was associated with anthropology, the subject of modern anthropology is significantly limited by the problems of anthropogenesis, racegenesis and human morphology.

Chapter morphology studies individual and sex and age variability of morphophysiological features of a person. It includes the doctrine of physical development and constitution, variations of bodily features, is in contact with human anatomy, but unlike the latter, it does not give a generalized idea of the typical, average structure of human organs and tissues, but a characteristic of the sex and age variability of individual structures depending on ethnoterritorial and climatic influences. .

In human morphology, somatology, which studies the variability of the body as a whole, and merology, the study of the variability of individual organs, are distinguished. The main tasks of morphology centered around two issues: the theoretical substantiation of the doctrine of physical development and the development of standardization methods (somatology is described above).

Chapter anthropogenesis highlights the problems of the origin and evolution of man, considers in comparative terms the morphology of modern man and his ancestors, the history of the formation of human society. This section includes the study of modern and fossil apes, human evolutionary anatomy, and paleoanthropology, the science of human fossil forms.

Chapter racial science studies the formation of races, racial composition and the origin of peoples, their settlement and degree of kinship. Ethnic anthropology is part of racial science, but it has a narrower content. We are talking about solving historical problems on the basis of studying the racial composition of ethnic communities and determining the nature of genetic processes in ancient and modern populations. In this regard, ethnic anthropology uses the methods and data of the natural and human sciences.

Thus, modern anthropology is a branch of general biology, including the natural history of mankind, racial science, the genetics of modern human populations, the diversity of morphological types, the age characteristics of a person and the evolution of his behavior.

Anthropology is a branch of natural science that occupies a special place among the biological sciences. It studies the origin and evolution of the physical organization of man and his races. This is the science of the variability of the human body in space and time, the laws of this variability and the factors that govern it. Anthropology, as it were, crowns natural science. But since human life is inextricably linked with the social environment, then anthropology, studying a person, enters the area where socio-historical patterns exist. This is the specificity of anthropology, the complexity of its research, this is its difference from other biological sciences, its direct connection with the historical sciences: archeology, ethnography, history.

Modern anthropology is characterized by an exceptional variety of topics, and in this respect it shares the general trend of modern natural science. In a relatively short period of time, anthropology has achieved significant success, many questions that in the recent past seemed intractable have found their explanation, have become much closer to the final solution.

The sphere of anthropological research gradually includes such issues as determining the patterns of growth and development of a person in accordance with the formation of his constitutional type, character, temperament, elucidating the mechanisms of inheritance of many physical and mental characteristics depending on gender, age, social status, zonal and climatic conditions. . The task of anthropologists is to study human populations, to give a biological and physiological characteristic to those groups that live in extreme conditions, to examine and compare different ethnic, age, social groups in regions similar in biological conditions.

Anthropology integrates the experience accumulated by various human sciences.

The study of anthropology is an important component for the formation of a modern person's understanding of the problems of human studies in the unity of the historical and logical aspects, as well as understanding the complexity and multidimensionality of human nature, the inconsistency of the path of "humanization" of the individual. Anthropology acts as a kind of base for mastering the experience accumulated by the human sciences.

Any section of anthropology is somehow aimed at revealing a certain cut of the integrity of a person, and it is only in this that it can find its specificity within the framework of the general anthropological direction of humanitarian knowledge. In other words, to define the subject matter of anthropological discipline means to define that cut of a person's holistic vision, to the disclosure and study of which this discipline is aimed.

At present, a number of anthropologically oriented disciplines, "regional anthropologies" have taken shape that study individual "sides" of a person:

philosophical anthropology- the science of the essence of man, his metaphysical nature, the forces and abilities that move him, the main directions and laws of his biological, mental, spiritual and social development;

pedagogical anthropology- the doctrine of a person who is being formed in the field of education;

biological anthropology explores man in his connections and relationships with the natural world;

social anthropology studies social structures and the interaction of people in them;

cultural anthropology considers the features of the relationship between man and culture (organization of culture, cultural institutions, customs, traditions, way of life, languages, features of human socialization in different cultures);

psychological anthropology studies human psychology in its specificity, focused on understanding its essential psychological characteristics;

anthropology of technology is a philosophical disclosure of human being in the world of technology, a manifestation of human nature through it.

A specific set of problems stands out in legal, medical, historical anthropology. There are also such forms of non-scientific knowledge of man as religious and artistic anthropology.

Thus, modern science covers a variety of relationships and connections between man and the world. Man is studied both as a product of biological evolution - a species of homo sapiens, and as a natural individual with his inherent genetic program, and as a subject, and as an object of the historical process - a personality. Of great importance is the study of man as the main productive force of society, the subject of knowledge and control, the subject of education, etc.

The diversity of aspects of human knowledge is a specific phenomenon of our time, associated with the progress of scientific knowledge and its application to various areas of social practice. The system of theoretical and practical human knowledge for the future of mankind is no less important than the fundamental sciences of nature. The problem of man becomes the general problem of science as a whole, including the exact and technical sciences. New frontier disciplines arise and thus the fields of natural science and history, the humanities and technology, medicine and pedagogy are united.

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Anthropology (from Anthropo... and... Logia)

the science of the origin and evolution of man, the formation of human races, and the normal variations in the physical constitution of man. The justification for the place of anthropology among other sciences was given by F. Engels, who defined it as a science that mediates “... the transition from the morphology and physiology of man and his races to history” (Dialectics of Nature, 1969, p. 158). Abroad, archeology usually includes, in addition to the natural history of man, ethnography and archeology (see Archeology).

A., in the understanding accepted in Soviet science, contains the following main sections: human morphology (See Human Morphology), the doctrine of Anthropogenesis, and Racial Studies. From the middle of the 20th century the complex of disciplines united under the name "human biology" is intensively developing.

Human morphology is divided into somatology (See Somatology) and merology (See Merology). Somatology studies the patterns of individual variability of the human body as a whole, sexual dimorphism in body structure, age-related changes in size and proportions from the embryonic period to old age, the influence of various biological and social conditions on the body structure, human constitution. This section is most closely related to medicine and is essential for establishing the norms of physical development and growth rates, for gerontology (See Gerontology), etc. Merology is the study of variations in individual parts of an organism. Comparative anatomical studies included in merology are devoted to elucidating the similarities and differences between each organ of the body and each system of human organs in comparison with other vertebrate animals, mainly mammals and, to the greatest extent, with primates (See Primates). As a result of these studies, the family ties of man with other creatures and his place in the animal world are clarified. Paleoanthropology studies the bone remains of fossil humans and close relatives of humans - higher primates. Comparative anatomy and paleoanthropology, as well as embryology, serve to clarify the problem of the origin of man and his evolution, as a result of which they are included in the doctrine of anthropogenesis, which is closely related to philosophy, as well as to the archeology of the Paleolithic, geology of the Pleistocene, the physiology of the higher nervous activity of man and primates, psychology and zoopsychology, etc. This section of A. considers such questions as the place of man in the system of the animal world, his relationship as a zoological species to other primates, and the restoration of the path along which the development of higher primates, the study of the role of labor in the origin of man, the allocation of stages in the process of human evolution, the study of the conditions and causes of the formation of a modern type of man.

Race studies - a section of A. that studies human races, is sometimes not quite accurately called "ethnic" A.; the latter applies, strictly speaking, only to the study of the racial composition of individual ethnic groups, i.e., tribes, peoples, nations, and the origin of these communities. Racial science, in addition to these problems, also studies the classification of races, the history of their formation and such factors of their occurrence as selective processes, isolation, mixing and migration, the influence of climatic conditions and the general geographical environment on racial characteristics. In that part of racial research that is aimed at studying ethnogenesis, A. conducts research in conjunction with linguistics, history, and archeology. In studying the driving forces of race formation, anthropology comes into close contact with genetics, physiology, zoogeography, climatology, and the general theory of speciation. The study of races in A. is important for the solution of many problems. It is important for resolving the issue of the ancestral home of modern humans, using anthropological material as a historical source, highlighting the problems of systematics, mainly small systematic units, understanding the patterns of population genetics, and clarifying some issues of honey. geography. Racial science is of great importance in the scientific substantiation of the fight against racism.

In the concept of human biology, some scientists include almost the entire content of anthropology, enriched with the methods and facts of related biological disciplines. It would be more correct to use this term to mean only a very important section of A., which studies the physiological, biochemical, and genetic factors influencing variations in the structure and development of the human body. In particular, this should include studies of blood hemoglobins, blood groups, twinning phenomena, the relationship of the human constitution with its physiological and chemical characteristics and with its inclinations to certain diseases; this should also include the study of the heredity of normal traits and population genetics, covering a variety of issues (for example, the stability of the type over time, the role of miscegenation and isolation within racially homogeneous groups). It is equally important to study the influence of nutrition, climate, soil and water composition, and its ability to adapt to different environmental conditions on human morphology.

Research methods. A. studies variations in the size and shape of the body through description and measurement. The descriptive technique was called anthropometry, the measuring technique was called anthropometry (See Anthropometry). In the processing of anthropometric material, the role of statistical methods is great. Important methods of anthropological research are Craniology, osteology, Odontology, anthropological photography, taking prints of skin patterns of the palms and plantar surfaces of the feet, removing plaster face masks, obtaining plaster prints of the internal cavity of the skull (endocranes). Methods of hematological research, as well as methods of microanatomy, biochemistry, radiology, family study, longitudinal (long-term) and transverse (one-time) study of groups, methods of fractionating body weight, the use of radioactive isotopes, various photometric methods, etc., are widespread in modern A. the so-called. geographical method, i.e., mapping the values of otd. racial characteristics and the "imposition" of these cards on top of each other. Combined with ethnographic and historical data, the geographical method forms the basis of racial analysis.

Of particular importance in teaching, in museum work, in forensic science are the methods of restoring the living image of a person from his skull based on the study of the correlation (connection) of cranial features with the shape of the soft parts of the face. These works in the USSR have been carried out on a large scale since 1927 by M. M. Gerasimov, and later by his collaborators.

Brief historical outline. Even the ancient Greeks enriched the science of man with many observations and ideas. Medicine, mainly in the person of Hippocrates (c. 460-377 BC), illuminated the influence of climate and nature on diseases and on the physical characteristics of people. With his teaching on the juices in the human body and 4 temperaments, he predicted the paths that later went on to study the physiological differences between the types of constitution and the relationship of these differences with morphological features (habitus). Another source of accumulation of facts, which later became part of Armenia, were observations of various peoples made by Greek travelers, especially Herodotus (fifth century BC). The greatest contribution to anthropology was made by naturalists and philosophers, who even before Christ. e. discussed the role of the hand in the high position that a person occupies in the world (Socrates, Anaxagoras), the survival in nature of those creatures whose structure is harmonious, and the inevitable disappearance of ugly forms (Empedocles). Aristotle built a "ladder of animals", arranging them according to the degree of perfection of organization, and found a place in this system for man above monkeys and other mammals.

In the Renaissance, for the development of anthropological knowledge, the general progress in the development of science and the sharply increased interest in the physical and spiritual life of man were of great importance. A huge step forward was made in the study of human anatomy, thanks to the works of Vesalius, Leonardo da Vinci, and others. Some of the anatomists and artists paid great attention to variations in human organs, as well as different types of physique. The German artist A. Durer, for example, wrote a special treatise "Four books on proportions" (1528).

The great geographical discoveries (15-16 centuries) expanded the horizons of anthropological knowledge, acquainting, albeit superficially, Europeans with the racial types of the peoples of East Asia (travels of Plano Carpini, Rubruk, Marco Polo), the population of America (H. Columbus), with the peoples of Eastern Siberia (S. Dezhnev), Tierra del Fuego and Oceania (F. Magellan). The significance of Magellan's round-the-world voyage was most important for A. in the sense that, having confirmed the existence of antipodes (See Antipodes), it showed the incompatibility of science with the biblical legend of the creation of man in the "Holy Land", a significant event in the history of A. 17 in. were the first descriptions of the anatomy of anthropomorphic monkeys, for example, by the Englishman E. Tyson, who studied the corpse of a chimpanzee in 1699. In the 18th century the first more or less serious attempts were also made to build scientific hypotheses about the origin of man and his place in nature: in France - J. La Mettrie, D. Diderot, K. Helvetius, J. Buffon, in Germany - I. Kant, in Russia - A. N. Radishchev. Of great importance for A. was the work of the Swedish naturalist K. Linnaeus, who in his work The System of Nature (1st ed. 1735; 10th ed. 1758) singled out a detachment of primates among mammals and subdivided it into four genera - man, monkey, lemur and bat. mouse. In accordance with the double, or binary, nomenclature he created, Linnaeus designated a person with the term “Homo sapiens” (Homo sapiens), dividing it into four races, according to the number of then well-known continents - Homo sapiens European, Asian, African and American. This was far from the only attempt to classify human races in the 18th century. Following the Frenchman F. Bernier (1684), the system of races was built by J. Buffon, I. Kant, the German anatomist and anthropologist I. Blumenbach, and others. Knowledge of the anthropological types of Australia and Oceania has greatly expanded - mainly due to the travels of J. Cook; Siberia - as a result of expeditions of Russian scientists (see below).

The comparative anatomical study of primates has advanced. Attempts to develop methods of comparative description in A. were made by the Dutch anatomist P. Camper, who proposed to use a comparison of people and animals according to the size of the facial angle. The most important event in the history of A. was the establishment of the theory of evolution in biology. The French naturalist J. Lamarck and, to a much greater extent, C. Darwin, had an enormous influence on all sections of anthropology, especially on the development of the question of the position of man in the organic world. Lamarck devoted several pages to the problem of anthropogenesis in the Philosophy of Zoology (1809), and C. Darwin devoted two large works - The Origin of Man and Sexual Selection (1871) and The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). As a result of these works, as well as the writings of Darwin's followers, mainly the English scientist T. Huxley and the German scientist E. Haeckel, interest in the remains of the bones of fossil monkeys and ancient people, in the comparative anatomy and physiology of primates, in Paleolithic tools and their geological dating, increased. . Attention has increased to the study of body structure variations in humans and related forms, to the question of the relationship between the individual development of humans and primates and their position in the animal system. In the 20th century a huge number of finds of fossil remains of higher primates and humans - Gigantopithecus ov, australopithecines (See Australopithecus), Pithecanthropus ov, Neanderthals (See Neanderthals), etc. Great merit in the study of these materials belongs to the French scientists M. Boole, A. Vallois, J. Rivto, the German scientist G. Schwalbe, the English scientists A. Keess, W. E. Le Gros Clark, L. Leakey, the American scientist F. Weidenreich , A. Hrdlichke, the Dutch scientist E. Dubois, G. G. R. Koenigswald, L. Bolk, the Swiss scientist I. Hürzeler, A. Schultz, the Czech scientist E. Vlchek and many others. The influence of the evolutionary principle extended to the study of human races, as a result of which the classification tables were replaced in race science by the construction of "family trees". Studies of continuous variability have been developed. In order to be able to take into account small differences between closely related races, new methods for their determination were developed, much more accurate than the previous ones. Due to the unification of the methodology, a decrease in research errors and the possibility of comparing the results of measurements made by different scientists are achieved. Statistical processing of mass materials required the development of mathematical techniques that made it possible to calculate not only arithmetic averages, but also indicators characterizing the patterns of distribution and dispersion of features, as well as the degree of relationship between sizes (see Biometrics). By the 20th century The flourishing of the use of mathematical statistics in all areas of A., which made it possible to introduce greater accuracy into the study of age morphology, individual variability, and professional, sports, and applied A. in the middle of the 19th century. dates back to the formation of A. as an independent science. The greatest merit here belongs to the French surgeon, anatomist, and anthropologist P. Broca, who founded the Anthropological Society of Paris in 1859, whose program included the study of the biology of the human race in connection with its culture. Shortly after the foundation of the society, the Laboratory for Anthropological Research (1868) and the School of Anthropology (1875) were organized in Paris. Following France, they began to organize anthropological institutions in other countries - in London (1863), Moscow (1864), Madrid (1865), Florence (1868), Berlin (1869), Vienna (1870), etc. The rise of these societies, and the place that the study of human races has occupied in the scientific programs of some of them, is due in part to the historical setting of the time. The 19th century was characterized by a huge scale of colonial expansion. Public attention in Europe was also drawn to the aggravated national question. The struggle for the freedom and unity of Italy, the fate of the population of Alsace and Lorraine after the Franco-Prussian war made us think, in particular, about the distinction between the concepts of “nation” and “race”. It is known that it was the question of the separation of Ireland from England that prompted T. Huxley to intensify the development of the concept of "race". The racial issue became even more acute in connection with the American Civil War between the Northern and Southern states (1861-65). These events had a strong influence on the position of some anthropological societies in the racial problem. Thus, the president of the London Anthropological Society, J. Hunt, a supporter of slavery, in his keynote speech "The Negro's Place in Nature" made an attempt (1864) to scientifically substantiate the "theory" of race inequality. For the 2nd half of the 19th century. and 20th c. characteristic is the desire to synthesize two important areas of anthropology—the theory of anthropogenesis and the doctrine of races. The absence of a dialectical understanding of the process of human evolution often led to a false idea of modern races as supposedly at different stages of the progressive development of mankind. Reactionary trends appeared, which were called Social Darwinism, anthroposociology, political anthropology, etc. These false teachings are various forms of racism, which formed the basis of the state ideology of Hitler's Germany and brought innumerable disasters to mankind. After the defeat of German fascism, racist theories continue to spread in a number of foreign countries, especially in South Africa, Rhodesia, and the USA. The correct synthesis of race studies and anthropogenesis, and thus the methodological justification of anthropology as a single discipline, became possible only with the adoption of the theory of the qualitative originality of human evolution. This theory was most consistently applied in the works of Soviet anthropologists, who inherited and continued the traditions of their predecessors and teachers.

A. in Russia originated in the early 18th century. The Kunstkamera, founded by Peter I, can be considered the cradle of Russian museums, in which anatomical preparations, as well as preparations of various deformities, occupied an important place. The foundations for the development of human anatomy in Russia were laid by the works of A. P. Protasov, S. G. Zabelin, A. M. Shumlyansky, and others. The Great Northern Expedition (1733-43) was organized, and the anthropological program was developed in detail in the instructions compiled by the expedition member G.F. Miller. Valuable anthropological information about the peoples of Siberia and the Far East was collected by S. P. Krasheninnikov (1755), as well as by members of the academic expedition led by P. P. Pallas (1768-1774). At the beginning of the 19th century Russian navigators and researchers made more than 30 round-the-world trips, which enriched science with ethnographic and anthropological information about many peoples of the world. A work dealing with the problem of man's place in nature was A. N. Radishchev's treatise "On Man, on His Mortality and Immortality", written in 1792-96 in the Ilim exile. In the 19th century The anthropological works of K. M. Baer, who replenished the craniological collections of the anatomical office of the St. Baer also contributed to the development of anthropology by including ethnographic and anthropological research in the program of the Geographical Society, founded in 1845. The revolutionary democrats, in particular N. G. Chernyshevsky, played an important role in the development of art by propagating materialism and substantiating the idea that differences in the culture of peoples arose as a result of different historical sources. N. N. Miklukho-Maclay made a great contribution to agriculture, mainly by studying the racial composition and culture of the Papuans and other peoples of Oceania, as well as by scientifically substantiating the theory of the monophyletic origin of mankind. He was the first to substantiate the idea of the equality of the human races in Russian agriculture. The founder of the anthropological school at Moscow University, which had an enormous influence on the development of anthropology in Russia, was A. P. Bogdanov, professor of zoology. In 1864 he founded the Anthropological Department of the Society of Natural Science Lovers, which became the center of racial and other anthropological studies. In 1879 Bogdanov organized an Anthropological Exhibition in Moscow, which received international recognition. Her collections formed the basis of the Museum of Anthropology at Moscow University. Bogdanov's successor was D. N. Anuchin, who combined in his research A., ethnography, archeology and geography. In 1919, with the assistance of V. V. Bunak, he founded the Department of Anthropology at Moscow University, and in 1922, the Institute of Anthropology. Bunak played a significant role in the development of all sections of A. in the USSR.

Soviet astronomy is characterized by the enormous scope of research in many of its branches, the planning of work, and the development of unified methods. In the field of the doctrine of anthropogenesis, ethnic anthropology, and human morphology, a great deal of material has been accumulated and major theoretical generalizations have been made. In the field of anthropogenesis, the comparative anatomy of various organs of humans and monkeys was studied. The main directions in the development of the brain of primates and the specific features of the structure of the human brain in connection with the formation of its labor and speech activity were elucidated (Yu. G. Shevchenko and others). A number of studies are devoted to the evolution and structure of the hand (E. I. Danilova). The relationship between human ontogeny and its phylogeny was studied, and the main provisions of the theory of phylembryogenesis by A. N. Severtsov were confirmed in relation to anthropological material. Important discoveries have been made of fossils of the lower narrow-nosed monkeys in southeastern Europe and of the remains of teeth of an anthropoid ape of the Tertiary period in the Caucasus. Of particular importance are the finds of bone remains of Mousterian people in the Kiik-Koba grotto in the Crimea (G. A. Bonch-Osmolovsky, 1924), in the Teshyk-Tash grotto (See Teshik-Tash) in Central Asia (A. P. Okladnikov, 1938). ) and in the Staroselie grotto in the Crimea (A. A. Formozov, 1953), as well as the molar tooth of the Mousterian man in the Dzhruchula cave in the Caucasus (L. K. Gabunia et al., 1961). On the basis of these and other numerous facts, a stadial theory of human evolution was constructed, and the problems of the systematics and genealogy of man, the structure and lifestyle of his closest ancestors, the ancestral home of man, the pace, factors and phenomena of unevenness in his evolution were highlighted (M. S. Voino, M. A. Gremyatsky, G. F. Debets, V. I. Kochetkova, M. F. Nesturkh, Ya. Ya. Roginsky, M. I. Uryson, E. N. Khrisanfova, V. P. Yakimov and others. ).

In the section of racial studies, systematic collections of anthropological material, covering almost the entire territory of the USSR, were of great importance. These data made it possible to resolve questions about the origin and formation of many peoples of the USSR by using modern and fossil material as a historical source. The concept of “human race” itself was analyzed, as well as the degree of dynamism and stability of the race, the relationship between race and constitution, various methods of racial analysis (M. S. Akimova, V. P. Alekseev, V. V. Bunak, I. I. Gokhman , V. V. Ginzburg, G. F. Debets, T. S. Konduktorova, M. G. Levin, N. S. Rozov, T. A. Trofimova, N. N. Cheboksarov, A. I. Yarkho, etc. .). A significant place was occupied by work on the age-related variability of racial characteristics in children (N. N. Miklashevskaya) and in adults (A. I. Yarkho, G. L. Khit). Studies in the field of population genetics based on somatic and serological materials have sharply increased (Yu. G. Rychkov). Generalizations are made concerning the systematics, mutual relationship and origin of human races.

In the field of human morphology, a doctrine was developed on physical development, body proportions, constitution, relationships between body sizes, patterns of growth (in particular, on the periodization of this process and the uneven growth of individual segments of the body), on the methods of anthropometry (D. I. Aron, V V. Bunak, P. N. Bashkirov, P. I. Zenkevich, A. A. Malinovsky, V. G. Shtefko, A. I. Yarkho, etc.). The study of the relationship between morphological and functional features has expanded (T. I. Alekseeva and others). Dermatoglyphics was studied in detail (M. V. Volotskoy, T. D. Gladkova, P. S. Semenovsky). Racial and sexual characteristics in the structure of teeth were studied by A. A. Zubov.

Soviet anthropologists have carried out extensive research on the topical problem of acceleration (see Acceleration), that is, the acceleration of the growth and physiological development of children, which is observed almost everywhere (V. G. Vlastovskii, V. S. Solovieva).

Questions were studied about the application of mathematical methods to solving anthropological problems, for example, such as establishing patterns of variability of signs and their combinations, analysis of intragroup variation factors, studying the degree of correspondence of the distribution of measuring signs to a normal curve, analysis of intergroup variability, in particular, establishing the reality of differences between groups of people, territorial, professional, and others (M. V. Ignatiev, Yu. S. Kurshakova, A. V. Pugacheva, V. P. Chtetsov, and others).

The findings were applied in industry: they made it possible to build anthropological standards for clothing, shoes, hats, gloves, seats in buses, wagons, school desks, etc.

A direct benefit is provided by A.'s data in forensic medicine, in particular for the so-called. verbal portraits, to compile tables that allow more or less likely to determine the sex, age and race of the bone remains. Anthropogenetics has found application in resolving disputed paternity.

In addition to Moscow University, where there is a special Scientific Research Institute of A. and where specialists in anthropology are trained at the Department of A. of the Faculty of Biology, research on A. in the USSR is carried out in various laboratories, at institutes of the Academy of Sciences, at universities and other institutions of Leningrad, Kiev , Tbilisi, Tartu, Riga, Tomsk, and others. Particularly noteworthy is the development of aviation in the union republics: the Georgian SSR (M. G. Abdushelishvili), the Kazakh SSR (O. Ismagulov), and the Uzbek SSR (L. V. Oshanin, V. Ya. Zezenkova, K. Nadzhimov), Ukrainian SSR (L. P. Nikolaev, V. D. Dyachenko), Estonian SSR (Yu. M. Aul, K. Yu. Mark).

Anthropological institutions in the USSR are doing a great job of disseminating knowledge among the population through the publication of books, brochures, lectures on topics devoted to the formation of man, the formation of human races, etc. The Museum of the Institute of Anthropology of Moscow University and the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR in Leningrad play a significant role in the promotion of anthropological knowledge.

Lit.: Anuchin D.N., A quick look at the past of anthropology and its tasks in Russia, Russian Anthropological Journal, 1900, No. 1; Bunak V. V., The current state and immediate tasks of Soviet anthropology, "Issues of Anthropology", 1962, c. 10; Bunak V. V., Nesturkh M. F., Roginsky Ya. I., Anthropology. Short course, M., 1941; Ginzburg V. V., Elements of anthropology for physicians, L., 1963; Levin M. G., Essays on the history of anthropology in Russia, M. 1960; Roginsky Ya. Ya., Levin M. G., Anthropology, 2nd ed., M., 1963; Grimm G., Fundamentals of constitutional biology and anthropometry, M., 1967; Human Biology, Oxford, 1964; Jubilé du Centenaire de la Société d'Antropologie de Paris, P., 1959; Martin D., Lehrbuch der Antropolgie in systematischer Darstellung, 3 Aufl., Bd 1-2, Stuttg., 1956-60; Montagu, A., An introduction to physical anthropology, 3 ed., Springfield, 1960.

Periodicals:"Problems of Anthropology", Moscow (since 1960); "L" Anthropologie", Paris (since 1890); "Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute", London (c 1871); "Zeitschrift für Morphologic und Anthropologie", Stuttgart (c 1899); "Przegd Anthropologiczny", Poznan (c 1926 ); "L" Anthropologie ", Praque (1923-41); "American Journal of Physical Anthropology", Philadelphia (since 1918); "Current Anthropology", Chicago (c.1960).

Ya. Ya. Roginsky.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

Synonyms:

See what "Anthropology" is in other dictionaries:

Today there are many sciences that study people and their relationships in society. The science of anthropology, along with sociology, social science and other similar sciences, belongs to this type of knowledge. Moreover, it must be considered both in a broad and narrow sense.

This means that the question - "Anthropology, what is it?" - it is difficult to give an unambiguous answer. In a broad sense, this is a field of knowledge that deals with the study of man, and based on the knowledge of many humanitarian and natural science disciplines, and in a narrow sense, this is the science of human biological diversity.

History of anthropology

Of course, scientists of antiquity began to be interested in man, his features. So, for example, the ancient Greeks, thanks to their observations and ideas, contributed a lot of interesting things to the science of man.

Hippocrates in his medical treatises pointed out the influence of climatic and natural conditions on the health and physical characteristics of people living in a particular territory. If you remember, the great physician had a teaching about the juices in the human body, which were interconnected with 4 temperaments.

Despite the fact that in those distant times practically no one knew the term "anthropology", what it is, it was the Greek travelers who, studying the characteristics of people living in the countries they traveled, shared their observations, made a comparative analysis and came to very interesting conclusions.

It was this knowledge that became the basis of anthropology. Aristotle, on the other hand, built a "ladder of living beings", on the steps of which he arranged animals according to the degree of complexity of their organization. He gave the penultimate step to the monkey, and then placed a man above it, as the highest being on the planet.

Domestic anthropology

In Russia, this science, one might say, originated in the first half of the 18th century. It was then that Emperor Peter the Great founded the "Kunstkamera" - the first museum of anthropology in Russia, in which anatomical preparations, samples of various deformities, found a place even in those distant times.

During this period, anatomy began to develop in the country, and such scientists as A. Protasov, S. Zabelin, A. Shumlyansky and others took an active part in this matter.

Expeditions

During this era, the Northern Expedition was also organized, which lasted exactly 10 years. Its members developed an anthropological program. Valuable information about the Siberian and Far Eastern peoples was collected, and in the 19th century, participants in a round-the-world expedition led by P.P. Pallas, made a rich contribution of anthropological and ethnographic knowledge to science.

The famous writer and ethnographer A.N. Radishchev wrote a treatise "On Man, on Mortality and His Immortality", and K. M. Baer created a theory of the monogenetic origin of four races, which led to an improvement in the method of measuring human skulls.

The development of science: the subject of anthropology

Before the great geographical discoveries, people did not yet know what anthropology is, what races are and what results from their mixing. However, after them, a lot fell into place. People gained knowledge about the peoples of Southeast Asia, America, Africa, Siberia.

The most important for anthropology was the journey of Magellan, as it confirmed the existence of antipodes. In the 17th century, E. Tyson described the anatomical features of anthropomorphic monkeys, and a century later, attempts were made to build scientifically based hypotheses about the origin of people.

Of great importance for anthropology were the works of the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus, especially his work The System of Nature. It was he who singled out a detachment of primates among mammals, subdividing it into 4 genera: humans, monkeys, lemurs and bats.

Raciality

Surely everyone knows the term Homo sapiens - “A reasonable person”. This is also a merit of the Swedish scientist. The same applies to the division of mankind into four races, which he named after the names of the continents well known in those days. So, a "reasonable person" in its external features can be European, African, Asian and American.

After this, attempts to classify races were tried by F. Bernier, J. Buffon, I. Kant, I. Blumenbach, and others. In addition, by this time, knowledge about the peoples of Australia and Oceania had appeared. In a word, anthropology was gradually born. The books written by most of the authors of this time were about aborigines inhabiting distant islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Several approaches to anthropology, tasks

In the US and Western Europe, the question: "Anthropology, what is it?" - scientists give this answer: it is a humanitarian science about a person in social, cultural and physical dimensions. It also includes ethnology, considering it an essential element.

But in Soviet science, anthropology is considered the biological science of the physical organization, origin and evolution of people and human races.

Among the Western approach, the French approach stands out as a separate line, according to which anthropology does not include the physical and material aspects of human existence. It is part of sociology. But according to the Anglo-Saxon school, this science is multidisciplinary and consists of 4 sections: anthropobiology, cultural and social anthropology, ethnolinguistics and prehistoric archeology. According to some theories, there is also philosophical anthropology.

Physical

This kind of anthropological science studies the processes, intraspecific variations and stages of the formation of a person as a species. Physical anthropologists are interested in human genetics, that is, its hereditary characteristics, as well as questions of morphology, that is, the parameters of the human body.

Scientists studying the physical side of anthropology are engaged in the analysis of the physical characteristics of a person, as well as his adaptive relationships with culture and the natural environment. Physical anthropology studies the correlation between personality type and body structure, as well as the ethology of primates.

To this end, an association was made of such specialists as anthropologists, psychologists and zoologists, who jointly study the evolution of the human skeleton and the diversity of functions of tissues and organ systems. The focus of their research is the discovery of the relationship between belonging to a particular race and susceptibility to disease, as well as the degree of survival in certain conditions.

Philosophical approach to anthropology

Let's look at the etymology of this term. It comes from two Greek words that translate as "man" and "knowledge". That is, philosophical anthropology is a philosophical approach to the study of man in the broad sense, and in the narrow sense - the philosophical German and Western European school of philosophy, which arose in the twentieth century and proceeds from those ideas that are embedded in the teachings of Dietel's "Philosophy of Life", in the phenomenology of Husserl and etc.

All of them strive to create a structured holistic doctrine of people, through the use of data from most of the sciences of man and human society: psychology, ethology, biology, sociology, and even religion.

Philosophical anthropology originated in 1928 with the works of H. Plesner “Man and the Organic Stages” and Max Scheler “The Position of Man in Space”. In these works, scientists consider the specific differences between the ways of existence of animals and humans.

Years later, Arnold Gehlen, in his writings, presented more thoroughly what anthropology is. The books "Man and his nature, position in the world", published by him in 1940, as well as "Primitive people and late culture" in 1956, consider a person at different periods of his development.

Cultural anthropology

This area of human science studies its behavioral characteristics and results of life. In some interpretations, culture is part of the environment, which is created by the person himself. Cultural anthropology is closely related to linguistics and prehistoric archaeology.

Ethnolinguistics

To understand culture, it is necessary to consider it as a system of symbols. These are the keys to her understanding. As we know, the most common system of symbols is language - a means of verbal and written communication. Anthropologists are engaged in the study of the history of the emergence of the world's languages, their classification, the relationship between them, in order to find the historical relationship between peoples.

prehistoric archeology

What does this scientific discipline study? Its subject is anthropogenesis, the origin of Homo sapiens. She also studies the development of people to explain the historical differences in the way of life of different peoples.

This science interacts with disciplines such as physics, biology, chemistry, which allows you to study, date, and determine the purpose of the artifacts found. All this is done in order to recreate the way of life of ancient peoples.

Cultural anthropology

In some countries, this section is called social anthropology. It studies the family, political, social organization of human existence. In the US, anthropologists believe that the study of "social institutions" is insufficient. For this, it is also necessary to consider elements such as intelligence, values, technology, etc.

Unity of Anthropology

Among scientists, the question often arises as to whether human anthropology is a holistic science. Based on what was said above, we see how diverse are the interests that are united under a common name. However, one must understand that a person in itself is a very complex system. That is why the subjects of study of the science of man are so varied.