What do you think?
Rate this book
Cultural Anthropology: A Perspective on the Human Condition
This introduction to the major subfields of anthropology explores the interplay of biological and cultural forces shaping human nature, human society, and human history. Cultural creativity and human agency are seen as part of the human biological (evolutionary) heritage. This biocultural approach is evident throughout the text in the authors' consistent examination of both interpretive and materialist factors.
394 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1987
5 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 26, 2015
This book was a great discussion about how culture around the world is documented. Solely based on the content of the book, I’d give it five stars. It is important for understanding the world.
However, based on several factors, I think the book needs improvement to be a good text. Here are my issues with it. First, the chapters don’t have outlines. Each chapter jumps right into a case study. The cases are fine, but keep them until after an overview. Second, Chapter 1 isn’t very enthralling. It simply discusses different fields of anthropology. Third, there are no questions as the end of the chapters. I like books that challenge the reader by asking difficult questions. There is a web page that asks questions, but they are multiple choice style which is not thought provoking. The web page is for the newest edition, but the questions are relevant to the edition I had.
I liked that the authors included discussion of psychology’s interaction with culture, but I thought they focused too much on psychoanalytic theories.
Generally the book is well written. However, occasionally I felt that the authors were using a tone that was too academic. For example, parts of chapter 14 seemed to be too dry for potential students.
Lastly, I look at all social science books for how they treat religion and faith. I wasn’t completely sure how to rate it based on this. The authors mention that social science tries to keep away from discussing religion. They kept too far away from discussion of religion. It wasn’t mentioned at all unless I overlooked it. However, this it seems to me that faith is an important part of culture that can’t be ignored. Besides that, the authors say several comments that appear neutral, such as: truth embodied in cultural tradition is bound to be partial … open to further growth.
However, based on several factors, I think the book needs improvement to be a good text. Here are my issues with it. First, the chapters don’t have outlines. Each chapter jumps right into a case study. The cases are fine, but keep them until after an overview. Second, Chapter 1 isn’t very enthralling. It simply discusses different fields of anthropology. Third, there are no questions as the end of the chapters. I like books that challenge the reader by asking difficult questions. There is a web page that asks questions, but they are multiple choice style which is not thought provoking. The web page is for the newest edition, but the questions are relevant to the edition I had.
I liked that the authors included discussion of psychology’s interaction with culture, but I thought they focused too much on psychoanalytic theories.
Generally the book is well written. However, occasionally I felt that the authors were using a tone that was too academic. For example, parts of chapter 14 seemed to be too dry for potential students.
Lastly, I look at all social science books for how they treat religion and faith. I wasn’t completely sure how to rate it based on this. The authors mention that social science tries to keep away from discussing religion. They kept too far away from discussion of religion. It wasn’t mentioned at all unless I overlooked it. However, this it seems to me that faith is an important part of culture that can’t be ignored. Besides that, the authors say several comments that appear neutral, such as: truth embodied in cultural tradition is bound to be partial … open to further growth.
Displaying 1 of 1 review