Page 5 - BANC-131 (E)

IGNOUPROJECT.COM 9958947060

Chapter 1: Definition, Scope and Significance

of Anthropology
Shrichakradhar.com

Q1. Define anthropology.

Ans. Anthropology, “the science of humanity,” which studies human beings in aspects
ranging from the biology and evolutionary history of Homo sapiens to the features of
society and culture that decisively distinguish humans from other animal species.
Because of the diverse subject matter it encompasses, anthropology has become,
especially since the middle of the 20th century, a collection of more specialized fields.
The branches that study the social and cultural constructions of human groups are
9958947060
variously recognized as belonging to social-cultural anthropology, biological
anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology.
Anthropology is a holistic discipline as it tries to understand human existence from
different angles of culture, biology, history, and environment. Eric Wolf (1964) states
“anthropology is less a subject matter than a bond betweensubject matters. It is in part
history, part literature; in part natural science,part social science; it strives to study men
both from within and without; itrepresents both a manner of looking at man and a
vision of man-the mostscientific of the humanities, the most humanist of sciences.”
Anthropologists are interested in understanding the origin and development of human
species. They are also interested in knowing how environment affects culture and how
culture has an impact over the growth and development of human personality. They
inquire about the existence of human variation and try to find reasons behind such
variations. They are equally interested in the reconstruction of human past and its
culture. Besides having such diverse interests, anthropologists also have a diverse and
unique tool kit in the form of research methods that help in answering such questions.
Anthropologists also apply their knowledge and methods of research in solving practical
problems and thus giving rise to a new field in anthropology called applied
anthropology.
The exact meaning of the word anthropology is science of human as anthroposmeans
human and logos means science. However, this definition gives a very broad and vague
idea about the subject matter of anthropology as other disciplines such as psychology,
history and sociology can also be considered as studying human beings.
Throughout its existence as an academic discipline, anthropology has been located at
the intersection of natural science and humanities. The biological evolution of Homo
sapiens and the evolution of the capacity for culture that distinguishes humans from all
other species are indistinguishable from one another. While the evolution of the human
species is a biological development like the processes that gave rise to the other species,
the historical appearance of the capacity for culture initiates a qualitative departure
from other forms of adaptation, based on an extraordinarily variable creativity not

Page 1