Arguments for humility: lessons for anthropologists from six texts
In support of a lean and humble anthropology I discuss six key articles that provide indirect arguments for humility. In summary, these articles teach us that the terms of a discussion may be flawed and cannot be resolved by agreeing shared meanings (Gallie); we must accept limits on what we can kno...
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
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Anthropological Society of Oxford
2022
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| _version_ | 1826314133713190912 |
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| author | Zeitlyn, D |
| author_facet | Zeitlyn, D |
| author_sort | Zeitlyn, D |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | In support of a lean and humble anthropology I discuss six key articles that provide indirect arguments for humility. In summary, these articles teach us that the terms of a discussion may be flawed and cannot be resolved by agreeing shared meanings (Gallie); we must accept limits on what we can know (Nagel); depictions, visual representations are potentially confusing, forms of translation across media types are ubiquitous; (Wolf); portraits are exemplary performances of the self, even the most casual depictions are of the act of posing; (Berger); varying meanings may be associated with a single item, which may convey different things to different people in different places and at different times (Miller and Woodward); and that accounts of a social group and its ideas must encompass vagueness and inconsistency rather than present a misleading coherence and consistency (Favret-Saada). Together these provide reasons for developing a humble anthropology, one that recognizes its incompleteness and revisability. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:27:37Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:6c4b6d9d-8972-4e5d-a1cf-288a30981891 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-25T04:27:37Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publisher | Anthropological Society of Oxford |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:6c4b6d9d-8972-4e5d-a1cf-288a309818912024-08-23T19:47:52ZArguments for humility: lessons for anthropologists from six textsJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:6c4b6d9d-8972-4e5d-a1cf-288a30981891EnglishBulkUploadJASO_articles_36Anthropological Society of Oxford2022Zeitlyn, DIn support of a lean and humble anthropology I discuss six key articles that provide indirect arguments for humility. In summary, these articles teach us that the terms of a discussion may be flawed and cannot be resolved by agreeing shared meanings (Gallie); we must accept limits on what we can know (Nagel); depictions, visual representations are potentially confusing, forms of translation across media types are ubiquitous; (Wolf); portraits are exemplary performances of the self, even the most casual depictions are of the act of posing; (Berger); varying meanings may be associated with a single item, which may convey different things to different people in different places and at different times (Miller and Woodward); and that accounts of a social group and its ideas must encompass vagueness and inconsistency rather than present a misleading coherence and consistency (Favret-Saada). Together these provide reasons for developing a humble anthropology, one that recognizes its incompleteness and revisability. |
| spellingShingle | Zeitlyn, D Arguments for humility: lessons for anthropologists from six texts |
| title | Arguments for humility: lessons for anthropologists from six texts |
| title_full | Arguments for humility: lessons for anthropologists from six texts |
| title_fullStr | Arguments for humility: lessons for anthropologists from six texts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Arguments for humility: lessons for anthropologists from six texts |
| title_short | Arguments for humility: lessons for anthropologists from six texts |
| title_sort | arguments for humility lessons for anthropologists from six texts |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT zeitlynd argumentsforhumilitylessonsforanthropologistsfromsixtexts |