Anthropology

After reading chapters 1, 2 and 4, I certainly have a better understanding of Anthropology. To me, Anthropology is the study of people in all these aspects: social, historical, cultural, geographical, biological, psychological, and religious. It seems as though Anthropology tends to lean more toward the following subfields; ethnology, the study of ethnic groups; and archeology, science related to the human body or genetics.

Anthropology is always studying for answers on past, present and future questions that will help us to better understand humans and cultures. The question that would have the greatest impact in my opinion, or the question that probably most anthropologist’s hope to discover, may be the origin of life, and or the origin of religion.

Some anthropologist’s are also trying to study people living in nature in order to understand the past. Psychology and the culture of ethnic groups seem to be very important concepts in anthropology.

Yes, anthropology is the study to understand humans, their past, present and future, but the study of humanity as a whole in all times and in all places, to me has to mean that Anthropology must look at humanity holistically. I would imagine this is the case as it would have to emphasize the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts or “relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts.”[1]

Unlike many other disciplines, I have found that Anthropology makes an effort to see humanity as a whole and how each and every facet of humanity affects every other. Therefore, because of the broadness of Anthropology and its study, I think this is why Anthropology has been subdivided into a four field approach, these four fields being Biological Anthropology, Linguistic Anthropology, Sociocultural Anthropology, and Archaeology.

What I have gathered from the text is that Biological Anthropologist look...