Holistic anthropological theory

An Anthropological Dictionary of Talking People and Anthropological Theory

Holism

Holism, also called holism, is an important epistemology and methodology in anthropology.

● Anthropologists need to constantly regard the past, present and future of human society as a dynamic whole, pay attention to its temporality and diachrony, and make a comprehensive analysis of biology and culture, so as to constantly understand the relationship between a smaller regional society and a larger human society in field work.

Malvin Harris, an American anthropologist, comprehensively explained the multi-layered meaning of method holism from the perspectives of methodology, functionalism, laundry list and process holism.

Methodological holism holds that holism is an attitude and method that should be held in the process of anthropological research.

● Functionalist holism attaches importance to the organic combination of the part and the whole and gives full play to its functions, that is, it investigates all branches including politics, economy, culture and religious belief, and understands the overall cultural system of society through the functions of each part.

Laundrv-list holism comprehensively examines the past, present and future, including a package of human living conditions such as biology, society, culture, language and history.

● Process holism describes the specific operation process of epistemology and methodology in the process.