Anthropological Worldview
Anthropology is the study of humans both in the past and the present. In order to study past and the present, the anthropological perspective uses the approach of diversity by considering the beliefs and practices regarding health, healing, and healers in the context of specific cultures. Anthropologists must consider the worldview connected to the system of meaning being studied because a worldview shapes the structure of our medical systems and different worldviews are directly reflected in our systems of healing. Our worldviews consist of our philosophy of life, our conception of the world, and how we perceive the world but, most importantly worldview consists of the perspective that an individual takes when looking at an individual or
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a society, while also taking that society or individual’s point of view into consideration. Our worldviews are structured based on what we believe is true and can change the environments we live in, they can change our perspectives as well as the lens we look at the world with. This lens is the way we view reality and it also based on our own personal life experiences and the resources that are readily available to us.
Medical systems around the world are based on healing practices that are direct reflections of our societies and their worldviews. One of the subfields of anthropology is medical anthropology which considers the factors that influence our wellbeing. Medical anthropology is the direct study of human, health, disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation. Anthropologists study worldviews because they are our life moldings that shape our beliefs and healing practices, but in order to understand other’s worldviews we must first comprehend different systems of meanings as well as well as how they influence different practices of healing. There are several different ways that our worldviews and cultures influence our everyday decisions and one way in particular is through our healing practices. According to the article, Why Have a Medical Anthropology, because many cultures across the world lack the proper education regarding health and illness, these cultures are more prone to illness like mosquito borne illnesses because they are unaware of the association between bug bites and sickness. In this section of the article, the anthropologists are presenting the Honduran community with holism because the anthropologist studies how the religion and belief system of this community is impacting the whole. Holism specifically incorporates how religion and belief systems work themselves into the whole, it is recognized as looking at something from a different perspective. In this instance, the honduras community was presented with a class that informed them of the mosquito-borne illness; therefore, the Honduran people used holism because they are understanding a system of meaning, the mosquito illness, from a perspective, western medicine, that is not theirs. They are looking at where the illness generated and how, rather than just treating the mosquito bites every time someone is bitten.
Our culture is our own system of meaning that is created because its members need to understand the meaning, produce the meaning, and reproduce the meaning.
For example, one's language is a system of meaning that is understood, produced, and reproduced. Each system of meaning is made up of symbols that represent our culture, so why do we judge others’ symbols, their culture, or their beliefs? In the western world, one would think that someone who uses chopsticks for every meal is silly, but in Japanese culture it is perfectly normal. Every culture has a diverse range of values and beliefs that help shape their lives, but some values are easier to support than others. If our own individual beliefs and customs are different from other cultures, then we tend to believe that other systems of meaning are wrong and that our own cultural views of morality are more valuable. This is called, ethnocentrism because you believe that your system of meaning is the absolute best or right and that nothing can compare. Ethnocentrism arbitrates other cultures based on the values and standards of one’s own culture especially in the case of language, behavior, beliefs, and customs. In the reading, A Very Bad Disease of the Arms by Kearney, one of the graduate students decided to do his doctoral research in southern Mexico and he quickly stumbled upon their system of meaning. So, the graduate student soon learned that this town in mexico are firm believers of witchcraft and some practice witchcraft as well. He thought, that a women in the town was sick because she just was severely sunburnt, but they think that a witch sent this disease to her. He was so ignorant to their system of meaning, right away he assumed it was a sunburn, gave her his lotion, and then she was cured, but the next day he too received the same arm disease and he quickly assumed it was witchcraft. So, what changed his
mind?
He then considered cultural relativism where each culture should be looked at individually rather than comparatively because, each system of meaning works a certain way based on their resources. Cultural relativism establishes the idea that moral standards and beliefs differ from one system of meaning to the next; therefore good and bad are relative to culture. What is good is what is socially acceptable in a given system of meaning meaning, those who are born into one system of meaning are expected to follow those codes and beliefs because they already exist. But, in addition, cultural relativism proposes that there are several ways of applying basic morality, beliefs, customs, and behaviors across all systems of meaning. Because we understand that every culture has its own moral codes, these cultures lay the foundation of agreement that there are no commonly agreed upon set of cultural codes. If there were, every system of meaning would follow and practice these universal codes. So, this town in mexico has no understanding of hygiene nor modern medicine, therefore they came up with a valid way of explaining what happened. In order to overcome ignorance regarding other cultures, we must understand the value of meanings from different perspectives. For instance, various cultures value honesty and the prohibition of murder. Obviously these values can be broken depending on the situation. A society that allows murdering and lying would be shortly lived. Cultural relativism allows for the likelihood that something could be morally right in one system of meaning but wrong in another. Cultural relativism takes tolerance and acceptance to an extreme. It is very unlikely for something to be right and wrong at the same time, but cultural relativism allows for this possibility.
In the Shaman’s Apprentice, Mark Plotkin went to the amazon to study how plants are used as medicine in this culture. In their worldview, they practice and study the uses of plants as forms of healing and medicine. In this case, they are using a version of the scientific method because they find plants all over the rainforest, test them on certain illnesses, and then whether the plants worked or not, they will assess those plants and take note of the use, so it is an evidence based outlook of ethnobotany. Ethnobotany is the study of traditional knowledge with their customs regarding plants and their medicinal/religious uses based on the relationship between plants and people. With the study of ethnobotany, usually comes the shaman because the shaman is someone who is in touch with the spirits and the spiritual world. In the movie Shaman’s Apprentice, Mark Plotkin studies the shaman and the way they use ethnobotany as their form of healing and medicine, but he also compares their treatments with western medicine. Because Mark Plotkin compares their system of healing to the western system of healing he is using the comparative method to see if what they are doing with plants is having the same outcome as western medicine does. Ethnobotany can be considered the worldview or the lens used by the people in the amazon because they practice ethnobotany and they teach it to newer generations to be passed on for years to come.
a society, while also taking that society or individual’s point of view into consideration. Our worldviews are structured based on what we believe is true and can change the environments we live in, they can change our perspectives as well as the lens we look at the world with. This lens is the way we view reality and it also based on our own personal life experiences and the resources that are readily available to us.
Medical systems around the world are based on healing practices that are direct reflections of our societies and their worldviews. One of the subfields of anthropology is medical anthropology which considers the factors that influence our wellbeing. Medical anthropology is the direct study of human, health, disease, health care systems, and biocultural adaptation. Anthropologists study worldviews because they are our life moldings that shape our beliefs and healing practices, but in order to understand other’s worldviews we must first comprehend different systems of meanings as well as well as how they influence different practices of healing. There are several different ways that our worldviews and cultures influence our everyday decisions and one way in particular is through our healing practices. According to the article, Why Have a Medical Anthropology, because many cultures across the world lack the proper education regarding health and illness, these cultures are more prone to illness like mosquito borne illnesses because they are unaware of the association between bug bites and sickness. In this section of the article, the anthropologists are presenting the Honduran community with holism because the anthropologist studies how the religion and belief system of this community is impacting the whole. Holism specifically incorporates how religion and belief systems work themselves into the whole, it is recognized as looking at something from a different perspective. In this instance, the honduras community was presented with a class that informed them of the mosquito-borne illness; therefore, the Honduran people used holism because they are understanding a system of meaning, the mosquito illness, from a perspective, western medicine, that is not theirs. They are looking at where the illness generated and how, rather than just treating the mosquito bites every time someone is bitten.
Our culture is our own system of meaning that is created because its members need to understand the meaning, produce the meaning, and reproduce the meaning.
For example, one's language is a system of meaning that is understood, produced, and reproduced. Each system of meaning is made up of symbols that represent our culture, so why do we judge others’ symbols, their culture, or their beliefs? In the western world, one would think that someone who uses chopsticks for every meal is silly, but in Japanese culture it is perfectly normal. Every culture has a diverse range of values and beliefs that help shape their lives, but some values are easier to support than others. If our own individual beliefs and customs are different from other cultures, then we tend to believe that other systems of meaning are wrong and that our own cultural views of morality are more valuable. This is called, ethnocentrism because you believe that your system of meaning is the absolute best or right and that nothing can compare. Ethnocentrism arbitrates other cultures based on the values and standards of one’s own culture especially in the case of language, behavior, beliefs, and customs. In the reading, A Very Bad Disease of the Arms by Kearney, one of the graduate students decided to do his doctoral research in southern Mexico and he quickly stumbled upon their system of meaning. So, the graduate student soon learned that this town in mexico are firm believers of witchcraft and some practice witchcraft as well. He thought, that a women in the town was sick because she just was severely sunburnt, but they think that a witch sent this disease to her. He was so ignorant to their system of meaning, right away he assumed it was a sunburn, gave her his lotion, and then she was cured, but the next day he too received the same arm disease and he quickly assumed it was witchcraft. So, what changed his
mind?
He then considered cultural relativism where each culture should be looked at individually rather than comparatively because, each system of meaning works a certain way based on their resources. Cultural relativism establishes the idea that moral standards and beliefs differ from one system of meaning to the next; therefore good and bad are relative to culture. What is good is what is socially acceptable in a given system of meaning meaning, those who are born into one system of meaning are expected to follow those codes and beliefs because they already exist. But, in addition, cultural relativism proposes that there are several ways of applying basic morality, beliefs, customs, and behaviors across all systems of meaning. Because we understand that every culture has its own moral codes, these cultures lay the foundation of agreement that there are no commonly agreed upon set of cultural codes. If there were, every system of meaning would follow and practice these universal codes. So, this town in mexico has no understanding of hygiene nor modern medicine, therefore they came up with a valid way of explaining what happened. In order to overcome ignorance regarding other cultures, we must understand the value of meanings from different perspectives. For instance, various cultures value honesty and the prohibition of murder. Obviously these values can be broken depending on the situation. A society that allows murdering and lying would be shortly lived. Cultural relativism allows for the likelihood that something could be morally right in one system of meaning but wrong in another. Cultural relativism takes tolerance and acceptance to an extreme. It is very unlikely for something to be right and wrong at the same time, but cultural relativism allows for this possibility.
In the Shaman’s Apprentice, Mark Plotkin went to the amazon to study how plants are used as medicine in this culture. In their worldview, they practice and study the uses of plants as forms of healing and medicine. In this case, they are using a version of the scientific method because they find plants all over the rainforest, test them on certain illnesses, and then whether the plants worked or not, they will assess those plants and take note of the use, so it is an evidence based outlook of ethnobotany. Ethnobotany is the study of traditional knowledge with their customs regarding plants and their medicinal/religious uses based on the relationship between plants and people. With the study of ethnobotany, usually comes the shaman because the shaman is someone who is in touch with the spirits and the spiritual world. In the movie Shaman’s Apprentice, Mark Plotkin studies the shaman and the way they use ethnobotany as their form of healing and medicine, but he also compares their treatments with western medicine. Because Mark Plotkin compares their system of healing to the western system of healing he is using the comparative method to see if what they are doing with plants is having the same outcome as western medicine does. Ethnobotany can be considered the worldview or the lens used by the people in the amazon because they practice ethnobotany and they teach it to newer generations to be passed on for years to come.