Specifically, Boas, in The Methods of Ethnology, argued against the various traditional evolutionary theories proposed by Morgan, Marx, Tylor and Spencer. Stating simply that these theories had a particular resilience, but lacked any sort of empirical evidence, Boas argued that the evolutionary theory was based on the counterfactual assumption that our culture was the most advanced and all others were merely following us (Boas, 134). After attacking the diffusionists by noting that their data was not competent enough, methodological difficulties, he responded to the view that historical particularism (Historical particularism argued that each society is a collective representation of its unique historical past. It showed that societies could reach the same level of cultural development through different paths) was atheoretical. How things are and how they come to exist can give only broad outlines of chronological events. Hence cultures are dynamic and in constant flux; every phenomenon is not only an effect, but also a cause. (Boas, 137) A point, taken to the extreme by Kroeber, but also put forth by Boas was that certain problems may be solved in only particular ways. Because humans are similar in their ``infrastructure'', they would tend to solve these problems in similar ways, leading towards the creation of similar traits. Hence, it is not about cultural achievement, but rather about particular conditions that exist at the moment when the new effect is obtained…
1. Why were Americans so alarmed at the growth of big business as described in Chapter 17? Consider that no other western country made antitrust a major issue. What were the implications of big business for American individualism? American concepts of equality? American democracy? The forces leading to economic concentration in industry (thus leading to monopoly). What were Americans reactions to big business as well as the different approaches taken by various reformers and critics of big business, including government attempts to regulate business. What might I mean, “with rapid industrialization came rapid urbanization”? Describe some of the problems associated with the growth of large urban centers.…
2) Which hypothesis of inheritance, common at Darwin's time, caused many to question the ability of natural selection to bring about adaptation in populations?…
They are called Olympians because they live in Mt. Olympus, the highest mountain in Greece which is located in Thessaly in North East of Greece…
Hypothesis: Prey that is camouflaged in its habitat are harder to spot, and get to live long enough to pass on their genes which means the colors of the population that don’t fit in with the environment will eventually die out. Therefore, white will survive, and red will die out.…
References: Boyd R., & Richerson, P. J. (2005). The origin and evolution of cultures. New York: Oxford University…
Heffner, Richard D. Heffner and Alexander. A Documentary History of the United States. New York: New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA), Inc., 2009.…
Unilineal cultural evolution, also known as Unilineal Evolution or classical social evolution is a relationship of society advancement though a series of progressive stages. In this theory, people believed cultures develop under one universal order of society evolution. First originating from the mid-nineteenth century philosopher Herbert Spencer, Unilineal Evolution classified the differences and similarities of cultures by categorizing them into three chronological phases of growth: savagery, barbarism, and civilization. This was the main premise of the early anthropologists who believed that Western civilization was the peak of communal evolution. This idea primarily originated from the Enlightenment period. Lewis Henry Morgan who worked with tribal people, declared they symbolized the earlier phases of cultural evolution. This, he said was the course and development of cultural evolution. His analysis of the cross-cultural information was established around three postulations: modern societies were categorized as either more primal or more civilized, there are a limited number of phases between primal or civilized, and all cultures evolve through these phases at a different pace.…
Some animals, and more specifically primates, have been noted for having brains of an uncommonly large size. One explanation for this phenomenon is the ‘social brain’ or ‘social intelligence’ hypothesis, which states that brain sizes have increased in order to handle the demands of sociality (Lindenfors 2005; Pérez-Barbería et al. 2007). The increase in brain size can be attributed to the computational power needed to track others in the group and ensure individual and species survival (Müller & Soligo 2005; Pérez-Barbería et al. 2007). Sociality in primates – and thus also in humans – has then some evolutionary basis. This bibliography, and my final literature review,…
Do you believe that the basic concepts of Social Darwinism created a legitimate theory for explaining the social and economic rewards within our American society that certain individuals achieved during the gilded age of our past? Explain ….…
c. Rockefeller – “Survival of the fittest is merely working out of the law of nature and the law of God”…
1. One way evolutionary psychology can answer Dylan’s promiscuity is that it has become a learned behavior that he has never had to correct/change. The study states that he has been promiscuous since high school and he sees no reason to change his ways.…
Josiah Strong’s declaration of the success of the Anglo-Saxon race was influenced by the writings of Charles Darwin with his publications on the theory of evolution by natural selection. More specifically, Josiah Strong embraced the idea of social darwinism, an application of Darwin’s theory on the origin of species to success in society. He attributes the success of whites to subdue others and enforce institutions around the world is because of an innate superiority over other races. White supremacy through darwinism justified the United States’ imperialist actions under President Theodore Roosevelt and his Big Stick diplomacy. Interventionism led the United States into war with Spain over Cuba because insurrectos, or Cuban revolutionaries,…
Social Darwinism is stated as a social theory which hold to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection', but this statement can be proven slightly wrong because logically Herbert Spencer, the scientist who is said to have created this theory after reading Darwin's Origin of Species, actually published his book sighting his theories on social darwinism, Progress: Its Law and Cause, two years before Darwin's book was published. The belief of Social Darwinism became popular in the late Victorian era in England, America, France and Germany, the theory states that the strongest and fittest should survive and flourish in society while the weak and unfit should be allowed to die.…
Social Darwinism is a name given to a theory that says only the fittest can survive. This idea was credited to Herbert Spencer in the nineteenth century. Social Darwinism is no longer used to describe our society as the role of the government became more prominent and social programs like welfare, Medicare, and Medicaid became necessity. Since the introduction of these programs, our society is no longer based on the idea of survival of the fittest; anyone can get help if needed. If Herbert Spencer were alive today, he would not agree with the way our country has pushed aside social Darwinism by introducing government aid.…