WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?

- focuses on the study of the totality of what it

means to be human
• physical or biological characteristics
• social relationships
• cultural influences
WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?
SUBFIELDS OF ANTHROPOLOGY
1) Archaeology
2) Biological Anthropology
3) Linguistics
4) Cultural Anthropology
1. ARCHAEOLOGY
1. ARCHAEOLOGY
- focuses on the past and how it may contribute to
the present ways of how people conduct their daily
lives
1. ARCHAEOLOGY
a) Man’s big brains have allowed them to think
and look for ways to prolong their existence
b) Their thoughts enabled their hands to fashion
tools and weapons from the objects they find
in the environment
1. ARCHAEOLOGY
c) The tools and weapons that proved effective
are used repeatedly and are further imporved,
making life easier
1. ARCHEOLOGY

SURVIVAL
is the most important aspect of human nature
2. BIOLOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
2. BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
- focuses primarily on how the human body adapts
to the different earth environments
- looks at the probable causes of disease, physical
mutation and death and also seek to know how
human beings might have evolved from their early
forms
2. BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
a) Human beings at present still share the same
biological strengths and vulnerabilities
b) What is beneficial and/or lethal to one person
will likely have the same effect on others
3. LINGUISTIC
ANTHROPOLOGY
3. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
- gives emphasis on how human beings survived
based on their ability to communicate
- focuses on how language is used to create and
share meanings, form ideas and concepts, and
promote social change
3. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
a) Through the centuries, man had been
searching for ways in order for people of
different languages understand each other
b) Other forms of languages have evolved which
represent the subculture of a particular group
3. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
c) As societies change and technologies
develop, the symbols and meaning people
attach to objects and events as expressed
through language would likely change as well
4. CULTURAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
3. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
- focuses on how one group’s particular manner of
living form an essential part of its members’
personal and social identity
- an individual is always a product of his culture
3. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
THEORY OF CULTURAL DETERMINISM
- the contention that culture has a strong impact on
how the individual views himself
3. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
THEORY OF CULTURAL DETERMINISM
- human nature is determined by the ideas,
meanings, beliefs and values learned as members
of a society
3. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
THEORY OF CULTURAL DETERMINISM
a) Human beings can be shaped or formed to
have the kind of life they prefer
b) There is no limit placed on the human ability to
do whatever they set their minds and hearts into
3. LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY
THEORY OF CULTURAL DETERMINISM
c) People have no control over what they learn for
they blindly accept the learning their cultures
expose them to
WAYS ON HOW CULTURE MAY
MANIFEST ITSELF TO PEOPLE
1. SYMBOLS
- are words, gestures, pictures or objects that have
a recognized or accepted meaning in a particular
culture
- can be shared or copied by other cultures who find
them also fitting for their own
2. HEROES
- are people from the past or present who have
characteristics that are important in a culture
- may be real or fictitious and are considered
models of behavior
3. RITUALS
- are activities (may be religious or social)
participated in by a group of people for the
fulfillment of desired objectives and are
considered to be socially essential
4. VALUES
- the core of every culture; are inferred from the
way people act and react to circumstances and
situations
- can neither be discussed nor be directly
observed
4. VALUES
- involve human tendencies or preferences
towards good or bad and right or wrong