Geoffrey Lloyd
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199214617
- eISBN:
- 9780191706493
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214617.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This book presents a study of the problems posed by the unity and diversity of the human mind. On the one hand, as humans we all share broadly the same anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and certain ...
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This book presents a study of the problems posed by the unity and diversity of the human mind. On the one hand, as humans we all share broadly the same anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and certain psychological capabilities — the capacity to learn a language, for instance. On the other, different individuals and groups have very different talents, tastes, and beliefs, for instance about how they see themselves, other humans and the world around them. These issues are highly charged, for any denial of psychic unity savours of racism, while many assertions of psychic diversity raise the spectres of arbitrary relativism, the incommensurability of beliefs systems, and their mutual unintelligibility. The book examines where different types of arguments, scientific, philosophical, anthropological and historical, can take us. It discusses colour perception, spatial cognition, animal and plant taxonomy, the emotions, ideas of health and well-being, concepts of the self, agency and causation, varying perceptions of the distinction between nature and culture, and reasoning itself. It pays attention to the multidimensionality of the phenomena to be apprehended and to the diversity of manners, or styles, of apprehending them. The weight to be given to different factors, physical, biological, psychological, cultural, ideological, varies as between different subject areas and sometimes even within a single area. The book uses recent work in social anthropology, linguistics, cognitive science, neurophysiology, and the history of ideas to redefine the problems and clarify how our evident psychic diversity can be reconciled with our shared humanity.Less
This book presents a study of the problems posed by the unity and diversity of the human mind. On the one hand, as humans we all share broadly the same anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and certain psychological capabilities — the capacity to learn a language, for instance. On the other, different individuals and groups have very different talents, tastes, and beliefs, for instance about how they see themselves, other humans and the world around them. These issues are highly charged, for any denial of psychic unity savours of racism, while many assertions of psychic diversity raise the spectres of arbitrary relativism, the incommensurability of beliefs systems, and their mutual unintelligibility. The book examines where different types of arguments, scientific, philosophical, anthropological and historical, can take us. It discusses colour perception, spatial cognition, animal and plant taxonomy, the emotions, ideas of health and well-being, concepts of the self, agency and causation, varying perceptions of the distinction between nature and culture, and reasoning itself. It pays attention to the multidimensionality of the phenomena to be apprehended and to the diversity of manners, or styles, of apprehending them. The weight to be given to different factors, physical, biological, psychological, cultural, ideological, varies as between different subject areas and sometimes even within a single area. The book uses recent work in social anthropology, linguistics, cognitive science, neurophysiology, and the history of ideas to redefine the problems and clarify how our evident psychic diversity can be reconciled with our shared humanity.
G. E. R. Lloyd
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199214617
- eISBN:
- 9780191706493
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214617.003.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
The Introduction argues that cognition is influenced first by neurophysiological and biochemical factors, secondly by cultural, social, political and ideological ones and thirdly by the subject ...
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The Introduction argues that cognition is influenced first by neurophysiological and biochemical factors, secondly by cultural, social, political and ideological ones and thirdly by the subject matter, that is, what is there to be cognized. An overview of the topics discussed in the succeeding chapters is presented.Less
The Introduction argues that cognition is influenced first by neurophysiological and biochemical factors, secondly by cultural, social, political and ideological ones and thirdly by the subject matter, that is, what is there to be cognized. An overview of the topics discussed in the succeeding chapters is presented.
G. E. R. Lloyd
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199214617
- eISBN:
- 9780191706493
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214617.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Ever since the famous study by Berlin and Kay (1969), colour perception has been cited as one of the prime examples where, despite great surface diversity, robust cross-cultural universals can be ...
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Ever since the famous study by Berlin and Kay (1969), colour perception has been cited as one of the prime examples where, despite great surface diversity, robust cross-cultural universals can be found. They found that although colour terminologies appear to differ so widely, these colour terminologies exhibited certain patterns and even obeyed certain general laws. But this apparent vindication of the psychic unity of humans can be challenged not just from the viewpoint of cultural relativism, but also from that of the work of those, such as Mollon, who have analysed the differences in individuals' colour discrimination.Less
Ever since the famous study by Berlin and Kay (1969), colour perception has been cited as one of the prime examples where, despite great surface diversity, robust cross-cultural universals can be found. They found that although colour terminologies appear to differ so widely, these colour terminologies exhibited certain patterns and even obeyed certain general laws. But this apparent vindication of the psychic unity of humans can be challenged not just from the viewpoint of cultural relativism, but also from that of the work of those, such as Mollon, who have analysed the differences in individuals' colour discrimination.
G. E. R. Lloyd
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199214617
- eISBN:
- 9780191706493
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214617.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This chapter discusses spatial cognition in humans. It examines the study by Levinson (2003) which identified diversities in human spatial cognition. It compares the findings on spatial cognition ...
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This chapter discusses spatial cognition in humans. It examines the study by Levinson (2003) which identified diversities in human spatial cognition. It compares the findings on spatial cognition with the earlier findings concerning colour, between different human subjects and whole communities. It argues that in terms of physiological and neurological input, there are both commonalities and differences between different human subjects. As to what there is to cognize, the universal elements in the colour cognition case include the physics of the wavelengths of light and in the spatial cognition one, the directionality of gravitational forces — on earth at least — and aspects of the physics and geometry of volumes and shapes.Less
This chapter discusses spatial cognition in humans. It examines the study by Levinson (2003) which identified diversities in human spatial cognition. It compares the findings on spatial cognition with the earlier findings concerning colour, between different human subjects and whole communities. It argues that in terms of physiological and neurological input, there are both commonalities and differences between different human subjects. As to what there is to cognize, the universal elements in the colour cognition case include the physics of the wavelengths of light and in the spatial cognition one, the directionality of gravitational forces — on earth at least — and aspects of the physics and geometry of volumes and shapes.
G. E. R. Lloyd
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199214617
- eISBN:
- 9780191706493
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199214617.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
The dichotomy between nature and culture constitutes a key element in the articulating framework of several intellectual disciplines. The dichotomy is of particular importance for the study of the ...
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The dichotomy between nature and culture constitutes a key element in the articulating framework of several intellectual disciplines. The dichotomy is of particular importance for the study of the problem of the psychic unity of humankind. This chapter examines the historical origins of one version of the dichotomy which has been influential in European thought. It then follows up earlier studies that investigated the contexts in which an explicit contrast between two concepts corresponding, roughly, to nature and to culture, that is phusis and nomos, was proposed by certain ancient Greek thinkers. This investigation brings to light bboth the polemical use of that dichotomy and its continuing problematic status in philosophy and social anthropology.Less
The dichotomy between nature and culture constitutes a key element in the articulating framework of several intellectual disciplines. The dichotomy is of particular importance for the study of the problem of the psychic unity of humankind. This chapter examines the historical origins of one version of the dichotomy which has been influential in European thought. It then follows up earlier studies that investigated the contexts in which an explicit contrast between two concepts corresponding, roughly, to nature and to culture, that is phusis and nomos, was proposed by certain ancient Greek thinkers. This investigation brings to light bboth the polemical use of that dichotomy and its continuing problematic status in philosophy and social anthropology.
Victoria K. Burbank
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780824867966
- eISBN:
- 9780824876920
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Hawai'i Press
- DOI:
- 10.21313/hawaii/9780824867966.003.0010
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Pacific Studies
Psychic unity is a fraught concept in anthropology and related fields, yet, I argue, even those of us who doubt the existence of a shared human nature carry an expectation of it into the field. ...
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Psychic unity is a fraught concept in anthropology and related fields, yet, I argue, even those of us who doubt the existence of a shared human nature carry an expectation of it into the field. Empathy, which necessarily depends on a degree of psychic unity, has long been a critical tool for doing ethnography though our recognition of this fact comes and goes in the anthropological canon. In this experientialist approach to personhood, set in the changed and changing environment of the remote Australian Aboriginal community of Numbulwar, I draw on emotion talk to explore my intuition that, in spite of our differences, the women I know there and I are very much alike. In this effort, I am guided by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s ideas about primary metaphors and the bodily experiences that underlie them. I focus on an Aboriginal woman’s experience of anger and shame, and on why I think I can understand both what is said and something of the experience behind what is being said. I also, however, consider arguments that shared experience is necessary to the ethnographic project.Less
Psychic unity is a fraught concept in anthropology and related fields, yet, I argue, even those of us who doubt the existence of a shared human nature carry an expectation of it into the field. Empathy, which necessarily depends on a degree of psychic unity, has long been a critical tool for doing ethnography though our recognition of this fact comes and goes in the anthropological canon. In this experientialist approach to personhood, set in the changed and changing environment of the remote Australian Aboriginal community of Numbulwar, I draw on emotion talk to explore my intuition that, in spite of our differences, the women I know there and I are very much alike. In this effort, I am guided by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson’s ideas about primary metaphors and the bodily experiences that underlie them. I focus on an Aboriginal woman’s experience of anger and shame, and on why I think I can understand both what is said and something of the experience behind what is being said. I also, however, consider arguments that shared experience is necessary to the ethnographic project.
Timothy Larsen and Daniel J. King
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- October 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198797852
- eISBN:
- 9780191839177
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198797852.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter argues that classic Christian theological anthropology has emphasized that all human beings are part of the one human family descending from Adam and Eve, created in the image of God, ...
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This chapter argues that classic Christian theological anthropology has emphasized that all human beings are part of the one human family descending from Adam and Eve, created in the image of God, yet fallen and sinful. These beliefs have been traditionally expounded with reference to Genesis 1–3. Sociocultural anthropologists, in contrast, have often prided themselves on shedding Christian beliefs. The Genesis narrative, in particular, has been the object of attacks. Nevertheless, when some nineteenth-century freethinking anthropologists argued that belief in the monogenesis of the human race was just the result of the influence of an erroneous Judeo-Christian myth, the discipline weeded such thinking out of its midst. Thus, even as it sidelined Christianity, orthodox anthropology from the founding of the discipline to the present has affirmed the doctrine of the psychic unity of humankind. This essay argues that this foundational conviction of anthropology is informed by Christian thought.Less
This chapter argues that classic Christian theological anthropology has emphasized that all human beings are part of the one human family descending from Adam and Eve, created in the image of God, yet fallen and sinful. These beliefs have been traditionally expounded with reference to Genesis 1–3. Sociocultural anthropologists, in contrast, have often prided themselves on shedding Christian beliefs. The Genesis narrative, in particular, has been the object of attacks. Nevertheless, when some nineteenth-century freethinking anthropologists argued that belief in the monogenesis of the human race was just the result of the influence of an erroneous Judeo-Christian myth, the discipline weeded such thinking out of its midst. Thus, even as it sidelined Christianity, orthodox anthropology from the founding of the discipline to the present has affirmed the doctrine of the psychic unity of humankind. This essay argues that this foundational conviction of anthropology is informed by Christian thought.
Daniel L. Everett
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226070766
- eISBN:
- 9780226401430
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226401430.003.0010
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter discusses the failings of an understanding of mankind that takes for granted psychic unity and shared innate instincts among all men, and the implications of these failings for research ...
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This chapter discusses the failings of an understanding of mankind that takes for granted psychic unity and shared innate instincts among all men, and the implications of these failings for research done under the presupposition of some sort of psychic unity. It takes up analyzes, and rejects several proposals on instincts and “native concepts,” as well as examining why they have been attractive or widely accepted. These proposals cover subject matter such as universal grammar, morality instinct, phonology instinct, semantic instinct and syntactic instinct.Less
This chapter discusses the failings of an understanding of mankind that takes for granted psychic unity and shared innate instincts among all men, and the implications of these failings for research done under the presupposition of some sort of psychic unity. It takes up analyzes, and rejects several proposals on instincts and “native concepts,” as well as examining why they have been attractive or widely accepted. These proposals cover subject matter such as universal grammar, morality instinct, phonology instinct, semantic instinct and syntactic instinct.
Daniel L. Everett
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- May 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780226070766
- eISBN:
- 9780226401430
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226401430.003.0011
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Social and Cultural Anthropology
This chapter takes up the question of human nature from both a biological/behavioural perspective and the perspective or a shared innate knowledge which informs the human experience. It maintains ...
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This chapter takes up the question of human nature from both a biological/behavioural perspective and the perspective or a shared innate knowledge which informs the human experience. It maintains that a biological/behavioural description of human nature is possible while rejecting the possibility that human nature could be described from the second perspective. The author also examines the ways that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and finally Buddhism conceive of human nature, and how these religious conceptions relate to idea of psychic unity or innate knowledge. Buddhism, the author argues, puts forward an account of human nature which seems plausible. In this account, the core of human nature is the collection of thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and interpretations which the human has experienced or formulated.Less
This chapter takes up the question of human nature from both a biological/behavioural perspective and the perspective or a shared innate knowledge which informs the human experience. It maintains that a biological/behavioural description of human nature is possible while rejecting the possibility that human nature could be described from the second perspective. The author also examines the ways that Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and finally Buddhism conceive of human nature, and how these religious conceptions relate to idea of psychic unity or innate knowledge. Buddhism, the author argues, puts forward an account of human nature which seems plausible. In this account, the core of human nature is the collection of thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and interpretations which the human has experienced or formulated.
