Social Theorists
Franz Boas
Also Known As Franz Uri Boas
Anthropology
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Widely regarded as the founder of American anthropology, who rejected the idea that cultures evolve through fixed stages from lower to higher forms and developed cultural relativism, the principle that a culture is understood on its own terms rather than judged against an outsider's standard.
Facts
Birth DateSourced to the subject's own account Birth YearSourced to the subject's own account Death DateSourced to the subject's own account Death YearSourced to the subject's own account BirthplaceSourced to the subject's own accountMinden, Prussia (present-day Germany) 2 Death PlaceSourced to the subject's own accountNew York City, United States 1 Nationality / CultureSourced to the subject's own account Defining ContributionSourced to the subject's own accountAdvanced cultural relativism and rejected racial determinism in favor of culture as anthropology's central analytical concept. 1 Notable WorkSourced to the subject's own accountThe Central Eskimo (1888) 1 Notable WorkSourced to the subject's own accountThe Mind of Primitive Man (1911) 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Practices Studied
Theories Developed
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Franz Boas
WikipediaLead sectionQuote, Lead section
Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 - December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist
1. Wikipedia: Franz Boas
WikipediaBodyQuote, Body
Boas also worked to demonstrate that differences in human behavior are not primarily determined by innate biological dispositions but are largely the result of cultural differences acquired through social learning.
2. Social Sci LibreTexts, Franz Boas and the Birth of American Anthropology
LibreTexts (Speaking of Culture, Weil)1.3 Franz Boas and the Birth of American AnthropologyQuote, 1.3 Franz Boas and the Birth of American Anthropology
Boas rejected the idea that culture was something that evolved within societies by stages from lower forms to higher.
Wikipedia: Cultural Relativism
WikipediaTheories Developed: Cultural Relativism, origin sectionView the Source Wikipedia: Potlatch
WikipediaPractices Studied: The Potlatch, Boas discussion, documentation beginning 1888View the Source Reader Challenges (0 open reader challenges)
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