Convention, Translation, and Understanding

Philosophical Problems in the Comparative Study of Culture

Häftad, Engelska, 1988

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This book surveys several theoretical controversies in anthropology that revolve around reconciling the objective description of culture with the influence of inquirer interests and conceptions. It relates them to discussions by followers of W.V. Quine who see the problems of anthropological inquiry as indicative of conceptual problems in the basic assumptions operative in the discipline, and in the study of language in general. Feleppa offers a revised view of the nature and function of translation in anthropology that gives a plausible account of the problems that traditional semantics introduces into anthropology, while avoiding the severe methodological import Quine envisions.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum1988-07-08
Mått152 x 229 x 25 mm
Vikt445 g
FormatHäftad
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor317
FörlagState University of New York Press
ISBN9780887066740

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Antropologi inom Samhälle och politik

Acknowledgments Chapter 1 Meaning and Understanding Meaning, Metaphysics, and TranslationSome Approaches to a Theory of MeaningIdeational Theories and Their Place in Semantics and EpistemologyEntificational Theories: BehavioralNonentificational TheoriesGeneral Criticisms of IntensionIntension and Synonymy in TranslationRadical IndeterminacyChapter 2 Methodological Problems in the Study of Alien Culture Boasian Themes in Twentieth-Century AnthropologyEtics, Emics, and Componential AnalysisComponential Analysis and Psychological RealityDescent to the UnconsciousTransformational-Generative TheoriesStructural AnthropologyCognitive Anthropology: Recent Developments and ProblemsAscent to Social-Behavioral ContextChapter 3 Pragmatism, Physicalism, and Indeterminacy Etics and Emics Revisited: Cultural Idealism versus Cultural MaterialismEmics and PragmatismUnderdetermination and IndeterminacyQuine and Boas on ImpositionTheoretical UnderdeterminationQuine on Ontology and EpistemologyEpistemology and MeaningOntology and MeaningPhysical Equivalence and Translational ConflictOntology and Scientific LegitimacyThe Epistemological Thesis RevisitedChapter 4 Translation and Convention Translation RulesThe Conventional Character of TranslationWhither Translation?Some General Consequences for Linguistic AnalysisChapter 5 Translation in Anthropology Emics ReconstructedComponential Analysis: Neither God's Truth Nor Hocus-PocusRecent Pragmatic TrendsWittgensteinian Aspects of EthnographyIs "Rationality" Universal?The Function of Translation in Anthropological TheoryNotes Bibliography Index

"The author addresses a key philosophical problem, discusses it clearly and intelligently, and shows the importance of the problem for certain issues in anthropology. His command of the relevant literature is impressive without overwhelming the reader. The book can be read by both philosophers and anthropologists." — Kenneth Barber"This book addresses issues that are of current interest to social scientists and those interested in the philosophy of science. It also utilizes anthropological theory to relativize and question leading theories in the philosophy of language and epistemology. In turn, it also challenges many of the presuppositions of componential analysis and cognitive anthropology." — Robert C. Ulin