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PubMed1995

The anthropological tradition in the philosophy of medicine.

The tradition of anthropological medicine in philosophy of medicine is analyzed in relation to the earlier interest in epistemological issues in medicine around the turn of the century as well as to the current interest in medical ethics. It is argued that there is a continuity between epistemological, anthropological and ethical approaches in philosophy of medicine. Three basic ideas of anthropologically-oriented medicine are discussed: the rejection of Cartesian dualism, the notion of medicine as science of the human person, and the necessity of a comprehensive understanding of disease. Next, it is discussed why the anthropological movement has been superseded by the increasing interest in medical ethics. It is concluded that the present-day moral issues cannot be interpreted and resolved without clarification of the underlying anthropological images.

Anthropology↗
PubMed1990

Three propositions for a critically applied medical anthropology.

This paper initiates a discussion of some viable approaches to a critically applied as opposed to a clinically applied medical anthropology. The old question of the role of the intellectual man or woman is at the heart of this enquiry. Analogies are drawn between the current relations of anthropology to medicine and the history of anthropology's relations to European colonialism. The dilemmas of the clinically applied anthropologists 'double agent' role is discussed and alternatives offered in the form of three separate and to some extent contradictory projects, each of which, however, demands that the anthropologists cut loose his or her moorings from conventional biomedical premises and epistemologies. Ours must be an anthropology of affliction and not simply an anthropology of medicine. Praxis must not be left in the hands of those who would only represent the best interests of biomedical hegemony.

Anthropology↗
PubMed2001

Socio-cultural anthropology and alcohol and drug research: towards a unified theory.

The arrival of the millennium has understandably created a growing tendency for social commentators to evaluate the current state of the world, assess prior developments and suggest new and enlightened ways forward. In this time of re-appraisals, we assess the current state of the anthropology of alcohol and drug research, consider its early history, examine the range and theoretical underpinnings of work done today, and propose the elements of a possible future model. In formulating the model, we have borrowed from a number of different theoretical approaches and insights not only from anthropological discussions of alcohol and drug issues but also from anthropological research outside these arenas. In examining these issues, and as a way of attempting to answer the question--where has the field come from and where is it heading--we situate anthropological contributions to this area not merely within the wider context of anthropological thought and research, but more importantly within a wider social and political context that takes account of the organizational, funding and conceptual influences, constraints and pressures that operate on anthropologists who wish to conduct research on alcohol and drug issues.

Alcohol Drinking↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Legal and ethical considerations of forensic anthropological research.

In the UK, Forensic Anthropology is maturing rapidly, consequently demanding discussion of previously overlooked yet fundamental principles of this discipline. UK law and ethics are interpreted from a forensic anthropological standpoint. First, the influence of UK law and ethics on the stages of forensic anthropological research (the collection, analysis and storage of human remains) are discussed. Existing ethical codes of conduct are investigated for their relevance to researching forensic anthropologists. It is concluded that: when appropriately interpreted, UK law and ethics are extremely influential on forensic anthropological research; debate within this area is required; and that an understanding of the law and ethical thought is vital for the successful growth of forensic anthropology in the UK.

Ethics, Professional↗
PubMed2005

Epidemiological reflections of the contribution of anthropology to public health policy and practice.

Academic disciplines like anthropology and epidemiology provide a niche for researchers to speak the same language, and to interrogate the assumptions that they use to investigate problems. How anthropological and epidemiological methods communicate and relate to each other affects the way public health policy is created but the philosophical underpinnings of each discipline makes this difficult. Anthropology is reflective, subjective and investigates complexity and the individual; epidemiology, in contrast, is objective and studies populations. Within epidemiological methods there is the utilitarian concept of potentially sacrificing the interests of the individual for the benefits of maximizing population welfare, whereas in anthropology the individual is always included. Other strengths of anthropology in the creation of public health policy include: its attention to complexity, questioning the familiar; helping with language and translation; reconfiguring boundaries to create novel frameworks; and being reflective. Public health requires research that is multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary. To do this, there is a need for each discipline to respect the 'dignity of difference' between disciplines in order to help create appropriate and effective public health policy.

Anthropology↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Middle and autonomous person- remarks on the anthropological reference system in the analytical psychotherapy of Harold Schultz-Hencke].

Remarks concerning the anthropological reference system in the analytical psychotherapy of Harold-Schultz-Henke. This inquiry points out that the interpersonal and social dimension is insufficently considered in the development of Schultz-Hencke's theory. In my opinion, this is evident in three places in his outline of psychological anthropology. In his anthropological presupposition, he sees the social dimension either only in ontological terms as antinomy between persons or in terms of individualpsychology in its intrapsychic effect and individual ways of control. In accordance with that, he does not analyse, in the term middle man, which processes between individual and reference persons make man a middle man. Finally it appears to me that the interpretation of the being and destiny of man as autonomous person reflects the same content. For this reason, I think it is not accidently that Schultz-Hencke pays so little attention to the object references of Freud, and that he does not give them their own place in his theory. In this respect, the presupposition of Schultz-Hencke must be supplemented. The ontological and psychological approach has to be combined with the discipline of social psychology. A psychoanalytical model of interaction has to be developed. But with that the anthropological goals of his psychological anthropology would also be extended in the interpersonal dimension. Next to the autonomy of the individual would come the interdependence (to use a term of social psychology) between the individual and the reference persons. In other words, the point would no longer be the autonomous self realization of the individual alone, but the autonomous self realization of the individual in interdependence.

Anthropology↗
PubMed1992

[Anthropological approaches in human anatomy].

Principles of anthropological methodology used by human anatomy have been formulated as the elucidation of forms and factors of variability of structures and their correlation in the integral organism. Under consideration was the use of different morphological signs for their integral estimation of the condition of the human body. The realization of these principles in research represents an anthropological trend in human anatomy. Its advantages in 1980s were preceded by the preliminary development of certain problems of anatomical anthropology by our national and foreign scientists. A review of researches on anthropological trends of human anatomy is given which were considered as a basis for the further development of medical and sports anthropology.

Anatomy↗
PubMed2004

[Molecular anthropology and the origin of modern human].

Since Watson & Crick put forward the double-helix model of DNA structure and hereditary mechanism in 1953, it is generally accepted that this event marks the birth of modern molecular biology. This new field of biology has experienced a flourishing development in the past 50 years. On one hand, the development of molecular biology has been deeply influencing many relative fields; on the other hand, its own proceeding pace has been accelerated by the reaction from the other fields. Anthropology is one of the fields most deeply impacted by the theory and method of molecular biology. Most importantly, molecular anthropology was born as a result of combination of molecular biology, anthropology as well as paleoanthropology. This new branch provides reliable method and vital direction for paleoanthropology. This paper systematically reviews the history, principle and method of molecular anthropology. Two hypotheses on the origin of modern human, which include "out-of-African theory" and "theory of multiregional evolution" are also discussed for the purpose of showing how molecular anthropology is applied in paleoanthropology.

Animals↗
PubMed2006

[Interfaces between anthropology and the disciplines of the health area: a search for new conceptual approaches].

In studying how societies consider and deal with the human body both as a symbolic as well as a biological entity, anthropology situates itself at the nexus of two axes. These occupy a central epistemological space in the discipline and consist of: the analysis of social facts, ranging from their manifestations in the lives of individuals, to those manifested in the collective life of groups; and the observation of reality, ranging from its material to its immaterial or ideal aspects. This singular position enriches the anthropology of health and opens up theoretical and methodological perspectives that go beyond those of medical anthropology and the anthropology of illness in their restricted focus upon the social parameters of biological disorders, the causes of suffering, and misfortune. This paper attempts to reflect upon examples which encompass the above two axes showing how the anthropology of health can improve our understanding.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
PubMed1996

The legacy of serological studies in American physical anthropology.

Serological data have been used to address anthropological problems since the turn of the century. These were predominantly problems of two kinds in anthropological systematics: the relations of human populations to one another (racial serology), and the relations of primate species to one another (systematic serology). Though they were the locus of considerable debate about the relative merits of 'genetic' versus 'traditional' data, the serological work had little lasting impact in the field. I attribute this to the fact that the research was carried out largely externally to anthropology, and often interpreted in facile manners. To a large extent the history of this research has been ignored or rewritten following the development of 'molecular anthropology' in the 1960s. To some extent, however, contemporary genetic research in anthropology replays aspects of the serological era.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Physiological anthropology and the Internet.

The Internet is the greatest computer network with many services like Web, FTP, Gopher, E-mail Discussion Groups, and Usenet Discussion Groups, that provides a rapid and the cheapest exchange of information. The benefits to anthropologists of using the Internet are growing rapidly, as the Internet becomes easier to use and ever more anthropological resources become available on line. Physiological anthropology is concerned with the evolution and biological features of human population and it's sources on the Internet are growing continuously. However, in that enormous number of data, is not easy to find a needed information. Currently, number of indexed physiological anthropology related sites on Web only is 233990 (October 98). This paper provides informations about Internet and needed hardware and software for using it. It also describes and lists the most important physiological anthropology addresses, together with physiological anthropology-related journals on the Internet, as well as the ways of searching them.

Anthropology, Physical↗
PubMed2002

Ancient DNA in anthropology: methods, applications, and ethics.

Anthropologists were quick to recognize the potential of new techniques in molecular biology to provide additional lines of evidence on questions long investigated in anthropology, as well as those questions that, while always of interest, could not have been addressed by more traditional techniques. The earliest ancient DNA studies, both within anthropology and in other fields, lacked rigorous hypothesis testing. However, more recently the true value of ancient DNA studies is being realized, and methods are being applied to a wide variety of anthropological questions. We review the most common methods and applications to date, and describe promising avenues of future research. We find that ancient DNA analyses have a valuable place in the array of anthropological techniques, but argue that such studies must not be undertaken merely to demonstrate that surviving DNA is present in organic remains, and that no such work should be performed before a careful consideration of the possible ethical ramifications of the research is undertaken.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Forensic archaeology as mortuary anthropology.

This paper argues that forensic anthropology is more than just physical anthropology, but should incorporate several subdisciplinary perspectives into a framework of mortuary anthropology. The advantage of this holistic approach is to provide context for the primary roles of physical anthropologists; identification of victims, and assessing manner of death. Mortuary anthropology provides information on processes of disposal and site formation, including the regularity, sequencing, and timing of events, which is complementary to the traditional roles of physical anthropologists. A call is made for more widespread application of this perspective.

Anthropology, Cultural↗
PubMed1997

The misconstruction of critical medical anthropology: a response to a cultural constructivist critique.

Since its emergence over a decade ago as a distinct theoretical framework, critical medical anthropology (CMA) has engaged in debate and dialogue with various other perspectives within medical anthropology, particularly clinical anthropology, medical ecology, and, to a lesser degree, postmodernism. While at least two genres of CMA have emerged, both of which are involved in a dialogue with each other, proponents of other perspectives often misread or "misconstruct" the agenda of CMA as both a theoretical framework and a strategy for health activism. This essay in particular critiques this process among proponents of the interpretative or cultural constructivist perspective. On a positive note, however, I urge critical medical anthropologists and cultural constructivists within medical anthropology to enter into a dialogue with each other because their two perspectives, despite the presence of obvious epistemological differences, share commonalities.

Anthropology↗
PubMed1977

Art, evolution, and history: a case study of paradigm change in anthropology.

An ethnological controversy over the origin and evolution of decorative art is documented for the period 1896-1904 and is used to test the relevance in anthropology of Thomas Kuhn's outline of the structure of scientific revolutions. Using a combination of archival materials and content analysis of professional periodicals, both the appropriateness and the limitations of Kuhn's scheme are explored. The conclusion is that paradigms and scientific revolutions are valid and useful concepts for use in the history of anthropology, but that for the particular period under study they are insufficient. Nonparadigmatic aspects of anthropology's supporting communities must also be considered, especially anthropology's "permeable boundaries".

Anthropology↗
PubMed1976

Physical anthropology and the dental and medical specialties.

The rise of two sub-specialties in Physical Antrhopology traces back to the Anatomy Departments of Schools of Medicine in Germany and France during the nineteenth century. The study of human diversity in bones and bodies was largely by medically-trained anatomists. There developed Medical Antropology and Dental Anthropology, employing osteometry and craniometry on the skeleton, somatometry and cephalometry on the living body. As a result cross-sectional studies gave way to longitudinal studies and X-ray techniques were added to purely mensurational procedures. In Medical Anthropology the specialties most directly concerned are pediatrics, plastic surgery, endocrinology, and orthopaedics. In Dental Anthropology the specialties most directly concerned are pedodontics, orthodontics, oral surgery, and prosthodontics. The contributions of Physical Anthropology to each is discussed.

Anthropology, Physical↗
PubMed2005

Federal repatriation legislation and the role of physical anthropology in repatriation.

Two laws governing the disposition of Native American human remains in museums and institutions have had a profound impact on anthropology, and especially physical anthropology. In contrast to the perception of constant conflict between Native Americans and physical anthropologists, the repatriation process based on these laws has been in large part harmonious between institutions and Native peoples in the US. Despite misconceptions, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAPGRA; 25 United States Code (U.S.C.) 3001-3013) was not intended to halt further research on Native American remains in museums. In fact, court decisions have affirmed that the documentation of human remains produces information no other methods can provide, and provides necessary evidence to be incorporated and weighed, along with other evidence, in evaluating "cultural affiliation," the legal term for the required connection from federally recognized Native American groups to their ancestors. The wide variety of osteological data collected at the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), Smithsonian Institution, have proven indispensable when evaluating cultural affiliation, especially when other information sources are unhelpful or ambiguous, and provide an empirical basis for determining the ancestry of individuals whose remains will be discovered in the future. To date, the claim-driven process at the NMNH has resulted in the affiliation and repatriation of more Native American remains than any other institution in the country. Repatriation experiences at the NMNH demonstrate the changing relationships between museums and Native peoples, the continuing important contributions that physical anthropology makes to the repatriation process, and the importance of physical anthropology in understanding the recent and ancient history of North America.

Anthropology, Physical↗
PubMed2004

Nomothetic science and idiographic history in twentieth-century Americanist anthropology.

For over a century, Americanist anthropologists have argued about whether their discipline is a historical one or a scientific one. Proponents of anthropology as history have claimed that the lineages of human cultures are made up of unique events that cannot be generalized into laws. If no laws can be drawn, then anthropology cannot be a science. Proponents of anthropology as science have claimed that there indeed are laws that govern humans and their behaviors and cultures, and these laws can be discovered. Interestingly, both sides have the same narrow view of what science is. The same sorts of debates over science and history were played out in evolutionary biology over a half-century ago, and what emerged was the view that that discipline and its sister discipline, paleontology, were both history and science--hence the term "historical sciences." Anthropology and its sister discipline, archaeology, have only recently begun to realize that they too are historical sciences.

Anthropology↗