Anthropology: Biological, Sociocultural, and Philosophical Dimensions
Anthropology
Anthropology is a broad discipline that emerged in the 19th century. It incorporates knowledge from various fields, including physics, chemistry, biology, genetics, paleoanthropology, sociology, cosmology, and philosophy, among others. Establishing different responses can be risky when dealing with human beings. If a problem is reduced to a single reality, the solution is also reduced to a single reality, which can lead to a reductionist approach. Anthropology must incorporate knowledge from other sciences to comprehensively understand its object of study.
Definition
Anthropology is the science that deals with the biological aspects of humans and their behavior as members of a society. Its study encompasses three dimensions: the biological, the sociocultural, and the philosophical.
Biological Anthropology
Biological Anthropology studies the anatomical and physical transformations that humans have undergone throughout biological evolution, as well as their differentiation and origin as a species within the animal world. Its objectives focus on reconstructing the process of hominization and investigating the origin of humans as part of the animal species.
Sociocultural Anthropology
Sociocultural Anthropology studies humans as living beings who interact with others. It deals with the comparative study of different social systems and group behavior. It also investigates the techniques and resources that humans have developed to adapt to the natural environment and meet their social needs, as well as the means used to preserve and transmit such techniques and resources.
Philosophical Anthropology
Philosophical Anthropology tries to establish a consonance with science, the place that humans occupy in the world, their origin, and their ultimate nature. It seeks to understand humans as individuals who recognize and acknowledge their equals as persons, in terms of values, rights, equality, and freedom. The study of the human dimension requires considering two fundamental aspects that will be addressed in the following paragraphs:
- Evolution in science marks a current fact that affects everyone in the universe, not only living beings. Therefore, it is necessary to know, in general terms, the evolutionary development of the Earth.
- Morphological changes, through evolution, have generated the different species, including humans. This process is called hominization.
The Theory of Evolution
Despite the notion of evolution being present in thought since the Greek philosophers, it was not until the 19th century, with the works of Lamarck and Darwin, that the first scientific theories of evolution appeared. Currently, with the help of genetic research, the theory of evolution is the foundation of all biology.
Traditional Thought
Until the 19th century, in traditional European culture, three theories shaped the understanding of the origin of all living beings: creationism, fixism, and spontaneous generation. These theories were firmly established in a traditional society that, in the Middle Ages, considered any idea opposed to Aristotle or the Bible to be indisputable.
Creationism
Creationism is a theory that states that the world and living beings have been created by God from nothing. This theory is based on the content of many religious concepts, essentially the doctrines of Christianity. In our culture, it is based on the Bible, a sacred book for Christians and Jews, which cannot be read as a scientific or historical work. It can only be understood if its symbolic meaning is considered.
Fixism
Fixism was formulated by Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778). He stated that species, both animal and vegetable, do not evolve but remain unalterable over time. Although formulated in the 18th century, the traditional fixist concept had a long foundation in Europe with Aristotle. This idea was perfectly reconcilable with the creationist idea that emerged from the literal reading of the Bible, giving rise to creationist fixism.