Philosophy of Science in Anthropology
Annual Review of Anthropology
Vol. 13: 25-39 (Volume publication date October 1984)
A Kaplan
In lieu of an abstract, the publisher reproduces the first page of the article. (Link)
“Philosophy of Science in Anthropology” reads as though the scholars were gathered in a room after an exceedingly enjoyable dinner party. The discussion is lively, organic. There’s not the clearly defined introduction and conclusion of other reviews that I’ve read. It instead has the circular organization of a neatly wrapped short story. It begins and ends with commentary on methodology. With this review I feel the most driven to read more. I want to continue this conversation. I’m reminded of childhood learning… of the conversations with authors of books and characters in books that I took up (in my mind) to entertain myself.
I could picture myself in that room of wood and leather and smoke, brightly colored fan in one hand and well-tailored wool under the other rested lightly on the arm Abraham Kaplan as we moved in and out of intertwining conversations… the joy of having a person tutor. Can anthropology be science? Should it try to be? Is science just a matter of employing the right methods? I was disappointed to learn that he was deceased. My local library has several of his books and I look forward to reading them.
