Clifford Geertz's Approach to Interpretational Anthropology and Cultural Relativity and Critics

Authors : Recai Bazancir

Pages : 225-241

Doi:10.59902/yazit.1321431

View : 61 | Download : 81

Publication Date : 2023-12-25

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :We believe that one of the important contributions of anthropology to humanity is to present some ways which help to understand the "other”. Therefore, various approaches and paradigms present various epistemological and methodological ways. Some problematics and debates such as particularism versus universality, the empirical versus the theoretical- were somehow present within philosophy and science before cultural anthropology existed as a discipline. Positioning in these kinds of debates can inform us about the relation which a social/cultural scientist constitutes with the notion of culture. The cultural views of Max Weber and Franz Boas, two thinkers with particularism/cultural relativism tendencies, inspired our study. Dilthey\'s approach to the concept of culture is also looked at due to the relations of these thinkers with hermeneutics and the German History School, in this article the approaches of Clifford Geertz, who is mostly known for his influence on the practice of interpretive anthropology and cultural relativism. Finally, some criticisms of cultural relativism in terms of reflexive anthropology have been made by us, focusing particularly on Geertz\'s approach.
Keywords : antropoloji, Clifford Geertz, kültürel görecelik, Wilhelm Dilthey, hermenötik