Sharon P. answered • 06/06/19
PhD. in Anthropology, 18 years’ experience Educator, Patient
Franz Boas is seen as the father of American Anthropology. Boaz believed each culture was separate and unique. In Europe, there were several highly regarded people such as Bronislaw Malinowski. He was a leading British Functionalist who emphasized the needs of the individual’s perspective in each culture. This concept was extremely important because Anthropologist at that time solely depended upon written accounts of travelers to foreign (exotic places). This perspective was recorded through the eyes of untrained people.
By the end of the 1800s, Franz Boas questioned the methods and findings by Unilineal Evolutionists, who applied the theory of human evolution to the study of cultures. Boas applied scientific methods to the study of cultures.
Boas is known for his theory of Historical Particularism. A theoretical orientation emphasizing that each culture is the unique product of all the influences on which it was subjected in its past, making cross-cultural generalizations questionable. Historical Particularism includes the following concepts (Peniston, 2015)
1) In order to understand the culture, we must study it individually, not as a representative of some hypothetical stage.
2) Boas insisted that fieldwork is the primary means of acquiring reliable information.
3) The imparted idea that cultural relativism as a methodical principle is essential for the most accurate understanding of another culture.
4) Demonstrated and popularized the notion that cultural differences and biological differences have little to do with each other.
Boas denounced racism and anti-Semitic activity in Europe and the USA. Two of his most famous students were Melville J. Herskovits and Margaret Mead.
In conclusion, Franz Boas provided the underlying theories and ethics which guides Anthropologist today.
(Information retrieved from Peniston 2015, Introduction to Cultural Anthropology, Kendall Hunt)
